Eugene Weekly : Movies : 07.06.06
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This Weeks Movie Reviews:
Kinky Boots Directed by Julian Jarrold. Written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth. Cinematography by Eigil Bryld. Music by Adrian Johnston. Starring Joel Edgerton, Jemima Rooper, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nick Frost, Linda Bassett and Sarah-Jane Potts. Miramax, 2006. PG-13. 107 minutes.
It's a formula that's come to define British comedy: facing unemployment, stodgy British laborers embrace their wild side, becoming more human in the process. When it works — as it does in The Full Monty (1997) and Billy Elliot (2000) — you can feel the stiff upper lip begin to quiver. But in order for the fish-and-chips-out-of-water bit to work, a film has to be willing to take some chances. The new film Kinky Boots, about a centuries-old shoe factory that dumps Oxfords for dominatrix boots in a desperate attempt to survive, is more flat-footed than its title implies. Read more...
The Devil Wears Prada Directed by David Frankel. Screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna. Based on the novel by Lauren Weisberger. Starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker, Emily Blunt and Adrian Grenier. Fox 2000, 2006. PG-13. 109 minutes.
If ever there was a chance to parade expensive, beautiful clothing across a giant screen, you'd think The Devil Wears Prada, a Cinderella-in-Manolos tale based on Lauren Weisberger's bestselling novel, would be it. Our heroine, Andy Sachs (the endearing Anne Hathaway), lands a job at Runway magazine as assistant to Editor-in-Chief Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), whose opinion is fashion law. So these folks should be wearing some impressive garments, no? Alas. High fashion may not be known for its commitment to elegance and simplicity, but the outfits in which Hathaway and Streep stalk through Prada are often so garish you may begin to wonder if the film's take on the fashion industry consists simply of allowing it to point out its own questionable taste. (Though according to "The Duds of The Devil Wears Prada" in last week's New York Times, fashion folks aren't particularly enamored of the film's style either.) Read more...
