The Devil Wears Prada and The Devil's Advocate

The Devil Wears Prada and The Devil’s Advocate started as a fun little double feature.  I thought they would be similar in terms of character, themes and message.  However, it was surprising to find out they’re more or less opposites. 

The Devil Wears Prada stars two women, the main character is not the actual devil, Miranda (Meryl Streep (The River Wild)) is a nasty berating boss who loads up Andy (Anne Hathaway (Serenity (2019))) with countless tasks (some of which are downright impossible to accomplish), Miranda doesn’t give a shit about Andy’s personal life, Andy eventually comes to the realization that she needs to get back to who she originally was to avoid turning into a cutthroat business woman, etc.

The Devil’s Advocate stars two men, the main character is unambiguously the devil, John (Al Pacino (Gigli)) lavishes Kevin (Keanu Reeves (Toy Story 4)) with a large paycheck and anything his heart desires to come work for him, John is very involved in Kevin’s personal life (to the point where he tries to interfere with their marriage), Kevin eventually comes to the realization that he needs to change who he’s been his whole life in order to save his soul, etc.

Pretty interesting.  The Devil’s Advocate is definitely more my cup of tea with all the nefarious behavior, slimy players and a nice thick eerie vibe.  You would think the filmmakers would’ve gone for a more subtle approach with the supernatural shit. You know, leave it up to the jury to decide if the head of a powerful NYC law firm is Satan or not.  But no, they are unequivocal about it.  The finale with Reeves and Pacino duking it out verbally over whether Reeves will partner with the devil is fantastic.  Temptation, philosophy, head games, passionate performances, it’s fucking awesome.  I love this movie.  So if you’re only gonna check out one of these this is it.  They’re completely different pictures though so take that for what you will.

And aside from some dumb movie bullshit Prada does have a decent overall message of saying it’s ok to take on a job you don’t really want to use as a stepping stone to propel you towards a larger career goal.  This is something that many, if not most, folks end up doing in their life and I don’t think you see this done in a straightforward manner very much in film.  Usually it’s all or nothing affairs with more ruthless behavior.  While this picture has it’s share of whimsy and at least one stupid fan theory that I’m pretty sure I don’t agree with (Anne Hathaway’s boyfriend is the real villain of the story?  Sorry, not buying it) it’s, uh, ok.