The Streep Theorem

My friend Brian half-jokingly proposed to me this theorem: "Having Meryl Streep in your movie will automatically elevate it at least 1 star higher than it would be rated without her." By the end of our conversation, the theorem proven, we were no longer half-joking. Perfect case in point this year: The Devil Wear Prada. As soon as Streep makes her commanding entrance, I leaned forward a little more - my attention under her control. When she was off the screen, I thought about what her character was doing or thinking. When she was on the screen, I barely looked at anyone else (although charming supporting player Emily Blunt held her own). Anne Hathaway was engaging enough as naive, earnest lead Andy. She was wonderful in Brokeback Mountain in the small, pivotal role as the spoiled Daddy's girl who, calcified by years of a sham marriage, sadly has become the brittle Texan wife barely showing signs of emotional life. But that movie was directed by actor's director Ang Lee (Sense & Sensibility, The Ice Storm). In DWP, I thought Hathaway was literally going to be blown over by Streep. Hathaway is fine, but Streep is in a another stratosphere. Imagine someone lesser in her role as Miranda Priestly and this movie would be revealed for what it is: an average, frothy girl-power movie. And except for Blunt, do any glaringly worse two and one-dimensional supporting players exist this year? - they were appalling. Streep commented in an interview she created her character from an amalgam of ideas and persons, one, interestingly, being Clint Eastwood. Her strong, wordless gaze, her quiet deliberate annunciations making all stop and listen or else (audience included!) - its all there. Even notice how little she moves in "bigger" scenes. Somehow she seems to own her space and a large surrounding swath, as if she were the sun with all else in orbit about her. Media reports this week revealed that Streep has signed on for the lead of the mega-blockbuster ABBA musical, Mamma Mia. Again, a frothy girl-power-centric megahit (a stage musical in this case instead of a book) adapted into a polished movie, this time with catchy, entertaining songs amusingly wedged into a dumb story. Watch the Streep Theorem apply when it is released: **1/2 to ***1/2.