There are plenty of reasons to expect a good time with the new film &#8220The Devil Wears Prada.”

The fashion industry is a prime choice for satire, while casting Meryl Streep is inspired to say the least. Throw in a creator of the wildly popular television series &#8220Sex and the City” and it should add up to success.

Unfortunately, that isn’t the case with &#8220Prada,” which, despite its promise, fails to live up to rather modest expectations. The film ultimately fails because it lacks the sharpness needed to make a successful satire. Who would have thought that a comedy about models could suffer from being too nice?

Based on a novel by Lauren Weisberger, &#8220Prada” tells the story of Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), a naive young woman fresh out of the Northwestern school of journalism who comes to New York looking for her big break.

Andy eventually finds a job as an assistant to Miranda Priestly (Streep), the ruthless editor of Runway magazine. At first Andy struggles to find her niche, but pretty soon she finds that perhaps she has a lot more in common with Miranda than she ever realized.

The biggest problem with &#8220Prada” is the screenplay, which seems to pull a lot of punches. There was a huge opportunity here to really scathe the fashion world and cement it with a boss-from-Hell character a la Dabney Coleman in &#8220Nine to Five,” but instead, &#8220Devil” turns into a film that has more similarities to &#8220Click” then it does &#8220Nine to Five” or even &#8220Zoolander.”

Hathaway is fine as Andy, but is no match for Streep, who practically chews up the scenery as Miranda. &#8220The Devil Wears Prada” is at its best when Andy and Miranda are locking horns – a scene where Andy has to get the yet-to-be-published &#8220Harry Potter” manuscript by the end of the day for Miranda’s twin daughters is the film’s high point.

But instead of more great moments like that, &#8220Prada” is more focused on transforming Andy from ugly duckling to swan. That’s OK if this is &#8220The Princess Diaries,” but I wanted more bite and venom and less dress-up.

There are other small pleasures in &#8220Prada” – including nice supporting work by Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt – but it isn’t enough to overcome the film’s many weaknesses. As a result, &#8220Prada” takes a Tiffany’s concept and delivers Kmart blue light special material.

At the movies

&#8220The Devil Wears Prada”

Starring: Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway

Directed by: David Frankel

Rating: PG-13 for some sensuality

Playing at: Greenwood Mall 10, Highland Cinemas (Glasgow)

Grade: C

DVD dandy of the week

This week’s dandy is &#8220The Matador” (B), a black comedy with Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear that could teach &#8220The Devil Wears Prada” a thing or two about dark humor.

Brosnan plays Julian Noble, a globetrotting hitman who has lost his gift for killing. Just when it looks like Julian has nowhere to turn, things pick up after a chance encounter in a bar in Mexico City with a businessman named Danny Wright (Kinnear).

The meeting leads to an unlikely friendship that helps both men move on from dark secrets in their respective pasts.

Writer/director Richard Shepard gives &#8220The Matador” an intimate feel like a play, opting to use razor-sharp dialogue instead of much action to move the film’s plot along.

Brosnan and Kinnear are up to the challenge, both delivering very solid performances. Brosnan seems to be having a lot of fun playing off his James Bond past, while Kinnear proves to be the perfect adversary.

Hope Davis is also very funny as Danny’s wife, who has an unhealthy fascination in Julian’s work.

&#8220The Matador” is rated R for strong sexual content and language and is now available on DVD.