A malicious comedy set off by highbrow snootiness dressed up nicely in a sauntering plot line, "The Devil Wears Prada" fails to evoke any sort of deep conversation after the credits roll.

The plot takes a back seat to the catty one-liners, but the film does provide a plausible account of the top-notch fashion world — vain, self-indulgent pettiness.

But what's so devilish about the film?

Meryl Streep keeps up the two-horned, red, God-loathing persona almost throughout as Miranda Priestly, the editor of a prestigious fashion magazine.

Priestly orders steak for lunch and then decides to have lunch somewhere else, throws her stylish coats and bags at her assistants and doesn't miss any opportunity to make the high-heeled "clackers" at her office feel like incompetent imbeciles.

All of Priestly's magazine staff embodies the demon demeanor, but she's definitely the ringleader with the most jaded, spoiled and downright mean attitude.

Refreshingly, Streep manages to stay in a rampaging Lucifer-mode from back stage to the end of the cat walk.

To foil all of the posh satanism, the doe-eyed Anne Hathaway, as Northwestern University journalism graduate Andy Sachs, steps into the fashion magazine like a deer in the headlights. And what do you know?

She gets the job as Priestly's assistant.

But, like, oh my God, she, like, totally doesn't fit in. And gross, she's like a size 6 — can you believe her?

So it takes some time for Sachs to adjust to all the verbal bashing and dirty looks, but like any good journalist, she gets hip to the scene and begins to fit in.

But is she fitting in too much? Has she lost track of who she really wants to be? Is she ruining the relationship with her corny boyfriend? Can she ever go back to wearing sandals after getting used high heels?

I'm not going to tell. Plus, all of Sachs' inner troubles don't make the film enjoyable.

It's all about the snakelike cracks — oh, and the fashion, too.

But what's Prada?

Besides all the high fashion on the backs of the princesses of darkness, there are a bunch of guest spots by folks in the fashion world — because the only thing better than looking good is being seen while looking good.

Model Heidi Klum and designer Valentino Garavani play themselves and model Gisele Bundchen plays Serena the Talking Clacker. And of course, what would a fashion film be without a Madonna song? "The Devil Wears Prada" has two, and one of them is "Vogue."

Overall, this ain't no "Zoolander." The film aims to paint an accurate picture of the fashion industry through the eyes of a naive individual. The downfall lies in the one-dimensional look at the industry and the narrowness and conceit of the people in positions of power.

So unless you enjoy brutally mean humor from people who think the world revolves around their chic silk scarves, pull up your thigh-high leather boots and clack away as fast as you can.