'The September Issue' review

Anna Wintour (Credit: Roadside Attractions)

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Power never goes out of style when you're Anna Wintour: The longtime Vogue editor is arguably the most influential, feared and lampooned figure in fashion, presiding with mafia-esque panache over a cowering industry. The jewel in Vogue's crown—and the subject of this voyeuristic documentary—is its annual September issue, a massive collision of fashion shoots, outsize personalities and high drama all sewn up with exacting precision under Wintour's imperious watch.

The buzz: If you've been waiting for the ultimate sketch of the fashion world, this is it. Director R.J. Cutler ("American High") has scored a magic all-access pass, trailing Wintour (the inspiration for Meryl Streep's character in 2006's "The Devil Wears Prada") and her crew from closed-door meetings to magazine shoots. For most, it's the first inside peek into Vogue's haute and haughty world. Bust out the claws!

The verdict: The Devil may wear Prada, but she also wears her power with gusto. "The September Issue" is deliciously addictive, portraying Wintour as overlord, power broker, judge, executioner and redeemer. We see her reduce a top designer like Yves Saint Laurent's Stefano Pilati into a nervous mess while previewing his collection, and then maneuver plum ad contracts for fledgling upstarts she favors. All throughout, she holds court at Vogue over a gonzo group of jesters, from prickly photographers to cartoonish editors. (Three words: André. Leon. Talley.) But someone else steals the show: Vogue creative director Grace Coddington. With her acid humor and no-BS style, Coddington turns out to be the mag's secret wiz, orchestrating luscious photo shoots and daring to stare down Wintour. She's like a shrewd Cheney to Wintour's vilified Bush. Coddington is also the film's the most sensible figure, deriding how a discarded photo shoot cost the magazine $50,000 and imploring an art director not to airbrush a man's belly as proof that "not everybody's perfect." Cutler observes everything with comic detachment, letting both the fabulousness and the folly unfold by their own design.

Did you know: After years of silence, Wintour is suddenly all over the place, recently popping up on "60 Minutes" amid persistent rumors that she might be axed in light of Vogue's waning cache and dwindling ad sales. Could she be setting herself up for a grand exit?

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