Nostalgia can be a gift and a curse. Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, most moviegoers’ memories of 2006’s “The Devil Wears Prada” have been glossed over since its initial theatrical release. Director David Frankel’s more workplace comedy than intended romantic comedy, featured an iconic performance from Meryl Streep as the famously stern fashion magazine editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly (an obvious doppleanger for Vogue’s Anna Wintour), who delivered countless zingers that became legendary online memes years later. “Devil” proved Streep could still open a movie, was a breakout big-screen role for Emily Blunt, and cemented Anne Hathaway as an adult movie star. But, again, the years have been kind to everyone’s recollections of the original film.
“Devil” was a big studio comedy that delivered laughs, but only Streep’s immeasurable talents provided any genuine depth to the proceedings. It was essentially well-fashioned, smart comfort food. And, hey, there’s nothing wrong with that. Two decades later, “The Devil Wears Prada 2” reunites (almost) the entire gang, is highly entertaining, and, shockingly, has several nuanced points not only about the current media environment but also regarding the impending collapse of the “known” world around us (yep, it really does go there). Don’t worry, though. Miranda still has more than enough glorious one-liners in the tank to fuel the inevitable rise of whatever social media gimmick unfurls next.
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Since her stint at Vogue, er, the fictional Runway as Miranda’s no. 2 assistant, Andrea “Andy” Sachs (Hathaway, soaking it all in) has made a name for herself as a respected journalist. In fact, the film begins with Andy winning a press club award for her writing while concurrently learning she and her colleagues have all been laid off from a prestigious New York newspaper. Meanwhile, Priestly and her ever-loyal second-in-command, Nigel Kipling (the always-superb Stanley Tucci), have a scandal on their hands after Runway mistakenly runs a glowing profile of a sweatshop fashion brand. The owner of Runway’s parent company, Irv Ravitz (Tibor Feldman), and his son Jay (B.J. Novak), need a savior to distract from a slip-up that has advertisers up in arms. That becomes Andy, Runway’s newly hired features editor, who can’t believe she’s going back into Miranda’s lion’s den she escaped so long ago.
Humourously, Miranda acts as though she doesn’t remember Andy (or does she), but this isn’t the naive assistant who needed a lesson back in the day on why fashion, or a cerulean colored sweater, has global implications. She’s traveled the world. She’s had real-life experiences, and she’s unquestionably more confident. But she’s still a tad intimidated by her “new” boss as she attempts to get on Miranda’s good side. When the editorial team travels across Manhattan to kiss the ring of one of their most angry advertisers (Dior, no less), none other than Miranda’s one-time no. 1 assistant and Andy’s former frenemy Emily Charlton (Blunt, simply triumphant) is in charge. Emily is aghast that Andy is back at Runway and set to become a fixture in New York’s fashion scene once again. You can see the FOMO nightmare wash across her face.
Ah, and there’s another key plot point that is inherent to the proceedings. Unbeknownst to many at the magazine, Miranda has been patiently waiting for Irv to make her the head of global content for all the company’s brands. These editorial mistakes have shaken her confidence that he’ll give her the gig as promised, but it turns out Irv’s offspring may be the bigger existential threat.
Many have wondered why it took so long for 20th Century Fox and, eventually, the Walt Disney Studios to get a sequel to a popular flick like “Devil” off the ground. Everyone involved has been asked about it at almost every press event they have attended since the second Bush administration. But it’s clear they were waiting for the right script and, apart from an unnecessary and miscast love interest for Andy (sorry Patrick Brammall), McKenna has come through in spades.
For anyone who works in the contracting media space, “Prada 2” may actually feel too close for comfort. Miranda and Nigel aren’t clichés living in the Stone Age of publishing. They gave up on the old print “book” years ago. They know Runway survives through digital, online pageviews, and live events. Andy is even warned that her new direction editorially has to bring in the views, or she may be shown the door as quickly as she reentered. But it’s the introduction of Emily’s billionaire boyfriend Benji Barnes (Justin Theroux, wonderfully against type) that you understand how refreshingly contemporary the ideas Frankel and McKenna want to throw in the fire are.
This isn’t just a movie where A.I. is a looming threat to the livelihood of fashion editors or journalists (notably, the term “artificial intelligence” is used just once). These characters know technology is coming for everything. Drugstores, doctors, you name it. And thanks to Hathaway, Streep, and Tucci’s superb work, it isn’t treated like a heavy-handed “the world is coming to an end” scenario (even if the characters think it is). At one point, the increasingly brazen Benji refers to new technology as an “overflow of lava” that will wipe away the status quo like the fall of Pompeii. There are no surprises here. Miranda, Andy, and Nigel know everything they’ve built will fall in their lifetimes. They are just looking for a way to keep that human touch going just a bit longer.
On paper, diving into these ideas should be a death knell for a studio comedy. Too ambitious. Too serious. Too zeitgeist. The idea that both “The Comeback” and“Hacks” are diving into the same themes concurrently on television at the same time “Devil 2” is released in theaters, may be the craziest example of the collective creative consciousness attempting to wake up the general populace we’ve seen in forever. It’s something of a minor miracle, but it all works here because the montage of fashion shows, smart celebrity cameos, and fantastic performances (including Simone Ashley as Miranda’s new no. 1 assistant and a wonderfully grounded Kenneth Branagh as Miranda’s boyfriend) make the proceedings innately captivating.
It doesn’t hurt that the first half of the picture, Frankel, McKenna, and editor Andrew Marcus keep the pace fast and furious. Granted, it’s hard to maintain that energy even when you have Lady Gaga gracing the third act with a surprise performance, but the trio comes damn close. Moreover, we’d be remiss in revealing that, overall, the result is not always as massively funny as the original. But it may bring a tear to your eye, and we’re not sure you could say that about the first go around. And, sure, there are some cameos and casting that seem a bit too “influencer” driven (slight cringe on two in particular), but the main cast is top-tier. Their chemistry is superb. And every time you think Blunt has hilariously stolen the movie from her co-stars, Streep, Hathaway, or Tucci pop up to remind you what powerhouses they are and steal it back.
We’re not sure there will ever be another “Devil Wears Prada” installment, but be glad this one came along. At worst, to reinforce that shining memory of the original, at best to simply delight you for two hours. Hey, it might even be an improvement on that first flick. Wonder what we’ll think about the sequel 20 years from now. Assuming humans are even writing reviews, then… [B]
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