Johnson Thomas
A Fluff piece made for the Stiffs
Film: The Devil Wears Prada 2
Cast: Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway,Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, Simone Ashley, Caleb Hearon, Justin Theroux, Lucy Liu, Kenneth Branagh, BJ Novak, Tracie Thoms, Tibor Feldman, Patrick Brammall, Helen J. Shen, Rachel Bloom Director: David Frankel.
Rating: * * 1/2
Runtime: 119 m
20 years later the sequel to the hit 2006 release, ‘Devil Wears Prada’ makes its way to the screens and it’s deliberately designed to be similar to the original - only the times have changed. It’s a post covid world. Mobile phones are everywhere. Publishing has gone digital, readers have migrated to internet and social networks and marketing has become more visual. Print journalism is dying. AI is rearing its ugly head. The artistic community which was held in high esteem find that their equity doesn’t have many takers anymore because of the collapsing media landscape. The movers and the shakers in the publishing world now find themselves prostrating before newly minted Tech billionaires to fund their dreams.
The high priestess of the fashion magazine world Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) finds herself trying to navigate an alien magazine-scape in order to keep herself and Runway, relevant. In the meanwhile Andy Sach’s (Anne Hathaway), an ex-runway intern, who has become a celebrated journalist for Vanguard and gets downsized in one fell swoop, gets offered the features editor post in Runway. They both come up against former Runway intern/PA, Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt), now a high-powered executive for a luxury group, Dior. That’s the gist of the set-up here.
‘Runway’ owner Irv Ravits (Tibor Feldman) conks off in the middle of a prestigious showing, his son Jay Ravitz (BJ Novak) takes over and soon enough billionaire techy Benji Barnes (Justin Theroux) swoops in to give his latest girlfriend Emily, something to play with. It’s a melodramatic turn that gets more convoluted as the runtime progresses.
This is a creatively bankrupt though fairly entertaining retread - that’s if you are looking for nothing more challenging than a few piddly laughs and needless attitude that doesn’t appear sharp anymore. The precious few sharp one-liners delivered by Meryl Streep can still get you on a high. Streep commands all your attention even though it’s Hathaway who rules the roost as far as runtime goes. We don’t see Andy do much journalism. She seems more of a gopher making calls and arranging interviews.
Through most of the movie, Streep stays low key. She no longer appears to have the power to make her minions scurry around to do her bidding. Her latest assistant Amari (Simone Ashley) doesn’t have much to do what with downsizing and budget cuts that are now plaguing Runway too. We don’t see any ravishingly beautiful models either.
Nostalgia drives this narrative so the story is quite threadbare. The lead characters reprise some of those memorable ticks of yore. Much of the snarky banter and edgy interactions that made the first film memorable, is missing though. The return of director David Frankel, screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna, and stars Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci, do nothing much other than mine nostalgia for the brand. Lucy Liu, Justin Theroux and Kenneth Brannagh add weight to the A list cast but their presence doesn’t uplift the experience.
Patrick Brammall who plays Andy’s romantic interest and Brannagh who is Priestly’s stay at home partner, look rather lost in the jumbled up plotting. Stanley Tucci’s Nigel is the only character who garners sympathy because of his innate goodness.
The many subplots and add-on characters don’t justify their presence in the scheme of things. Fashion itself is a minuscule part of this engagement.The bit about Sasha Barnes( Lucy Liu) doing a Mackenzie Scott feels too obvious. Even Lady Gaga’s cameo (which also includes a live song performance) fails to perk-up the narrative. Every sequence feels trite and flaky. Don’t expect many satirical asides or acerbic retorts.
Brosh McKenna’s dialogue is amusing but not up to the first film’s standard. The musical score by Theodore Shapiro is rather distracting. It takes the bite away from the dialogue. The production design is decent. The clothes/fashion though, seem a little downmarket. Molly Rogers’ costumes fail to emulate or better Patricia Field’s couture originals. DP Florian Ballhaus returns but his camera fails to capture the mood or the sentiment. The pacing is smooth enough but the tempo gets a little rushed towards the end.
The movie is fairly engaging. There are a few funny and poignant moments to keep you going. But it fails to match up to the original. This film is rather an obligatory low stakes brand reawakening rather than a fresh salvo. There are no surprises here.
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