I finally went to see “The Devil Wears Prada 2” tonight. Disney did everything to keep me from seeing it, but who cares?
My theater, which was on the small side, was filled with girls. No guys. They giggled, talked a lot, and applauded at the end. The ticket taker said shows are selling really well — and so “Michael.”
“TDWP2” picks up 20 years later after the first one. It’s the kind of sequel that doesn’t re-establish its foundation, just moves on as if viewers know all the characters. It’s a good looking but unnecessary sort of valedictory with a layer of modernity: publishing is in trouble, we’re told, under siege from someone — AI? the internet? — and the people we love on screen are fast becoming dinosaurs.
Yeah, we know.
What goes on, though, is downright weird. In real life, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos has been courted by Anna Wintour to underwrite the Met Gala. There are rumors she’s trying to get him by Vogue or Conde Nast. The word is this would somehow include his second wife, Lauren Sanchez.
So imagine my surprise to find Justin Theroux very dryly playing a Bezos stand in in Prada 2. His very wealthy character is a seeming clod with a lot of money who’s dating a Machievellian version of Sanchez played by Emily Blunt. Huh? Did Bezos know this when he agreed to sponsor the Gala? Did anyone tell Wintour they were mocking her cash cow? It’s no wonder Bezos isn’t coming to Monday’s party.
The movie is also full of cameos. Wintour was supposed to be in a scene, but isn’t, as it turns. But another former magazine editor does appear at a swanky part, for a nano second. That would be Tina Brown, who was never friendly with Wintour when they were both at Conde Nast. What’s really going on? Did the filmmakers tell Anna about all of these shenanigans before they filmed?
None of this made any difference to the girls in my audience. It’s all ‘inside baseball.’ They were more concerned about Andie aka Anne Hathaway, as she runs around trying to save the magazine. “Prada 2” makes Andie seem like Carrie Bradshaw, and the whole movie feels like it could “Sex and the City 4” except without the sex. There’s actually not a hint of lust in this film. It’s strictly business, the business of making a sequel.
Meryl Streep returns as Miranda Priestly, who was so imperious and cold as a Wintour stand in in the first movie. Now Miranda has had her teeth removed. If it weren’t for Streep’s uncanny ability to elevate material, Miranda would come across as totally defanged this time around. Streep seems to be working against the screenplay to keep Miranda mysterious and cold. But that’s a of work since the movie wants so desperately to make Miranda all gooey and soft.
Streep does have the best line in the film, however. She tells Blunt’s social climbing conniver “You’re not a visionary. You’re a vendor.” The delivery is impeccable.
I’m a big Anne Hathaway fan, and for most of the film I was with her. But Andie is very underdeveloped after 20 years, so Hathaway has to do deal with that. How has Andie lived for the last two decades? How did she suddenly get re-hired at Runway as features editor– even though she seems more like a publicist? There’s a little twist at the end, just as in the first movie.
Stanley Tucci is fine as Nigel, who’s become Miranda’s Andre Leon Talley. Lucy Liu turns up as a kind of Laurene Powell Jobs, who in real life bought The Atlantic. Yet another roman a clef moment, just as Andie’s getting a book contract to expose Miranda is similar to Lauren Weissberger’s OG story with “Devil.”
Like “Sex and the City,” this is a fairytale, far removed from any reality in publishing or New York. And that’s fine. “Prada 2” is a function of itself. But please, no more of these, no IP third movie or TV series. This cow has been thoroughly milked.
One PS– Lady Gaga makes a special appearance, and also performs her song, “The Shape of a Woman.” It’s the one moment when the movie comes to life vividly. I hope she gets a Best Song nomination.
