ephemeral - adjective - something that lasts for a very short time
Box-office bonanzas like Barbie or The Devil Wears Prada 2 are ephemeral, especially considering not many people are devotees of cinema-going lately. Movies, in general, are ephemeral since so many are produced and released on the big screen as well as on the small screen. Despite not being as good as the first, The Devil Wears Prada 2 in its opening weekend garnered 234 million dollars, the highest for a Meryl Streep film, which says a lot regarding the actor's perennial appeal. That being mentioned, the film did not make it into my top ten. Perhaps waiting twenty years to make a sequel has worked against the second iteration.
To be fair, DWP2 possesses a few redeemable qualities for a sequel. My thirty-five-year-old daughter and I both agreed that we enjoyed the on-location sequences, particularly those shot in New York, Milan, and Lake Como, which is always a treat for those of us who dream in technicolor. We also appreciated the costumes, designed by our favorite Pat Fields, known for outfitting Sarah Jessica Parker and friends on Sex and the City. Authentic celebs, particularly names in sports, making cameo appearances throughout the movie kept our interest albeit at some junctures if we weren't paying attention, we missed out. For example, I noticed Masters' winner Rory McIlroy and his wife, whereas my daughter didn't. I liked the juxtaposition of generations Boomer versus Millennial to stress the then-versus-now acceptable norms. For instance, Boomer Amanda has felt the need to juggle career, marriage, and motherhood. At the close of the film, she uncharacteristically (for a female narcissist) expresses regret at having failed at the latter. In the next sentence, she appeases her own ephemeral guilt by saying, "Oh, but I do love working. Don't you?" as if a successful career trumps and forgives all. On the other hand, Millennial Andy knows better, focusing her energies solely on journalism. Like others of her generation, she does not feel pressured to bet on the trifecta, knowing her limitations as a person. Even though she is in her forties, she is content with living her life sans a husband and children.
Where the movie goes wrong is that it doesn't have a clear purpose. It starts out extolling the materialistic virtues of superficial glitz, yet contradicts itself towards the end with Priestly's admission that fashion should be perpetuated for the sake of art and/or beauty. The intention is to carry the character over the threshold of static into dynamic, but the shift is so quick that it makes no sense. One can only suspend disbelief for so long. What else doesn't make sense is including plot elements and characters that beg for back story. The opening scandal involving Runway and Priestly is glossed over, and Lucy Liu's character is thin, literally and figuratively as there is next to no exposition on her. I missed Nate (Adrian Grenier) whose absence is not explained even though he figures prominently at the close of the original film. In addition, the pacing of the film is poor, and the proliferation of technology made me anxious, as anxious as the Gen Z students I used to teach who were addicted to their phones. Twenty years ago, we functioned well with flip phones and desktops, which the first film unintentionally points out. Today, we are consumed with everything imaginable, even AI, more fluff. I hope the filmmakers are trying to communicate this in a not-so-subtle way. (Maybe it's just me as I recently spent time on a virtually deserted island off of Fiji sans any technology at all, not even plumbing or electricity. It was heavenly.) DWP2 is an unpleasant reminder that Silicone Valley has crossed the border into unhealthy territory, a good thing if that is indeed its purpose. But again, the movie lacks a defined purpose.
But don't take my word for it. See The Devil Wears Prada 2 if only for the performances. Streep is, well, Streep, divinely perfect, what every actor ascribes to be. Hathaway returns to perky positiveness and is as wholesome (if there is such a word anymore) as a likable protagonist can be. (They should have given her a much hotter love interest, though.) I also think Blunt is consistent as the antihero Emily. And Tucci is even more lovable as an emotionally vulnerable Nigel, unafraid to show his love for Andy.
If film as art holds a mirror up to who we are in the present, DWP2 is the zeitgeist of contemporary urban life. Maybe what we need to do is examine where we are technologically and think about returning to 2006 so that we don't destroy humanity altogether.
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