Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly and Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs in a scene from "The Devil Wears Prada 2." (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios)
Movies about horrible bosses, especially those who mine these characters' cruelty for laughs, aren't at the top of this critic's watchlist. Audiences may find the indignities inflicted on these megalomaniacs' long-suffering underlings droll and amusing, but from where I'm sitting, they tend to leave a bitter aftertaste.
This spring brings two new variations on the employer-from-hell narrative, but these films don't treat the material like business as usual, even though one of them is a long-awaited studio sequel. The way these new releases approach their ostensibly hissable protagonists, brought to life by two of the best actors working today, also includes taking them to task for their past misdeeds.
Even though the worlds of art and fashion figure prominently, both productions are just as interested in the role that the current economy plays. Both are helmed by usually reliable filmmakers who display a genuine curiosity in the nooks and crannies of their characters and the baggage they carry. Both feature familiar faces in roles that fit them like a designer glove, but are these projects worthy of their stature? Let's take a look.
Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in a scene from "The Devil Wears Prada 2." (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios)
“The Devil Wears Prada 2”: It's different from the first one, and that's good. The highly anticipated return to the New York City offices of Runway magazine boasts glossy surfaces, cosmopolitan locales, chic threads and most of the original cast, twenty years older but still looking fabulous.
But the 20th Century Studios release, like its 2006 predecessor, directed by “Sex and the City” alum David Frankel, has a lot more on its mind than designer collections, vicious takedowns, workplace gossip and dating doldrums. It aims to be a portrait of the publishing world in this troubling twilight stage, when the fate of entire publications is subject to the whims of tech billionaires and other one-percenters who value clicks over quality. This isn't quite the airy date-night selection that the first one was.
And, to be honest, I'm glad. I risked having my gay card declared null and void when I had the temerity to say that the first “Devil Wears Prada” was more of a near miss, done in by Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna's decision to water down the portrayal of Runway editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) that gave Lauren Weisberger's blistering 2003 novel its bite. They sanded off the edges to the point that the novel's climactic confrontation between Miranda and her harried but resourceful assistant Andy Sachs is reduced to the most muted act of defiance imaginable: throwing a cellphone into a fountain.
Stanley Tucci as Nigel Kipling and Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs in a scene from "The Devil Wears Prada 2." (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios)
There was no doubt, in Weisberger's telling, that Miranda, who bears striking similarities to Vogue's Anna Wintour, was a ruthless arbiter of fashion who saw the potential in the office assistants whose lives she turned into a living hell. Frankel and Brosh McKenna's more humane, arguably enabling depiction of this grande dame of haute couture may have appeased the Mirandas in Tinseltown who greenlit the first movie, but it deprived viewers of the catharsis that the book's readers experienced.
Frankel and Brosh McKenna are similarly kind toward the older Miranda in “Prada 2,” but this time, their empathy is coupled with a set of potentially career-killing setbacks that might initially come across as plot points to move the story forward but upon further reflection feel like karmic retribution for the way she belittled Andy, played in both films by Anne Hathaway, two decades ago.
Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly and Stanley Tucci as Nigel Kipling in a scene from "The Devil Wears Prada 2." (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios)
A distasteful and offensive article published by Runway gets Miranda canceled on social media, at around the same time Andy learns, while accepting an industry award, than she and the entire staff of the magazine they work for have been fired. By text, no less.
Opportunity comes knocking with improbable haste, and a cryptic phone call later, Andy finds herself back at Runway and face to face with her former tormentor. After her initial confusion dissipates, Miranda learns the chairman of Runway's parent company went over her head and hired Andy, now an acclaimed and well-respected investigative journalist, to be the fashion bible's features editor.
You think a battle of wills, with the balance of power altered between the two women, will ensue, but Frankel and Brosh McKenna are not interested in churning out a lazy retread of their previous collaboration. They dispense with the bile pretty early on and focus on developing this new working relationship between Miranda and Andy that sees the older woman softening, dropping her defenses as she steels herself for new curve balls thrown her way.
Michael Coel as Lori Butler and Ian McKellen as Julian Sklar in a scene from "The Christophers." (Photo by Claudette Barius, courtesy of NEON)
It's fun to see other old faces back. The movie gives ample screen time to Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt), Andy's old co-worker/adversary, and Nigel Kipling (Stanley Tucci), Runway's art director, Miranda's right hand and this fairy tale's Fairy Godmother. You don't quite buy the contrivances that bring these four people back together, but they give way to some palace intrigue that keeps “Prada 2” humming along at a steady clip.
The power plays and wheeling and dealing send Miranda, Andy, Emily and Nigel on a wild, corporate-maneuvering ride that plays like an ultra-lite variation on HBO's “Succession,” but what lingers is how this unexpectedly touching sequel has given serious thought to how these characters have grown and evolved in twenty years. It also refuses to lose sight of the current Darwinian reality that has seen so many talented people lose their jobs and so many good publications gutted in the name of bottom-line profits and lowest-common-denominator digital content.
Ian McKellen as Julian Sklar in a scene from "The Christophers." (Photo by Claudette Barius, courtesy of NEON)
The film's lament for a time when publications, things you could touch and leaf through, reported on and even started fashion trends goes down like a vintage burgundy. Because “Prada 2” is just as much a film about forgiveness, healing and the passage of time than about career advancement and keeping one's head above water in this new normal. Brosh McKenna has become a better, more inquisitive writer, but Frankel's gently observant sensibility is the glue keeping together this warmhearted comedy that values its unsung heroes. Did it win over this skeptic? That wasn't a question.
“The Christophers”: Meryl Streep made two movies with the prolific Steven Soderbergh, including the splendid “Let Them All Talk.” The “Erin Brockovich” and “Black Bag” director likes to mix in smaller character studies in between bigger projects, like this two-hander that takes him and screenwriter Ed Solomon to East London. Soderbergh's screen icon this time is Sir Ian McKellen, playing Julian Sklar, a renowned painter with a foul temper and more than a few regrets.
Jessica Gunning as Sallie Milton Sklar and James Corden as Barnaby Sklar in a scene from "The Christophers." (Photo by Claudette Barius, courtesy of NEON)
Julian's dueling partner is Lori Butler (Michaela Coel from HBO's “I May Destroy You”), an artist who comes to the grouchy geezer's townhouse to be interviewed for an assistant position. But what Julian doesn't know is that Lori, who hasn't created new work in a while but who nevertheless has a knack for forgery, is there under false pretenses. Lori, you see, has been roped in by Julian's adult (but not mature) children, Barnaby (James Corden) and Sallie (Jessica Gunning from Netflix's “Baby Reindeer”), into posing as a job applicant to in order to gain access to the titular paintings.
Julian, who refers to himself as “bisexual when it actually cost you something,” never finished the third series of The Christophers, a series of portraits of his former boyfriend, so Barnaby and Sallie's scheme is for Lori to finish the paintings behind his back so they can be “discovered” after he kicks the bucket.
Julian, a shell of his former self as a bad boy of the art world, is so broke that he's resorted to recording Cameos, personalized video messages, for fans with moolah to shell out in order to keep the lights on. While he's prone to senior moments, he's still sharp as a tack, but bitterness has eaten away at any artistic impulse.
So he lashes out at Lori, who takes the putdowns like a trouper, more than holds her own against the grizzled snob and, in true Soderbergh fashion, has a secret connection to the old man that she's kept to herself. One hopes that once Julian, who's a jerk but no dummy, has figured out the ruse, things ought to get really interesting.
Michael Coel as Lori Butler and Ian McKellen as Julian Sklar in a scene from "The Christophers." (Photo by Claudette Barius, courtesy of NEON)
Give credit to Soderbergh and Solomon, who also has the first “Men in Black” and the “Bill & Ted” movies on his resume, for not drawing out the charade longer than necessary. Alas, they're not able to move the bulk of “The Christophers” beyond an exhausting intergenerational clash between Julian and Lori. The film, while occasionally funny, feels claustrophobic and stagy, even though it was written for the screen. Soderbergh's direction here often feels like he's on autopilot, as if his mind is already on his next project.
That's too bad, because McKellen and Coel give fully felt, committed performances that don't call attention to themselves. Corden and Gunning, on the other hand, are rather shrill and a bit of a drag as Julian's estranged, dirty rotten progeny. They're not much fun, as one-note as the movie they're in.
And who are they kidding? If you take away the trendy art world trappings and lacerating potshots, the film at its core is an arthouse spin on that old chestnut: the lonely abuelito who finds himself rejuvenated by the introduction of a younger person who gives him a renewed purpose in life.
But no one's spirits are being lifted here. The most intriguing aspect, Julian's old muse and the relationship that inspired his best-known work, is given precious little screen time, making the movie too dry and brittle to sweep you along. Is this you trying to be charming, Mr. Soderbergh? “The Christophers,” as creaky as Julian's old wooden floors, is anything but.
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” is in theaters in wide release, including Silverspot Cinema in downtown Miami, CMX Brickell Dine-In, Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas Coconut Grove, Cinema Paradiso in Hollywood and Dolby Cinema engagements at AMC Aventura and AMC Sunset Place. “The Christophers” is playing now through Thursday, May 7, at the Coral Gables Art Cinema.
