Movie reviews: Thank You For Wearing Prada.

Ok, two more movies I wanted to comment on, since my poll showed that’s why you really come here. Actually, a promotion company sent me a screener and asked me to check out The Devil Wears Prada and give my 2¢, so I said ok. (Thank You For Smoking was one I saw some time ago and wanted to mention also.) So, it’s two-for-one time people.

Like Smoking, Prada is adapted from a best-selling novel and is a snapshot of the entire fashion publishing world and features the egomaniacal boss from hell we’ve all worked for at some point. And I think that’s where it works best. But when you focus in on the individual stories, it’s there you go off in different directions and there where I think the parts bring down the whole. That’s when it felt like it wanted to be part coming-of-age-story, chick-flick, boss-from-hell tale and fashion exposé.

The main character Andy Sachs played by Anne Hathaway goes from girl-next-door plain to stunning fashion maven in a snap but still tries to maintain her integrity, akin to the premise of Working Girl. Oddly, she kept reverting back and forth between the two worlds from that point though. Meryl Streep as The Devil is awesome as usual. She is as dismissive with a single look as any actor working. Then there’s the solid Stanley Tucci as the smug second-in-command director of design and fashion, (even though he’s killing me on Cingular).

The art department parts are all there. The costume selections. The last-minute clean-up madness when clients and/or the boss arrives. But it felt clean. Too clean and staged at times. I’m more of a verite guy. Hand-held doc, real-life feel. I couldn’t help while watching Devil but compare it to some other great fashion movies: Altman’s brilliant Prêt-à-Porter or the overlooked doc Unzipped. And Devil does have moments like that. Streep dismissing ideas from her underlings rivals Mizrahi in real life. Streep in Paris at the main fashion show rivals Altman’s ‘conversations overheard’ style of shooting.

And as for being the worst boss of all time bit? Well, she is rude and egomaniacal for sure. Maybe she needs to be that in that world. Fashion is usually the result of a singular vision. Whether it’s the designer showing his new line, or the editor who controls the entire fall edition of a magazine, one person has the final say.

All others are there to serve. Advertising is far more collaborative. Client and CD have the final say of course, but certainly, more team work and expression of ideas goes into the initial creation and process than the world of fashion allows.

I still have a problem when the producer, director and writer on the DVD extras pat each other on the back for bringing a woman with power to the screen without acknowledging how she uses that power to belittle and dehumanize people. Especially because of her own personal shortcomings and justifying it further with ‘if a man did this, he’d get a high-five.’

Uh, no. If you’re an a-hole as a boss, doesn’t matter what gender you are, you’re still an a-hole. That behaviour is no less acceptable. But regardless, we’ve all been there. As good as Streep is though, and for all her stares and degrading comments, Kevin Spacey in Swimming with Sharks is still the gold standard for the boss from hell.

It’s worth renting, but I’d also check out the other films linked here as well, because those are the whole movies the individual parts of Prada want to be when they grow up.

Thank You For Smoking is already all growed up. It’s far more relevant to advertising as a look at the PR game and the lobbying that goes on for pretty much everything that made this country: guns, alcohol and tobacco. From writer/director Jason Reitman (yeah, Ivan’s son), it’s a must-see for anyone in the PR game.

Aaron Eckhart’s Nick Naylor is as convincing a shill for Big Tobacco and lobbyist as you’ll find brought to the big screen. I dismissed him after In the Company of Men, but he really surprised me here. Gotta love a PR guy who says “Michael Jordan plays ball. Charles Manson kills people. I talk. Everyone has a talent.”

While totally fiction, Smoking semi-mockingly hits the same topic that the far more serious film ‘The Insider’ does, and does it here without losing any punch.

The thing is, although he’s ultimately tormented about what he does, Naylor’s resolved to being the best at his profession. Think Jerry Maguire with a pack of Kools. Naylor has no shame in tearing apart a kindergarten class when discussing what he does for a living in the same breath that he would a US senator on the dangers of cheese from the senator’s home state being worse than the dangers of smoking.

Some other things worth noting are Rob Lowe as Jeff Megall, the slickest, most conniving Hollywood producer I’ve seen. Worth renting just to hear how he puts deals together. (Although not quite as good as Alec Baldwin’s five minutes in Glengarry Glen Ross, his character is right up there.) Here he is describing ways to get tobacco placement in films:

Jeff Megall: Sony has a futuristic sci-fi movie they’re looking to make.
Nick Naylor: Cigarettes in space?
JM: It’s the final frontier, Nick.
NN: But wouldn’t they blow up in an all oxygen environment?
JM: Probably. But it’s an easy fix. One line of dialogue. ‘Thank God we invented the... you know, whatever device.’

There are also the priceless discussions Naylor has with his other axis of evil lobbyists from alcohol and firearms. And also, a nice use of graphic icons and film technique to occassionally accent scenes, like Tarantino used in Pulp Fiction (Travolta/Uma before going into the restaurant on their date Kitty Kat).

So...rent both. But I think Smoking is the stronger, more unified film.

Tags: advertising, The Devil Wears Prada, Thank You For Smoking, fashion