SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Hollywood's favorite fashionistas are back.
(SOUNDBITE OF MADONNA SONG, "VOGUE")
DETROW: Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and the Tooch (ph), Stanley Tucci, return to Runway magazine in "The Devil Wears Prada 2." Critic Bob Mondello says that after 20 years, the fashion industry is still going strong, but journalism is struggling.
BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: It never fails. In fashion, one minute, you're in the pink, the next, you're singing the ceruleans. We return to Runway as a story prompts a scandal. The magazine needs to do damage control, so the owner hires editor Miranda Priestly's one-time assistant, Andy, to be her new features editor, but he doesn't tell Miranda. So when Andy arrives...
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STANLEY TUCCI: (As Nigel) Look what TJ Maxx dragged in.
MERYL STREEP: (As Miranda Priestly) Sorry. Who is this? Do you know her? Do I know her?
ANNE HATHAWAY: (As Andy Sachs) I'm Andy Sachs. Andrea?
TUCCI: (As Nigel) She was one of the Emilys.
STREEP: (As Miranda Priestly) One of the what?
MONDELLO: Meryl Streep's imperious Miranda was just as dismissive back in the day. So Andy, played by Anne Hathaway, just hopes for the best as...
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STREEP: (As Miranda Priestly) Get Ashley (ph) on the phone, please.
MONDELLO: ...Miranda adjusts to her arrival.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As Ashley) Hi. Good morning, Miranda.
STREEP: (As Miranda Priestly) Yes, Ashley, flag on the play. We don't need you this morning or ever. So pack up your things, and HR will be in to see you shortly. Happy? You just cost Cornell summa cum laude her job.
MONDELLO: One last knife twist.
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STREEP: (As Miranda Priestly) First in her family to go to college, I believe.
MONDELLO: Stanley Tucci's Nigel smiles sympathetically, then hustles them off to Runway's biggest advertiser, Christian Dior, to mend fences with another of the Emilys - the Emily, actually, played by Emily Blunt.
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EMILY BLUNT: (As Emily) Am I having a hallucination?
HATHAWAY: (As Andy Sachs) Hi, Emily.
STREEP: (As Miranda Priestly) You also know her?
BLUNT: (As Emily) We were at Runway at the same time, Miranda.
STREEP: (As Miranda Priestly) Really? Where was I?
MONDELLO: Emily now controls Dior's ad budget, so Andy needs to impress.
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HATHAWAY: (As Andy Sachs) I am the new features editor at Runway.
BLUNT: (As Emily) No, you're not.
HATHAWAY: (As Andy Sachs) I'm actually a journalist now. I have been published in - doesn't matter. Anyway, we are all well aware that running that story was a mistake and are taking immediate steps.
BLUNT: (As Emily) I cannot actually get over this - a senior editor at Runway, you?
HATHAWAY: (As Andy Sachs) Yep.
STREEP: (As Miranda Priestly) We're all so thrilled.
TUCCI: (As Nigel) Mm hmm.
BLUNT: (As Emily) You know what's funny is you've changed. You have. You're much more confident. Kept those eyebrows, though, didn't you?
MONDELLO: Devil wears Dior, anyone? Things spiral as the filmmakers put Lauren Weisberger's characters back in the mindsets we remember, Andy needing to prove herself, Emily taking potshots, Miranda reigning as queen bee. There are lots of callbacks to the first film. A street vendor holding up two near-identical blue belts will have fans grinning, as will Miranda's new second assistant.
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CALEB HEARON: (As Charlie) A million girls would kill for this job.
HATHAWAY: (As Andy Sachs) Heard that.
MONDELLO: And the new Emily, who's plaguing Andy.
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HATHAWAY: (As Andy Sachs) I am on time.
SIMONE ASHLEY: (As Amari) So you're the kind of person who thinks on time is on time. OK, got it. All right, come on. I'll show you to your office.
MONDELLO: Director David Frankel swoops everyone off mid-movie for fashion week in Milan, filmed during fashion week in Milan, and he makes it everything Paris was last time, Streep striding alone through a magnificently empty galleria at night, celebrities in couture for days and sophisticated snark.
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STREEP: (As Miranda Priestly) I hope that's not what you're wearing to the dinner. That's all.
MONDELLO: The first film cost $35 million. This one costs much more, and you can see it.
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TUCCI: (As Nigel) This is quiet, luxury - luxury that is so quiet, you need an ear trumpet.
MONDELLO: Which is not to suggest "The Devil Wears Prada 2" is an advance in terms of story. Frankly, it's a little slack. Still, give the filmmakers credit. Men here are sidekicks. Fashion isn't only for the thin. Journalism is as imperiled as in real life, and Streep's Miranda is delicious, giving not-quite-HR-approved feedback on a photo shoot.
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STREEP: (As Miranda Priestly) The models were encouraged to mill around like starving goats in the parking lot of a methadone clinic in New Jersey. What?
ASHLEY: (As Amari) Can't say that.
STREEP: (As Miranda Priestly) What am I not allowed to say - methadone, New Jersey?
MONDELLO: What can I say? That's all. I'm Bob Mondello.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "VOGUE")
MADONNA: (Singing) Come on, vogue, vogue. Let your body move to the music, move to the music. Hey, hey, hey. Come on, vogue, vogue. Let your body go with the flow, go with the flow. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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