THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA @ 20

Hello one and all.

With The Devil Wears Prada 2 already making a killing at the box office - besting out previous winner, Michael, I thought it'd be best to revisit the 20-year OG film that had us worshipping and equally reviling Meryl Streep's now iconic RUNWAY editor-in-chief character, Miranda Priestly.

The early and mid-2000s were a strange, transitional decade-especially when it came to technology. We were attempting to catch up, and one of the funnies relics is how "texting" wasn't quite as used in the corporate industries, let alone the fashion industry. Despite emerging in 1999, I think texting could've benefited Andy, ne: Andrea Sachs, played by Anne Hathaway-when she took her second assistant job at RUNWAY, the fictional VOGUE magazine that functions as the frantic work environment in David Frankel's The Devil Wears Prada. The Calvin Klein skirts issue that rattled her, would've been less stressful with a few sent pics by phone-and even the Starbucks orders she needed "searing hot".

The Devil Wears Prada turns 20 this year and as luck has it-we got it's belated sequel (or legacy sequel depending on who you ask) in theaters this month. Those not in the know, but should be, are of course vaguely aware it's based on a roman à clef novel by Lauren Weisburger who fictionally detailed her time as a VOGUE assistant under Anna Wintour; the then editor-in-chief of the magazine. How outrageously demanding was she? Well, this writer has never read the book, but was more than willing to see the movie adaptation-which, didn't disappoint.

If the film works at all, it's largely due to Meryl Streep's Oscar-nominated performance as the RUNWAY editor-in-chief, Miranda Priestly (British in the book, very Americanized in the movie adaptation) who she plays with surgical precision. Equal parts enigmatic and charming, and condescending and nasty-we are forced to make a decision. Hate her or love her despite her obvious flaws (or lack-thereof if none were to be found).

Anne Hathaway who was achieving fame quite quickly is equally her foil as Andy Sachs, the put-upon second assistant who needs to spell Gabbana properly, wouldn't know cerulean blue from chartreuse green and that Starbucks should be scalding hot upon arrival. Not helping at all is the first assistant, Emily, played by the piquant Emily Blunt who was barely a household name at the time of this movie's release, but would rise to prominence after. Her putdowns and snide observations about Andy's cluelessness about couture seem to have a way of biting her back.

The supporting cast rounds out with the biggest scene-stealer in a movie already full of them. Stanley Tucci aka "The Tooch", aka Nigel Kipling who rises above and beyond to "train" Andy in the ways of working in a haute couture environment. Shoes, size six dresses, giving the "Gold Star" speech even when she has been trying, but still feels like she just phones it in. Tucci adds depth and class to what could easily be a caricature and has so many great lines that it's hard to pick which one stands out most; but his "gird your loins" quip, has earned iconic meme status.

Now, is the film perfect? No. Even as a non-fashionista myself, I'm aware that the film makes too many broad strokes and caricaturizes a few too many a character, like Adrian Grenier's unsupportive boyfriend, Simon Baker's smooth operating writer and publishing rival to Miranda. Some scenes are played for obvious laughs-but stretch credibility much too far i.e. the "the hurricane flight scramble", the "sabotaging friends" and the obviously ludicrous "get me the unpublished Harry Potter manuscript or your head's on the chopping block" test for keeping her employment. However, in equal balance, they do bely the obvious "people in power often bend reality to their whims however impossible it may be" caveat and yes, since they're all in on the joke-I guess I should be in on it as well.

I have yet to see The Devil Wears Prada 2, but early advance word says it's a worthy successor to the original. For now, I still have the first film to look back on with a big smile and a big plate of a charred Jarlsberg grilled cheese sandwich.

"The Devil Wears Prada 2" is currently in theaters and is rated PG-13 for strong language, suggestive themes and intense workplace themes. The original is available on many streaming platforms depending on your region.