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Walk a Mile in My Pradas
DVD REVIEW Special to the online edition of Windy City Times
by Steve Warren
2012-01-11

This article shared 6200 times since Wed Jan 11, 2012
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Steve: How are you supposed to tell your lover you've suddenly switched to the other side?

Trish: Ask Anne Heche.

Although it takes place during the last week of the year and its deus ex machina is a Christmas tree ornament, Walk a Mile in My Pradas isn't about the holidays. It can be watched and enjoyed—or not—at any time of the year.

The tree-topping angel might as well be a genie from a lamp, with its power to grant wishes, including changing the sexual orientation of the movie's leading men. Until the Presto! Change-o! moment, Tony (Nathaniel Marston) is straight and Steve (co-writer Tom Archdeacon) is gay.

Tony inherited his homophobia from his father (Mike Starr), not his somewhat more tolerant mom (Dee Wallace). He's about to marry Sarah (Kirsten Lea) on New Year's Day. His employer, Joe (Tom Arnold), who renovates houses, has just gotten his first wealthy celebrity client, Bruce Vilanch (who is talked about a lot but doesn't make his cameo appearance until late in the film).

Tony and his buddy, Danny (Darren Keefe), apparently only do heavy lifting and other butch work, so they mock Steve, Joe's new head of design, as soon as he mentions having a boyfriend.

That BF, Michael (Emrhys Cooper, who looks like the original model for the Ken doll) wants to get married, while Steve is happy with things as they are—fear of commitment, you know.

Tony's taunts would never fly in this day and age, especially in front of his boss, but: 1) it's a movie and 2) Steve gives as good as he gets. One of their exchanges—"I wish you were gay" "I wish you were straight"—takes place in front of the angel, and poof! (pardon the expression), their wishes are granted.

Yes, Walk a Mile in My Pradas is another entry in the tired body-switch genre, a little "Big" or a spare "Change-Up." It misses so many opportunities to be edgy, it's practically Disney-esque, a less Freaky Friday. While both men lose interest in their current partners and are attracted to people of a different gender (i.e., the same gender, in Tony's case), they never act on their impulses.

Since they are the leads and this is a gay comedy, you'd think Steve and Tony would at least kiss once—to test their feelings or whatever. No, Tony starts cooking, Steve fixes a car and these robust thirtysomethings turn celibate for a week, until—would it be a spoiler to reveal that they switch back in the end?

While the movie implies that it's wrong to put gays down, it's not as kind to blondes or plus-sized women, both embodied by Laura (Lindsay Hollister). In a performance that suggests she could get the roles Melissa McCarthy turns down, she repeatedly throws herself at Brian (Rick Karatas, the film's other writer), even after being told he's gay. She's also the butt of disparaging remarks about her weight, despite being in a movie that features Tom Arnold, Bruce Vilanch and Mike Starr, all of whom are bigger than she is (and Arnold scores with a slender woman!).

Wallace tries a little too hard to make something of her limited screen time but the acting is generally as good as the script allows and Joey Sylvester does a decent job directing his first feature.

Some amusing moments and the gay twist on this tired subgenre will be enough to make many viewers like Walk a Mile in My Pradas. A stronger, more daring script would have added me to their ranks.


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