Film Review: From Prada to Nada

We watched From Prada to Nada on a recent trip to Cyprus although I think it was probably out in the UK a while back.

'From Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility' read the opening credits, ‘A long way from Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility’ might’ve been more honest, like the Jane Austen novel the film has two sisters, one of whom is sensible (reads books) while the other is more flighty (likes to shop); but Jane Austen also had a feminist slant, the sisters weren’t allowed to inherit their father’s estate because they were women, whereas here they just become poor. And of course the sisters in Jane Austen were unable to find men because of the strictures and conventions of 18th-century society, whereas here Nora (the sensible one) has a rich, handsome, totally eligible lawyer declare his love for her at the end of Act 2, only to reject him because she wants to save her energy for her career (as a lawyer) and Mary, the spoiled-brat sister, defines herself thus: “My iPod is full, I don’t wake up before 10, and no habla espanol!”.
All that changes when beloved Daddy keels over on his 55th birthday, revealing a hitherto-unknown half-brother and a precarious financial situation. In a word, Daddy’s bankrupt, meaning Nora and Mary have no inheritance, the half-brother and his bitchy wife get the house, and the girls have to move from Beverly Hills to the wilds of East L.A. “No more shopping!” wails Mary; “No high-protein diet!”. The barrio is a whole other world, with its colourful murals and signs in Spanish, but their auntie, who agrees to take them in (because family is “what counts”), tries to reassure her: “Not everything that stinks is caca,” she opines.

The film then runs out of steam. It only takes a few scenes for the girls to adapt to their new environment, there’s not much to adapt to, except chicken-soup for dinner and a bunch of illegal immigrants sewing clothes in the living-room – and a few more scenes before they’re salsa-dancing and downing tequila shots at the big family party. The film could’ve ended right there, but of course we still have half an hour of romantic entanglements, Nora realising she maybe shouldn’t have turned down that rich handsome lawyer (duh!), Mary having to choose between the clean-cut poshy and the stubbled neighbour who fixes her car. One of these men turns out to be a cad, the other teaches neighbourhood kids how to paint murals. Can you guess which is which?

So it goes. Nora proves her brilliance as a legal mind by winning a case for some cleaning ladies she meets on the bus and Mary actuallygoes to work. Nora calls Mary a whore, Mary calls Nora a spinster, but they kiss and make up of course. From Prada to Nada is a harmless movie, even amusing at times and its unlikely to offend anyone. Except possibly Jane Austen.