Zoolander (2001)

Genre

Comedy

Director

Ben Stiller

Country

USA

Cast

Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Christine Taylor, Will Ferrell, Milla Jovovich, Jerry Stiller, David Duchovny, Jon Voight, Vince Vaughn, Judah Friedlander, Nathan Lee Graham, Alexander Skarsgård, Justin Theroux, Andy Dick, Andrew Wilson, John Vargas, Jennifer Coolidge, Tony Kanal, Nora Dunn, James Marsden, Patton Oswalt, Alexandre Manning, Asio Highsmith, Woodrow A. Asai, Mason Webb, Godfrey, Taj Crown

Storyline

At the end of his career as male supermodel, Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) is brainwashed to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia (Woodrow A. Asai).

Opinion

I never cared for this film until the release of its sequel earlier this year that seemed like a huge deal. Everyone was talking about Zoolander's comeback and I died a little inside because because I didn't even know the guy. Long story short, I finally watched it, and I loved it.

"Zoolander" is probably one of the dumbest, more absurd films I've ever seen but it is so hilarious it doesn't even matter.

The story is definitely ridiculous and utterly insane and involves supermodels, lots of vanity and a conspiracy to murder the prime minister of Malaysia by the hands of a brainwashed model. It does sounds stupid, doesn't it? Well, that's how it is supposed to be.

But the plot is not that important. You actually couldn't care less, because what makes this film so entertaining are the jokes, the atmospheres and the parodies. I didn't exactly like "2001: A Space Odyssey" so seeing a parody of the monolith scene involving two dumb models trying to make a computer work was a lot of fun.

However, the film is not dumb as it looks. In fact, while it makes fun of the fashion industry, it also targets our image-obsessed culture that commodifies everything.

Ben Stiller proves is flexibility as a comedic actor - just watch this and "Meet the Parents" - and does a decent job as director as well. Owen Wilson always manages to find the humour in the role he plays, and the chemistry with Stiller is just beautiful. The funniest though are probably Will Ferrell and Jerry Stiller in their crazy roles.