ZOOLANDER
Director : Ben Stiller
Year : 2001
Genre : Comedy
Rating : ***
To start off, I must say I am not a fan of Ben Stiller. I have never found any of his movies funny and I believe that just like Adam Sandler, he has ruined the careers of many legendary actors including Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Striesand with his hideous 'Fockers' trilogy. However, while I am not a fan of Stiller, I did enjoy 'Zoolander', which he directed as well as starred. Mocking the world of fashion, many elements of popular culture and containing a large number of hilarious cameos from the likes of David Bowie and Jon Voight, 'Zoolander' is one of the more clever and entertaining comedies of 2001.
VH1's three time male model of the year Derek Zoolander is the greatest fashion icon in the world. His image can be seen across the globe in adverts, billboards and magazines. But when rival model Hansel wins the award instead, Zoolander's world is turned upside down. He quits the business and goes back home to find his roots. Soon, an evil fashion guru Mugato hires Zoolander to advertise his new fashion line Derelicte and Derek begins to think that his modelling career is back on form. However, he soon finds out that Mugato has actually brainwashed him to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia due to conflicts within the fashion world based on child labour laws . Zoolander has to gain the help of Hansel and a female journalist to prevent him murdering a world leader in front of the press and destroying his life.
'Zoolander' stars some my least popular comedic actors; Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell and usually I would avoid this movie like the plague. However, the ensemble cast work well together and some of the dialogue written is very funny. Many of the laughs are provided by Stiller's way over the top performance as Derek Zoolander, who is a caricature of many of the pseudo-celebrities that care more about their looks than their personalities. Ben Stiller would use this same characterisation in 'Dodgeball : A True Underdog Story' as narcissistic gym owner White Goodman. Owen Wilson is equally bombastic as Hansel, the flamboyant rival who exudes the same quirkiness and self indulgence as many of the icons seen in the fashion world today. With a supporting cast including Jerry Stiller, Milla Jovovich and Christine Taylor, 'Zoolander' has one of the most impressive casts in comedy history. However, to me, the enormous amount of cameos from A to Z list celebrities are used to fill out the story, distracting the audience from the lack of plot and characterisation.
While funny in parts, 'Zoolander' is highly generic. Underdog stories have been bled to death over the last few decades and the movie could be seen to be the last death - throes of this now tired sub-genre. Rivals joining to together to stop a greater force and retired greats returning to the mainstream are now common lexicon for straight to DVD movies and 'Zoolander' doesn't add anything new to the mix. The subplot involving child labour laws could be seen to be racist and as a result, the movie was never shown in Malaysia, being deemed 'definetly unsuitable' by the censorship boards. In many Asian countries, the references to Malaysia were changed to Micronesia to avoid controversy. While never overtly offensive or unnessesarily mean spirited, it is not surprising that 'Zoolander' was met with such a cold reception in 2001 and it amazes me that the screenplay writers didn't expect a backlash.
While far from perfect, 'Zoolander' is one of the better Ben Stiller comedies and I would be lying if I said I didn't laugh many times. I just wish that the storyline was as full as the cameos list, and the film took it's time to develop it's characters. I know that this film is now classed as cult, and I can definetly see why. It's witty, referential and satirical and contains many iconic lines, but it's just lacking one major thing... a character I care about.
'Zoolander' stars some my least popular comedic actors; Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell and usually I would avoid this movie like the plague. However, the ensemble cast work well together and some of the dialogue written is very funny. Many of the laughs are provided by Stiller's way over the top performance as Derek Zoolander, who is a caricature of many of the pseudo-celebrities that care more about their looks than their personalities. Ben Stiller would use this same characterisation in 'Dodgeball : A True Underdog Story' as narcissistic gym owner White Goodman. Owen Wilson is equally bombastic as Hansel, the flamboyant rival who exudes the same quirkiness and self indulgence as many of the icons seen in the fashion world today. With a supporting cast including Jerry Stiller, Milla Jovovich and Christine Taylor, 'Zoolander' has one of the most impressive casts in comedy history. However, to me, the enormous amount of cameos from A to Z list celebrities are used to fill out the story, distracting the audience from the lack of plot and characterisation.
While funny in parts, 'Zoolander' is highly generic. Underdog stories have been bled to death over the last few decades and the movie could be seen to be the last death - throes of this now tired sub-genre. Rivals joining to together to stop a greater force and retired greats returning to the mainstream are now common lexicon for straight to DVD movies and 'Zoolander' doesn't add anything new to the mix. The subplot involving child labour laws could be seen to be racist and as a result, the movie was never shown in Malaysia, being deemed 'definetly unsuitable' by the censorship boards. In many Asian countries, the references to Malaysia were changed to Micronesia to avoid controversy. While never overtly offensive or unnessesarily mean spirited, it is not surprising that 'Zoolander' was met with such a cold reception in 2001 and it amazes me that the screenplay writers didn't expect a backlash.
While far from perfect, 'Zoolander' is one of the better Ben Stiller comedies and I would be lying if I said I didn't laugh many times. I just wish that the storyline was as full as the cameos list, and the film took it's time to develop it's characters. I know that this film is now classed as cult, and I can definetly see why. It's witty, referential and satirical and contains many iconic lines, but it's just lacking one major thing... a character I care about.
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