Zoolander

2001

2.5/5 Stars

“Mermaaaaaaaaaan…. Mermaaaaann!”

Ben Stiller acts as writer, director, and star of this silly and irreverent lampooning of Hollywood, the fashion industry, and the celebrities therein. The plot is intentionally absurd – something involving the none-too-bright male model Zoolander (Stiller) being suckered into an international conspiracy to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia. The story takes a back seat to the opportunity for Stiller to fill the screen with his countless celebrity friends and family members (his mother, father, and wife all have speaking roles in the film).

This is generally a fun experience, as the audience feels a part of the joke. Good performances by Owen Wilson as Zoolander’s arch-rival Hansel, Will Ferrell as the evil fashion designer Mugatu, and David Duchovny as a retired hand model all help to keep the movie afloat for what can - at times - feel like a long 89 minutes.

Cameos from David Bowie, Winona Ryder, and Billy Zane, along with the “mining sequence” featuring Jon Voight and Vince Vaughn are also fun and worth noting.

The movie is slowed down by the flat performance of Christine Taylor (Stiller’s wife), as the straight-laced reporter Matilda Jeffries. Playing the only “normal” character in a movie made up of cartoon characters might not have been easy, but I came away feeling like she should have had more fun with the role nonetheless. Her speech on bulimia and obesity three-quarters to the movie felt out of place in this setting and the performance as a whole seemed one-note and a drag.

Overall though, a light and harmless comedy with lots of quotable nonsense (“I feel like I’m taking CRAZY PILLS!”), some fun characters, and not much else.