Although it’s difficult to make the fashion world seem goofier than the fashion world makes itself seem, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson do it with flashes of moronic brilliance in ”Zoolander.” And let’s just be honest here — it’s funny. Some of it is very funny.
We meet Derek Zoolander (Stiller), the world’s top male supermodel and moron, just before his career falls apart. In quick succession, he becomes the subject of a devastating Time magazine feature by “investigatory journalist” Matilda Jeffries (Christine Taylor) and fails to win his fourth Model of the Year award.
Zoolander’s final humiliation comes in a nightclub confrontation followed by a hilarious “walk-off” duel with the hot new model of the year, Hansel (Owen Wilson), a blond, extreme-sports aficionado almost as senseless as Zoolander.
It’s discovered that, while visiting New York during Fashion Week, a sinister plan is in the works to assassinate the prime minister of Malaysia, who has threatened to close down garment factories that use child labor.
It’s slightly problematic that Stiller doesn’t have the looks to resemble a male model, and the accent he puts on soon starts to grate. But both cease to matter once Wilson’s perfectly pitched scene-stealing Hansel starts to play a key role. The film’s humor is helped by its realization that the way to squeeze laughs out of the fashion game is to stick close to the real thing, in all its narcissistic idiocy, with assists from cameos by Jon Voight, Vince Vaughn and David Bowie as the referee for the Zoolander/Hansel “walk-off.”
“Zoolander” may not have the best laughs, or the best plot for that matter, but in the midst of all the gross-out teen comedies over-populating the film world, “Zoolander” is an ingenious gem of sarcastic fun.
3 / 5 Stars
Starring: Ben Stiller , Owen Wilson, Christine Taylor, Will Ferrell, Milla Jovovich, Jerry Stiller,
David Duchovny, Jon Voight
Director: Ben Stiller
