Clear the runway for Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller), VH1's three-time male model of the year. His face falls when hippie-chic Hansel (Owen Wilson) scooters in to steal this year's award.
The evil fashion guru Mugatu (Will Ferrell) seizes the opportunity to turn Derek into a killing machine. It's a well-designed conspiracy and only with the help of Hansel and a few well-chosen accessories like Matilda (Christine Taylor) can Derek make the world safe for male models everywhere.
(36 votes)
2.
Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) isn't smart, but he looks "really, really good." An empty-headed yet kindhearted male model, the self-absorbed Derek becomes an unwitting pawn in a international assassination plot masterminded by oddball fashion dictator Jacobim Mugatu (Will Ferrell). Meanwhile, the clueless cover guy must also contend with a new rival, a blonde hipster named Hansel (Owen Wilson). Only adding to his troubles is Matilda Jeffries (Christine Taylor), an inquisitive and sensitive journalist.
Stiller's charming and silly comedy liberally skewers the fashion industry while showcasing the actor-director-screenwriter's quirky humor. He casts his real-life family in the film: wife Christine Taylor, sister Amy Stiller, father Jerry Stiller, and mother Anne Meara. As a director, Stiller invokes entertaining performances from Wilson and Ferrell. He also adds cameos by a multitude of celebrities including David Bowie, Natalie Portman, and Lenny Kravitz.
(35 votes)
3.
Ben Stiller originally created the vacuous male model hero of Zoolander for the VH1 Fashion Awards. In his big-screen appearance, Stiller's Derek Zoolander is New York's top model and proud creator of the tight-lipped "facial expression" Blue Steel. However, competition comes in the shape of equally empty-headed young buck Hansel (Owen Wilson), who wins the coveted male model of the year award, much to Derek's dismay. When Derek's vapid friends are then incinerated in an unfortunate petrol station incident he is left vulnerable and alone, perfect fodder for fashion designer supremo Mugatu (a brilliantly surreal Will Ferrell) to hatch a plot of Manchurian Candidate-sized proportions in which Derek is brainwashed into assassinating the Malaysian Prime minister at a fashion show. Derek enlists the help of investigative journalist (Christine Taylor) and even Hansel himself in an attempt to thwart Mugatu's devious plot.
Zoolander works thanks to the central performances. Stiller is endearing in his one-dimensional ineptitude, Wilson is shallow hippie cool personified, and there are some great cameos by the likes of David Duchovny as a Deep Throat-esque informer, Milla Jovovich as the eastern European sadomasochistic henchwoman and Jon Voight as Zoolander's coal mining dad. A constant parade of other celebs pop up throughout playing themselves. Admittedly it's a one-joke film, but there are some classic scenes along the way and at its best Zoolander is an entertaining dig at an industry that takes itself far too seriously.
On the DVD:Zoolander comes to DVD in an anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen presentation that's clear and crisp with strong colours, which perfectly shows off the cartoonish style of the film. The audio is consistently sharp. Extra junkies will find plenty of material: deleted scenes, including an extended "Mine" scene and Winona Ryder trying to pick-up Hansel; amusing outtakes; and a great commentary from Ben Stiller with writers Drake Sather and John Hamburg. Best of all is the original VH1 Fashion Show skits which were the inspiration for the film. --Kristen Bowditch
(36 votes)
4.
Charge your micro-mini cell phones and whip up some orange mocha Frappuccino, 'cuz Zoolander is on the runway, and you're gonna laugh your booty off! Based on a sketch created by writer-director Ben Stiller and cowriter Drake Sather for the 1996 VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards, Zoolander is a delirious send-up of New York's fashion scene as epitomized by male model Derek Zoolander (Stiller), a dimwitted preener who's oblivious to a Manchurian Candidate-like plot to turn him into a brainwashed assassin. Tipped off by a reporter (Christina Taylor), Zoolander teams with rival model Hansel (Owen Wilson) to foil the poodle-haired fashion designer (Will Ferrell) who's behind the nefarious scheme. The goofy plot's only half the fun; with roles for Stiller's parents (Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara), dozens of celebrity cameos, endlessly quotable dialogue, and improvisational energy to spare, Zoolander is very smart about being very stupid, easily matching the Austin Powers franchise for inspired comedic lunacy. --Jeff Shannon
(34 votes)
Mooviees.com is not the official site for this film.
All editorial views and opinions expressed here are for entertainment purposes only.
<>
Movie Database
In Theaters
