Director: Ben Stiller
Starring: Ben Stiller,Owen Wilson,Christine Taylor,Will Ferrell
I hope, hope, hope that Ben Stiller doesn’t go the route of Tom Hanks, Jim Carrey, and Robin Williams as comedians who decide to turn serious all of a sudden. I loved the zipper scene in There’s Something About Mary. Loved him in Meet The Parents. Didn’t watch him in Mystery Men (hence my high regard for him). And what can I say about Owen Wilson? I love his nose. It’s so crooked. Any close-up scenes of him…I find myself mesmerized. Is that genetic, rugby accident, plastic surgery, or what?
Zoolander started as a VH-1 spoof about a washed up male supermodel who does not have too much upstairs. Since Ben Stiller got fired from Saturday Night Live, he has to bring non-SNL characters to the big screen in slapstick silly comedy. I saw the trailers. They were funny. Like the “I’m bulimic” to which Derek Zoolander replies, “You can read minds?”
Derek Zoolander (Stiller), a three-time VH-1 Male Model of the year, is a finalist along with Hansel (Wilson). Hansel wins, Zoolander becomes a has-been, and Matilda (Taylor) must investigate some obligatory mystery. Zoolander’s agent played by Jerry Stiller plays this father figure…yeah, I know…a stretch. Stiller character’s love interest is played by his hot slutty-looking wife (I can say that, can’t I? Christine, if you are offended, maybe we could discuss it over dinner?) Mugatu, played adequately by Ferrell, brainwashes Zoolander with Frankie Goes to Hollywood and gets him to assassinate the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Derek, buddy, just Relax.
But who cares about the plot? There are lots of gags in the movie, some you have seen in the trailers, and most that you haven’t. I would hate to spoil the movie by revealing them to you (not that I’m above doing that, btw). There are lots of cameos, like Natalie Portman, Jon Voight, Vince Vaughn, David Bowie, Billy Zane, Donald Trump, Tommy Hilfiger, etc.
To talk more about the movie would reveal plot points. However, I highly recommend this movie, even if this was directed, written, produced, acted, and edited by Ben Stiller. Heck, he even key gripped a few scenes. Some shots were redone as there were some panoramic scenes of New York. All in all, this has the making of the next Austin Powers type of sequel, albeit a little less funny. Go see this movie. And as you walk out, ask yourself the same question when you saw Ben Stiller topless…Is he on the juice?
