Zoolander

Dir: Ben Stiller

2001

**

Based on a couple of short comedy skits that Ben Stiller made for VH1's Fashion Awards television specials in 1996 and 1997, Zoolander, a narcissistic and dimwitted male model, is an amalgamation of Calvin Kline models Mark Vanderloo and Johnny Zander. The basic premise of the 89 minute joke is that male models are dumb and vain, that's pretty much it. Mark Vanderloo actually has a degree in history but whatever. Stiller is joined by Owen Wilson who also plays a male model, more spiritual but just as stupid. To break up the one monotonous gag, a plot involving cheap child labour (always a hilarious subject) and the assassination of the Prime Minister of Malaysia and Zoolander's family origins in coal-mining are clumsily explored. I like silly, I'm a huge fan of silly in fact, but this isn't silly, this is stupid and not particularly funny. Sacha Baron Cohen invented his character Bruno a good few years before Zoolander and he lampooned the world of fashion in a far superior, satirical and funnier manner. Will Ferrell plays the bad guy in one of his least funny performances and Vince Vaughn completes the 'frat pack' roster with a supporting performance - indeed, you can't have a Ben Stiller film without at least Owen Wilson or Vince Vaughn appearing in a supporting role or cameo and the same can also be said of either actor. The unwritten rule in comedy film is that when you run out of jokes, you throw in as many cameos as you possibly can, hoping that people confuse humour with familiarity. So Zoolander's humour can be measured by the fact the film contains cameos from Donald Trump and his wife Melania, Victoria Beckham, Christian Slater, Tom Ford, Cuba Gooding Jr, Tommy Hilfiger, Natalie Portman, Emma Bunton, Gwen Stefani, Lenny Kravitz, Paris Hilton, Fred Durst, Lil' Kim, Stephen Dorff, Heidi Klum, Mark Ronson, Sandra Bernhard, Claudia Schiffer, Lukas Haas, Karl Lagerfeld, Winona Ryder, Billy Zane, Donatella Versace, David Bowie (which hurt the most) and a string of people famous in 2001 and now forgotten. That's how funny it was. To be more than fair, the film does have its moments. I don't like comedy based on stereotype if it isn't a clever satire but some of the lines did make me laugh and I quite like Stiller and Wilson, even when they are at their worst. It's regarded as something of a modern classic by some which I really don't understand but I've seen worse.