Zoolander (2001)

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This is a very smart "dumb" comedy movie. Easily the best film ever made about the modeling industry. Also it's absolutely hilarious. Hysterical sight gags and seemingly endless quotable dialogue. Don't let the disappointing and unnecessary sequel tarnish this comedic gold mine. Only by watching will you be able to answer the question: "But why male models?"

It's stupid. So incredibly stupidly ridiculous. If there was a contest for stupidest stupidity, Derek Zoolander wouldn't be able to figure out how to accept the award. But it's also incredibly funny. And incredibly inappropriate. And it came out at the wrong time. Zoolander is a stupidly funny and inappropriate movie.The plot of the movie is abysmal and the concept is idiotic. The characters are cliché and static. The writing is awkward and Sandler-esque. Every other element of the film is completely unmemorable and done with average ability. Everything combines to create an extremely unrealistic film of the classic Hollywood comedy genre. So is Zoolander a good or bad movie? The film is actually an incredibly intelligent (but stupid) piece that both criticizes and satirizes multiple aspects of society at once, including the genre niche that this movie resides in. The screenplay is written so that Derek, played by Ben Stiller, can both be laughed at and sympathized with. The valleys and mountains that Derek Zoolander crosses are stupid, yet the viewer becomes attached to him. Standard filming forces the viewer to attach themselves to the main character's hopes and dreams. Thus, the parody and satire in the characters and events vigorously come across the screen.Zoolander is another Hairspray (1988) or Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), a wonderful satire on the events and feelings of the time. Yet Zoolander is even funnier.

This is actually a very clever and smartly executed comedy revolving around dumb characters. I just found this film to be amusing and I had a smirking or chuckling most of the way through the first time I saw it. Ben Still is actually really good at making these comedic movies. So the movie is revolves around a very exaggerated male modeling. With most of the humor coming from mocking models and the modeling career. How models are dumb and so superficial, which can actually offend some real models out there if they don't have a sense of humor about it. But than again, there are plenty of movies that bash on handicap people and overweight people. Where it has that it's funny cause he or she is fat kind of ordeal. But in this, it's funny cause he is so dumb and lack common sense type of humor. Which has been done many times before as well. However the way the humor connects so well with each scenario is what makes this movie really work as a comedy. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this movie the first time around and I am currently looking forward to the sequel.9/10

Zoolander (2001): Dir: Ben Stiller / Cast: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Christine Taylor, Will Ferrell, Milla Jovovich: Ben Stiller plays supermodel Derek Zoolander who is the best in the business with his latest fashion called Magnum. He is on top of his game until Hanszel wins male model of the year. Now they are engaged in a bitter feud, which involves a competition where they both yank their underwear out of their pants. Enter Christine Taylor who is attempting to uncover an assassination plot where male models are brainwashed into committing the crime. This all climaxes with extreme stupidity but Stiller succeeds in creating a film that is far different than his Reality Bites with obvious inspiration of Austin Powers. It is obvious that he researched his subject matter and took aim at the sometimes pompus world of the fame seeking. Stiller as Zoolander seeks appreciation from his father as well as retain his public dignity. Owen Wilson steals his spotlight as Hanszel. Taylor is a mere prop with hinted romantic intentions. Will Ferrell is hilarious as the villain with outrageous hair. Milla Jovovich plays Ferrell's evil henchwoman, which is just as well since she has done the Resident Evil films. The climax is sidelined by numbing violence meant for humor but is merely just corny. Good concept satires the world of modeling with colorful production but it still wallows in stupidity. Score: 7 ½ / 10