Review: Zoolander (2001)

Directed by: Ben Stiller | 89 minutes | comedy | Actors: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Christine Taylor, Will Ferrell, Milla Jovovich, Jerry Stiller, David Duchovny, Jon Voight, Judah Friedlander, Nathan Lee Graham, Alexandre Manning, Asio Highsmith, Alexander Skarsgård

‘Zoolander’ is a Stiller family and friends party. The multi-talented Ben Stiller wrote, directed, produced and acted on the project. But he also had his father, mother, sister, brother-in-law and wife show up for roles in the film, as well as his friends Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell. You just have to see their faces and you’re already in a dent. Stiller wrote the role of Hansel especially for partner Wilson, no one else qualified for the role as Zoolander’s biggest rival.

Otherwise, there is a long list of cameos from Donald Trump, Christian Slater, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tommy Hilfiger, Natalie Portman, Fabio, Lenny Kravitz, Gwen Stefani, Heidi Klum, Paris Hilton, David Bowie, Fred Durst, Moby , Lance Bass, ‘Lil’ Kim, Claudia Schiffer, Victoria Beckham, Karl Lagerfeld, Stephen Dorff, Billy Zane, Winona Ryder, Vince Vaughn, etc. Many of these cameos are footage of their presence at ‘The Event of the Year’ 2000 .

Models are often thought not to be too bright. Stiller took this idea and made a hilarious movie around it. In fact, with the film he is making fun of all of Hollywood. Everything is done so over-the-top that it is almost an art to make it all so ridiculous. You have to laugh at Stiller’s model friends who die tragically during a shoot at a gas station. Or the very convincing disguises of Hansel and Derek in which one becomes a Latino and the other a Negro (with the ‘Blue Steel’ look, of course). All this with a little bit of make-up. But the coolest scene is without a doubt the ‘walk off’ (catwalk competition) between Hansel and Derek. For David Bowie, Wilson and Stiller conceived the role of referee in this match, without knowing if he would agree. The fact that a serious person like Jon Voight lends himself to the role of father Zoolander (with accompanying hairstyle) is also very funny. Real-life model and actress Milla Jovovich has enough self-deprecation to play bodyguard Katinka Ingabogovinanana, a feat she based strangely on her mother. No Will Ferrell movie is complete without some sort of outburst from the actor, and here too viewers aren’t disappointed. Between all the jokes and fun there are also references to other films such as ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968) when Hansel and Derek are mesmerized by an iMac. an achievement that she based strangely on her mother. No Will Ferrell movie is complete without some sort of outburst from the actor, and here too viewers aren’t disappointed. Between all the jokes and fun there are also references to other films such as ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968) when Hansel and Derek are mesmerized by an iMac. an achievement that she based strangely on her mother. No Will Ferrell movie is complete without some outburst of the actor and viewers are not disappointed here either. Among all the jokes and fun there are also references to other films such as ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968) when Hansel and Derek are mesmerized by an iMac.

Unfortunately, as a viewer you will have to really like the corny Stiller / Wilson / Ferrell humor. If you as a viewer can have a good laugh at models who can pull their underpants out of their pants and David Duchovny as a hand model, you are certainly in the right place.

[imdb]tt0196229[/imdb]