Zoolander

Movie Title: Zoolander	[Ads/google-ads3.htm]
Official Website (it might still work): Zoolander
Rating (out of 10): 7
Reviewed By: Michael Stevens
Buy the: Video/DVD \| Soundtrack
The Review:

A little background to start with. Funnyman Ben Stiller (There’s Something About Mary, Meet the Parents) did a skit a few years back at the VH1 Fashion Awards parodying the fashion industry as a character named Derek Zoolander. Apparently it was funny enough for them to make a movie about it, so they did.

In Zoolander, Stiller is Derek, the Michael Jordan of male modeling, however he is about as intelligent as Forest Gump. At the start of the film we also meet Matilda (Christine Taylor, The Wedding Singer) who is a reporter for Time Magazine. Also introduced is Hansel (Owen Wilson, Rushmore) the new top male model. Plot-wise, a fashion giant named Mugatu (Will Ferrell of SNL fame) is ordered by the fashion industry cartel to kill the new prime minister of Malaysia because this new PM wants to eliminate the cheap child labor that the fashion industry relies on. Mugatu then uses Zoolander’s agent Maury Ballstein (Jerry Stiller) to get to Zoolander and then make Zoolander do the dirty work through hypnosis. About this time X-Files boy David Duchovny (Evolution) comes around as a former hand model to reveal to Derek and Matilda the evil plot. He also exposes the long running conspiracy of the fashion industry to kill world leaders who jeopardize cheap labor. Then Matilda and Derek enlist the help of Hansel to foil these diabolical plans. However writer/director Ben Stiller also intertwined into the story some funny scenes of a freak and deadly gasoline fight plus Zoolander’s return home to coal country.

Additional major actors are Milla Jovovich (He Got Game), David Pressman, Matt Levin, and Jules Asner. Plus throw in a steaming pile of cameos from the likes of David Bowie, Fabio, Lenny Kravitz, Billy Zane, and Winona Ryder.

Zoolander had some good laughs and a great comedic cast. However the plot was rather lame, and Ben Stiller seemed a bit reserved compared to his other works. It also appeared that the filmmakers went back and edited out some shots of the New York skyline after the terrorist attack on the Trade Center. All in all I give Zoolander seven couches out of ten, though a little nudity from some of the ladies would have been helpful.