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Ah,
the life of a model. All
that glamour, money, famous people wanting to be your friend,
and those outrageous parties, the life that many dream of.
To
many of us, we know that the glamour is often an illusion as
modeling is a world filled with backstabbing, infighting, and
all manner of leaches who use people and then spit them out.
Most people are well aware of this, but why do so many
people want to be a part of it?
It is the desire for fame, money, and all the trappings?
While
that is often part of it, the simple answer for some is that
they just do not know any better. Such is the case of Derek
Zoolander, three time male model of the year, and inventor of
the famous Blue Steel look.
Writer,
Director, and Producer Ben Stiller has created with the help of
MTV movie awards writer Drake Sather, Derek Zoolander, male
model supreme and as clueless as he is famous. Derek is a legend
in his own, mind, obsessed with his looks, and very jealous and
petty. Ah, but beneath this shiny front, there is a man in deep
pain.
Derek
is up for an unprecedented fourth Male Model of the Year award,
and standing is his way, is the hot new model Hansel (Owen
Wilson) who Derek sees as a poser not worthy of any attention.
When the winner is announced, Derek strides to the podium to
give yet another acceptance speech. Fate has dealt Derek a cruel
blow, when he realizes that Hansel, has won the award, and that
he is no longer the top model in the world. As a result, Derek
suffers depression and starts to feel vulnerable and question
his life and choices he has made.
Before
he knows what has happened, Derek has lost his three friends in
a gas fight accident, and is portrayed in a Time Magazine cover
story as an idiot. Desperate to find out if there is more to
life than a pretty face, Derek heads home to work in the family
business, coal mining.
Needless
to say, Derek’s father (John Voight), is not happy to see his
son back, and is even less impressed with his male mermaid
commercials, and lack of a manly job.
The reunion is short lived, and Derek soon becomes a pawn
in a deadly scheme created by designer, Mugatu (Will Ferrell),
and his hired muscle, Katinka (Milla Jovovich) from using him to
kill the new Malaysian Prime Minister. It seems the new Prime
Minister is bent on closing sweatshops in his land, and since
sweatshops are the backbone of the fashion industry, and he is
not willing to be bribed, he must be stopped at all costs.
Assisting
Derek in his quest to find himself and who is behind the plot,
are Stiller’s real life Wife Christine Taylor, as Matilda, a
reporter and love interest, and comedy legend, and Ben’s
father Jerry Stiller
plays the head of the Derek’s modeling agency Maury Ballstein.
One
of the biggest surprises in the film is Wilson, who worked with
stiller previously in “Meet the Parents” and “Permanent
Midnight”. Wilson portrays Hansel as a deep, spiritual person,
who while not as shallow as Derek, is just as clueless, but a
globe trotting thrill seeker who is looks up to Derek secretly.
When Wilson and Stiller are on the screen, they have a great
chemistry and it results in some great comic moments in the
film.
This
film is one of those films that is difficult to review. On one
hand, it was stupid, lacking a story, and many of the jokes were
not that funny, or seemed forced. However, there were some great
laughs in the film, and on more than one instance I caught
myself laughing long and hard at some of the antics that were
unfolding on screen.
Stiller
shows that he is a talent, as he keeps Derek sympathetic despite
portraying him as shallow and selfish, yet sympathetic and worth
routing for. We learn that Derek is worried about losing his fame, and
that he family does not accept his career.
He also decides that he wants to help others, but is not
sure whom to help, simply “those who need help” he
proclaims.
What
makes “Zoolander” interesting is the way it shows the bad
side of an industry while poking fun at the excess. For example,
we see the shallow, plotting characters that are only concerned
with who is hot today. We also see the extreme measures some
will take to succeed in the industry, and we see the pain that
many have when they realize that they are hot today, and
forgotten tomorrow as is the case of a retired hand model played
by David Duchovny.
As
a director, Stiller keeps the film moving along and does not
take himself or the film too seriously and as such neither
should the audience. While not the comedies that Stiller gave
audiences with “Meet the Parents”, and “There’s
Something About Mary”, Stiller shows that he is not afraid to
try new avenues to express himself.
In the lower profile yet funny “Mystery Men” and
“Keeping the Faith” Stiller showed characters that he can
get comedy as either playing the straight guy, or as the over
the top character.
At
times, “Zoolander” is very funny, as Derek has his extremes,
yet has a sensitive, caring side side.
The walk off scene between Derek and Hansel is very funny
and had the audience in stitches. So how does the final product
add up? Much like a
fashion show, gaudy, at times extreme, some presentations hit,
others miss, but in the end, most of us had a good time.
When
seeing Zoolander, take a cue from Derek and turn your brain off
for a while and you just might have a good time in spite of
yourself.
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