Season 1: Zoolander (2001)

At the end of his career, a clueless fashion model is brainwashed to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Jess' Review

Sam seems to have taken my comment about his depressing movie choices to heart and comes at me with another goofy comedy in the same vein as his last choice. This week we revisit Zoolander (2001).

Plunged into the eccentric, wacky world of high fashion and vapid, male models, Zoolander is another comedy, cult classic. Ben Stiller is iconic in the leading role, supported by a star-studded cast including Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Christine Taylor and a whole roster of celebrity cameos. Each and every one of these characters (with the exception of grounded journalist and love interest, Matilda Jeffries (Taylor) are bonkers. And the humour, naturally, follows suit.

Truth be told, I forgot a lot of the plot and could only really recall famous one-liners and certain over-the-top scenes. But turns out there’s a backdrop centred around the protest against fashion leaders for their exploitation of sweatshops and cheap labour. Real life issues that are not only swiftly quieted by Zoolander and friends’ antics, but also feel somewhat out of place. It sets the premise, yes, but to me seems a bit unnecessary here. Much like real life, it’s far easier to focus on the pretty people and silly jokes.

Whilst I remember loving Zoolander when I first saw it, I regret to say that the film just didn’t hold up for me. It’s fun, and there are excellent scenes - often courtesy of Ferrell’s villainous Mugatu, who’s hamming it up to the absolute max - but I thought it increasingly juvenile in places. The first half is stronger, but as the story progresses, I find the sporadic laughs soften to a tired silence. It gets too silly for me - and that’s saying something! But the film also betrays its age with some tasteless, dated jokes that toe the line of sexism. I wouldn’t say I’m particularly sensitive to dark humour or a little controversy - I will defend South Park until the day I die - but this was just a bit cringey at times.

Camp, easy-watching with some comedy quotes worthy of the hall of fame, Zoolander is fun but much like Derek Zoolander himself, loses its mojo.

6/10

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Sam's Review

Zoolander was a film that defined my teenage years, much like the recently reviewed Anchorman. Now, it is hard to fathom a time before streaming, where you don’t have thousands of films and TV shows at your fingertips. Often, after spending thirty minutes searching, overwhelmed by options, I will end up rewatching Always Sunny. But I remember owning the DVD of Zoolander when I was younger. And I would watch it repeatedly. So, when I chose this film to review, I thought it would be easy. Certainly a fun film, since Jess complained of my first two picks being too serious.

But as I sat back to bask in the glow of Blue Steel, Derek Zoolander’s (Ben Stiller) premiere look, I felt disappointed. Derek’s stupidity often doesn’t come across as funny, it just seems immature. That isn’t to say that it doesn’t have its moments. The initial encounter between Derek and Mugatu (Will Ferrell) has me laughing out loud. Ferrell and his off-kilter inflection are the stars of the film. Almost every scene Ferrell is in, I find myself chuckling at least once.

The story is simple, but ridiculous. As long as a story sticks to the reality it has created, however eccentric, I can suspend disbelief. And for the most part, I enjoyed basking in the absurdity of it all. Yet the pacing is slightly too quick. Events happen successively, and it feels rushed.

Overall, I feel let down. I had remembered a classic film. So many memories of laughing hysterically. Though I was younger, so perhaps I have aged out of the target demographic? But while I experienced this with Anchorman a few weeks ago, I felt that had held up. The bitter truth is, it’s a smart concept perhaps executed… not poorly, but certainly not well.

Zoolander ponders “if there [is] more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking?” Being funny might be a start.

6.5/10