Zoolander Details

A nonstop giggle from start to finish, this rapier-sharp satire on the fashion industry from director/star Ben Stiller balances hipness and endearing stupidity with expert precision. Based on a persona Stiller created for a fashion awards ceremony in 1996, Derek Zoolander (Stiller) is the king of the male modelling world thanks to the “blue steel” stare that's been the key to his cover-boy fortune. However, when the hilariously self-absorbed oaf loses his title to new boy Hansel (Owen Wilson) and decides to retire, furtive fashion mogul Mugatu (Will Ferrell) comes to his rescue, but only to brainwash the foolish fop into assassinating the Prime Minister of Malaysia and stop his plans to outlaw sweatshops. Brilliantly conceived and executed, Zoolander mercilessly exposes the shallow and bitchy world of haute couture. Side-splitting highlights include the catwalk duel between Zoolander and Hansel — as refereed by David Bowie — and the return home to his butch coal-mining family presided over by Jon Voight. Loaded with fun cameos from celebrities such as Lenny Kravitz, David Duchovny and Winona Ryder, Stiller's family affair — comedian father Jerry plays his shady agent, wife Christine Taylor is an investigative reporter and mother Anne Meara also appears — is a consistently inventive delight that never runs out of steam.

A fashion spoof draped over the bones of a puerile conspiracy adventure, this vanity comedy fails at every level... read more on Time Out