Zoolander - Review

A male fashion king pin attempts to brainwash a brainless male model into assassinating the Malaysian Prime Minister because he is putting laws on child workers making clothing items for America. Okay, who in the world green-lit such a stupid idea? Also, who in the world was actually able to make a premise like this entertaining? The answer to that question is Ben Stiller. Directing and starring in this film, you can tell that he is having just so much fun making this film. Unlike Ferris Bueller, which I just reviewed yesterday on my website, this humour isn't subtle or ironic, it's plain silly and dumb. One of the jokes is that he can't turn left. It makes no sense and yet, every time they mention it, it gets a laugh out of me. I would put this film into the same category of Austin Powers where there are lots of quotes in this film that get brought up every time a bunch of frat boys are drinking and one of them pulls the classic, "Yo, remember Zoolander?" Then all of them will take turns quoting various parts of the movie. I don't have a term for that yet to use in these reviews. You know what, I'll call it the "Mean Girls Effect". Where the quotes of the movie are actually remembered more than the plot is. So yeah, lots of stupid jokes that make you laugh. This film also reminded me of Dumb and Dumber solely based on the premise that there are two main characters that don't have a single brain cell among them and watching them try and solve a problem brings most of the humour. "The files are in the computer!" Watch the film to know what I'm talking about. As for the rest of the cast, they do a serviceable job. Nothing really stands out except for Will Ferrell's classic yelling nonsense. Only this time he has one of the worst hairstyles to every grace the silver screen. It's also weird seeing Owen Wilson play somebody other than the "every-man" or the "straight-guy" in the comedy group. He is normally the most sane person in a group of characters when he isn't playing a miniature cowboy, but here, he is dumber than... a sack of hammers? Yeah, sure, we will go with that one. Overall, this is one of the most ridiculous premises ever! However, going into this film knowing that, you can get some good laughs.