Zoolander (2001)
Directed by Ben Stiller
Clear the runway for Derek Zoolander, VH1's three-time male model of the year. His face falls when hippie-chic Hansel scooters in to steal this year's award. The evil fashion guru Mugatu seizes the opportunity to turn Derek into a killing machine. It's a well-designed conspiracy and only with the help of Hansel and a few well-chosen accessories like Matilda can Derek make the world safe for male models everywhere.
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What critics say influenced Zoolander
Mixing conspiracy themes not dissimilar to those found in The Manchurian Candidate, Soylent Green, and even the obscure Wild in the Streets (a ludicrous 1968 drama in which anyone over thirty-five is sent to retirement camps and fed a stream of hallucinogens), Derek Zoolander, with an assist from "humorless" Time Magazine journalist Matilda Jeffries (Christine "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" Taylor, a.k.a.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
Directed by Jay Roach
Plot Visuals Themes Characters
Zoolander, with its focus on a blundering agent of espionage, is reminiscent of the Austin Powers films, and suffers from most of the same flaws as the Mike Myers franchise: characters that tend to be one-joke ponies, gags that miss the mark, and an incomprehensible need to slop on unnecessary sentiment.
Stiller takes an Austin Powers-style approach to the very broad target of male supermodels, with hysterical results.
Much like the Austin Powers films, Zoolander relies heavily on the strength of the talent involved, and this zany comedy features some of the funniest people in entertainment today.
Cross the colorful pop silliness of spy spoof "Austin Powers" with the dimwitted, albeit good-hearted, vanity of "Clueless'" central character and birth is given to cowriter/director Ben Stiller's "Zoolander."
Rather akin to the "Austin Powers" films where an oblivious but cocksure character finds himself involved in a nefarious plot that exists within a movie spoofing other material, this effort isn't as successful or funny as those Mike Myers films.
Like Austin Powers or Ace Ventura, Derek Zoolander is destined to be one of those characters you either love or hate.
There's a line in Woody Allen's classic Annie Hall where a pompous party guest says, "Right now it's only a notion, but I think I can get money to make it into a concept... and later turn it into an idea."
Mixing conspiracy themes not dissimilar to those found in The Manchurian Candidate, Soylent Green, and even the obscure Wild in the Streets (a ludicrous 1968 drama in which anyone over thirty-five is sent to retirement camps and fed a stream of hallucinogens), Derek Zoolander, with an assist from "humorless" Time Magazine journalist Matilda Jeffries (Christine "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" Taylor, a.k.a.
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Groucho Marx once played Rufus T. Firefly, the dictator of Fredonia, and "The Mouse That Roared" was about the Duchy of Grand Fenwick.
Whisked away to a hidden inner-city day spa by the Russian S&M clad Katinka (Milla Jovovich, "The Fifth Element"), Zoolander's brainwashed.
Mrs. Ben Stiller -- is decent but otherwise unremarkable as a reporter looking for a scoop, but both Milla Jovovich ("The Claim," "The Fifth Element") and Ben's real life father, Jerry Stiller ("Hairspray," TV's "Seinfeld"), are pretty much wasted in their respective roles.
Milla Jovovich of "The Fifth Element" is unrecognizable, and not very noticeable as Katinka, a minion of Mugatu.
Stiller, Owen Wilson and Christine Taylor ably carry much of the story load, assisted by some good supporting actors, headed by none other than Jon Voight ("Anaconda").
One example: A sequence in which two male supermodels attempt to operate a computer turns into a take-off on the famous opening encounter between chimps and monolith in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
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Mrs. Ben Stiller -- is decent but otherwise unremarkable as a reporter looking for a scoop, but both Milla Jovovich ("The Claim," "The Fifth Element") and Ben's real life father, Jerry Stiller ("Hairspray," TV's "Seinfeld"), are pretty much wasted in their respective roles.
Co-writing the script for Rushmore would be enough to earn Wilson my eternal gratitude, but his supporting roles in Armageddon (as loveable stoner Oscar Choi) and Meet the Parents (as loveable ex-boyfriend Kevin Rawley) proved that he’s got the affable space-cadet routine down pat.