Zoolander

2001, US, directed by Ben Stiller

Rating: **

The Ben Stiller-Owen Wilson-Vince Vaughn-Will Ferrell axis seems to dominate US film comedy these days, to scattershot effect; the hits (like Wedding Crashers) can be excellent, while the misses (Anchorman) are plain dreadful. Zoolander falls somewhere in the middle, taking a sketch idea and stretching it to feature length. There are sequences of inspired madness in this tale of vacant male models (Stiller and Wilson play rivals), as well as some very funny send-ups of the fashion world (which seems like it's already beyond parody), mixed with less successful patches, particularly most of the scenes involving Will Ferrell (whose character looks like it was one of the models for Tim Burton's new version of Willy Wonka). Stiller's gormless Derek Zoolander is an amusing creation - perhaps especially when he goes home to his family in the coal-mining country of southern New Jersey - with just enough charm to keep him on the right side of annoying, while Wilson's consistently hilarious turn keeps things watchable once the central premise becomes wearing.