Rewind Back to 2001: “Zoolander” (25th anniversary)

For this week’s review slate, I wanted to add a comedy that would really make myself laugh - especially a comedy where I can just turn my thoughts off for a little while and enjoy myself. Well, for this slate, I ended up finding two comedies that fit in that category that are celebrating their 25th anniversaries - “Zoolander” and “Rat Race” (separate review).

Propelled to the top of the fashion world by a photogenic gaze he calls Blue Steel, dimwitted male model Derek Zoolander thinks he’s got a fourth consecutive win as Male Model of the Year in a bag. But, when his rival, Hansel, unexpectedly takes the crown, Derek is crushed.

He becomes easy prey for fashion designer Jacobim Mugatu, who signs Derek to star in his Derelicte fashion show, then brainwashes him to kill Malaysia’s prime minister.

Initial audience reception to “Zoolander” was lukewarm but quickly grew into immense, long-lasting cult adoration. As the movie found its audience on home media, viewers started to really enjoy the movie’s infinitely quotable one-liners, absurd visual gags and even the numerous star-studded cameos.

“Zoolander” (2001) is a perfectly balanced mix of unhinged stupidity and surprisingly sharp, clever satire. The movie thrives on unapologetic silliness and absurd stereotypes. This movie delivers a lot of jokes - like Derek mispronouncing “eulogy” as “yugely” or the infamous “school for ants” line - straddle the line between sheer nonsense and comedic genius.

The Derek Zoolander character’s complete lack of self-awareness could’ve easily become annoying. However, the viewer can somehow be drawn to the fact that he and Hansel possessed an oddly sweet innocence, emotional depth, and a genuine desire to make a difference. Now, while it acts like a “dumb” comedy, the movie also smartly satirized the extreme superficiality of the early 2000s modeling industry and society’s growing addiction to fame.

This 2001 comedy has several moments that are really memorable and will really make you laugh, such as the impromptu walk off between Zoolander and Derek (judged by

David Bowie) featuring ridiculous poses and acrobatic flips, the scene where Zoolander’s male model roommates stop at a gas station to spray each other with gas (I’ll admit that scene is really dumb) and a running gag where his Blue Steel signature look is literally the same as the others, among many other moments.

My favorite scene is where Mugatu is showing Zoolander a model of a building and Derek Zoolander destroys it in frustration because it was too small, asking: “How can we teach children to read if they can’t even fit inside the building?” With how hilarious that line was, I actually wonder how many takes they had to film due to the actors laughing.

“Zoolander” received mixed to positive reviews from critics upon its release, but has since become a cult classic. While its initial box office was hampered by the somber post-9/11 cultural climate, the comedy found an enduring life on home media and streaming, praised for its absurd humor, quotable dialogue and sharp satire. The movie also spawned a sequel in 2016 that has been forgotten and I haven’t seen yet … all I know about the sequel is that the reviews are terrible!

MPA: Rated PG-13 for sexual situations, comic violence and drug references   (runtime 90 min)

Initial release date: 9/28/2001

Streaming: Paramount Plus/Pluto TV/various PVOD   (as of writing this review)

https://youtu.be/YtQq0T3ExLs?si=u7Jueggw-fWvIhcu

• Derek's repetition of the line "But why male models?" for the second time, in the cemetery scene, was an ad-lib by the actors; Ben Stiller forgot his line and simply repeated the earlier line again, and David Duchovny ran with it and gave him a straight answer.

• Ben Stiller wrote the part of Hansel specifically for Owen Wilson, and said that no one else was even considered for the role.

• Owen Wilson (Hansel) wore a wig for the entire movie. He was filming Behind Enemy Lines (2001) at the same time, and had to keep his hair short for the role.

• Images of the World Trade Center towers were removed before the movie's September 28, 2001 release, only seventeen days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks where the towers were brought down. They were edited out of one shot, and obscured in another.

• Hansel (Owen Wilson) said, "Who you tryin' to get crazy with 'ese? Don't you know I'm loco?" These are the opening lines to the Cypress Hill song "Insane in the Brain".

• Premiere Magazine voted this movie as one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time" in 2006.

• According to an interview with Ben Stiller, this movie started out as a character sketch for VH1 Fashion Awards. After several written scripts and over several years, the studio finally agreed to film it. The movie's release immediately followed the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and has been cited as a reason for its "failure" at the box office. (It didn't fail, it just performed below expectations, and yielded a small profit.)