Clip Art: Zoolander

Zoolander (2001)
dir. Ben Stiller



It's a really funny movie and this is a really funny bit. This movie has more eye acting than anything since the era of silent film or a Sergio Leone closeup.

This is a film with a lot of style. Some great mise-en-scène, with exquisite work in the costume department. The padding on Stiller's outfit that gives him abs is just a riot. all of the colors work, creating a rich palate and a world you don't see that often. It just pops and is funny ta boot.

The only distraction for me is Owen Wilson's nose, as if that can be helped. It is its own piece of abstract art in a way. The lines and curves drawing you in and it stops looking like a nose and more like an odd Rorschach test.

The best bit is the Billy Zane gag. Zane is an underrated actor who always plays to the hilt and never seemed to break out of the b-list. He also seems to have one hell of a sense of humor since he plays himself in this scene.

This is a movie that is hysterical in all sorts of ways. Between this and Tropic Thunder (2008), Ben Stiller proves that he is one of the better comic directors today.