Movie review: Zoolander (2001)

I wanted to turn off my brain and enjoy a seriously stupid comedy last week-end. Having seen that hilarious meme posted all over the Internet since before I started using it felt like a good enough reason to pick this one.

I just hoped the whole movie would be as good as the cult scene the aforementioned meme is taken out from:

On the whole, it was a success. It even got me roaring at times (e.g. the initial award confusion, the mermaid ad, the dancing monkey) which is quite rare for me. I won't pretend it was perfect, though, as the second half was a lot more hit-or-miss.

I feel like 5~10 minutes of trimming could have done it some good. Some ideas: remove the dick-fu on the massage table, the journalist assistant pinning for Maltida joke and shorten the final runway repetition gag with the DJ.

The thing is that even when it wasn't funny, it was at least entertaining. Ben Stiller and Will Ferrel simply are that good and the combo of surreal designs and weird writing will baffle you before boredom can get its foot in the door. Or just seeing David Bowie make an appearance. Really makes you feel like you're the one taking crazy pills.

So, definitely imperfect, but with enough gusto and enthusiasm that it just works. Kinda like Idiocracy for that matter. Americans aren't known for subtle comedy, but they sure excel at stupid and surreal!