Film

Zoolander

Name: Zoolander
Genre: Comedy
Released: 2001
Cast: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Christine Taylor, Will Ferrell, Milla Jovovich

Ben Stiller's ridiculously beautiful, ridiculously stupid male model gets brainwashed into an assassin by a villainous designer, and the whole thing runs on pure, committed idiocy. It's a spoof of vanity and fashion-world nonsense that somehow becomes one of the most quotable comedies of its decade. Watch it for the walk-off, the gasoline fight, and Will Ferrell doing career-best unhinged.

TMDb rating

6.2

If you liked this

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy2004

Same DNA: a vain, dim-witted man of a ridiculous profession, played completely straight by people who clearly find their own stupidity hilarious. Ferrell at his most gloriously self-satisfied.

But If Zoolander's non-sequitur humour didn't land for you, this leans even harder into it.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy poster

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery1997

The spy-movie answer to Zoolander's fashion-world satire — deadpan idiocy, a preening villain, and jokes that are dumb on purpose and proud of it.

But Some of the innuendo-heavy humour has aged into 'of its time' territory.

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Tropic Thunder2008

Stiller turns the satire on Hollywood itself, skewering actor vanity with the same gleeful commitment he brought to modelling. Sharper and meaner than Zoolander, in a good way.

But Broader and more chaotic — less one big joke, more a barrage of them.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb1964

Both are farces about idiot men entrusted with world-ending power by systems too vain and stupid to stop them — Zoolander just moved the control room from the Pentagon to a runway.

Kubrick's Cold War satire is, structurally, the same joke as Zoolander: a vain, not-very-bright man is handed catastrophic power he cannot handle, and the world nearly ends because of male ego.

But Black and white, slower, and genuinely satirising nuclear annihilation rather than fashion week — the stakes are played for real dread underneath the laughs.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb poster

DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story2004

Stiller playing a preposterous villain again, this time opposite Vince Vaughn in a sports-movie parody that's just as committed to its own nonsense.

But Lower budget, lower ambition — comfort food rather than a comedy landmark.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby2006

Ferrell again sending up a hyper-masculine subculture from the inside, with the same gift for turning genuine stupidity into genuine joy.

But NASCAR culture might mean less to you than fashion culture — the satire needs a target you recognise.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby poster

Blades of Glory2007no page yet

Figure skating gets the Zoolander treatment: absurd rivalry, absurd costumes, absurd commitment from everyone involved. Pure dumb-fun sibling energy.

But Thinner plot than Zoolander, and it knows it — this is mostly there for the set pieces.

Best in Show2000

Christopher Guest's mockumentary aims the same deadpan absurdity at competitive dog shows instead of catwalks, and finds just as much vanity and delusion.

But Quieter and drier — no big villain plot, just a parade of brilliantly sad characters.

The Other Guys2010

Stiller and Ferrell reteam as a buddy-cop pairing that's really about ego and self-image, wrapped in an action-comedy shell.

But Less quotable, more plot-driven — it's a cop movie first, comedy second.

Mystery Men1999

A cult superhero spoof with the same appetite for gloriously dumb villains and heroes who are far less impressive than they think they are.

But It flopped for a reason — the jokes are patchier and the pacing sags in the middle.

The September Issue2009

Everything Zoolander exaggerates for comedy — the vanity, the cutthroat politics, the sheer self-importance of fashion — turns out to be barely exaggerated at all.

A documentary following Anna Wintour and Vogue's staff assembling a single issue — the real fashion machine, complete with genuine egos, absurd stakes, and Mugatu-level intensity over hemlines.

But It's a slow, observational documentary with no jokes, no plot twist, and no assassination subplot — just real people taking clothes very seriously.

JCVD2008no page yet

Same subject — a beautiful, not-so-bright man defined entirely by his image, unsure who he is underneath it — played for pathos instead of pratfalls.

Jean-Claude Van Damme plays a fictionalised version of himself, a fading action star trapped by the dumb image that made him famous, in a film that's melancholic where Zoolander is manic.

But It's genuinely sad in places, low on jokes, and asks you to feel for a man Zoolander would've mocked mercilessly.