"The "Walk-Off" runway showdown that comes near the midway point is invaluable. It's a fistfight, barroom brawl off the catwalk that plays into the sophistication of every Badgley Mishkah show I've ever had to sit through. I "like" it. I don't "love" it, but I have a feeling some people will."
You know me; I'm a hateful sonovabitch. I'll start by extracting no deathblows to the lower-left region of the temple. I'm just not feeling Will Ferrell. It seems to be the cool "in" thing right now to, not discuss, but merely throw out the fact he's a "Comedy Genius." I don't see it. Don't get me wrong: He's a friendly, personal fellow who never fails to make one smile. He's just not the sovereign jokester everyone's making him out to be these days. Chris Kattan excels at stealing even the tiniest moments, one-upping Ferrell at his convenience. Will is reaching Phil Hartman like status on SNL, having been there seven years already. He only has two more seasons to go before tying Phil's time in skit-sentence lockdown. Maybe certain people feel as though they didn't give Hartman enough credit before his passing; that they should recognize a lesser-known background talent before it's too late. Or, maybe, this world is seriously lacking in new comic personas and the public is more than willing to bestow platitudes on a lesser forte. It's ripe for discussion. I feel the man is a little too dopey in his one-note performances to be a true gift. He's not an acquired taste, but rather like a banana. 83% of the population will love him, but all that potassium is going to induce in a few of us a gut ache.
He's a nerve-grating extension of goofiness. Zoolander is his second film in the last two months. He had quite a few funny moments in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. Funny is not a word I would use to describing his new mutation, Jacobim Mugatu. Mugatu is a fashion designer made famous for creating the Piano Tie. He is a scary, glaring nightmare wrapped in obscure vogue-ality. He takes every fitting stylistic cliché and embroiders them into a deadly clown with a poodle haircut. He participates in moments bordering on insanity, giving Zoolander just what it needs in a villain. It's the design, look, and color of the character that fits. The performance is standard Will Ferrell. That is where my problem lies most. If he could break free of his trademark speech pattern and give us a little more, then he'd be a true comedic genius.
Ben Stiller is a capable director. The Cable Guy is an underlooked gem. He has a good eye for quick, sometimes very poignant, self-deprecating minutiae. He pulls off two sequences here that are worth sitting through the rest of the film for. Three, actually, but I am still so dumbfounded by a trio of gorgeous supermodels dousing themselves with gasoline that I can't even really talk about it. To know they are immortalized in bronze near end credits sets this thing in stone.
I "like" it. I don't "love" it, but I have a feeling some people will. The "Walk-Off" runway showdown that comes near the midway point is invaluable. It's a fistfight, barroom brawl off the catwalk that plays into the sophistication of every Badgley Mishkah show I've ever had to sit through. The climactic break dance fight is another delightful ten minutes that failed in dragging this Blue Steeled glamourpuss to its knees. Very fine attention is paid to the slightest detail: the set and costume design comes in perfect. If you've ever been privy to Behind the Velvet Ropes, you'll know that this movie is spot-on in its portrayal of male models. The Derelict couture collection by Mugatu is supposed to be a joke, but having participated in style.'s New York Fashion Week, this stuff would fit right in with some of those less obscure showcases. Jacobim's Gladbag bow tie is sheer intensity played to a storefront window on Wilshire Boulevard.
Stiller's performance here, on the other hand, isn't as amusing as it has been in the past. His choice to pick a rather annoying accent throws things a bit. It's a numbed-out drop in syllables nearing Adam Sandler territory. He's so blissfully insipid; he makes Owen Wilson, usually the breezy, idiotic stoner, look like the smartest one on screen. It's a difficult task achieved with ease. I'll give Ben credit for challenging the stereotype in characterization. He makes more out of Derek Zoolander by creating him as a bit of a loser, which certainly plays into Stiller's own self-proclaimed loathing. At the outset, Zoolander should be a one-dimensional creature. Pushing him away from perfection elevates that notion; if the movie were going to fail, this would have been it's biggest upset.
I can't look at Christine Taylor without thinking Marcia Brady. It's a horrible bit of typecasting, I know. But it makes me want her even more. She holds the partition like a pro: I wish we could see more of this girl. I would have dug a hole and buried the Wedding Singer if it hadn't been for her. It's always nice to see a director making things into a family affair. Stiller not only casts his wife, he brings along dad, Jerry Stiller (best known these last few years for his role as George's father on Seinfeld), and just about every celebrity friend he knows. This thing overshadows even Jay & Silent Bob in cameo power. Zoolander has some very high profile cinematic practitioners at its disposal. Luminaries show to stand as extras in the background, too many to name here. David Duchovny, Jon Voight, and especially Billy Zane all hijack a few precious diamonds in clocked time. The sheer weight of the overall cast list is amazing. So are the cover songs on the soundtrack: "I Started a Joke" by the Wallflowers, "Love to Love You, Baby" by No Doubt, "Relax" by Powerman 5000.
One very odd thing I noticed; the first few minutes in introduction to Mugatu is a direct rip-off of Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. The lighting, the camera placement, the scene structure, the cinematography is pulled directly from that film's opening De Nomolos monologue. This is a very weird stylistic decision on Stiller's part. I'm not in on the joke; Keanu is one of the cameos absent from the roster…Could the film be a favorite of Ben's? God only knows.
Zoolander was supposed to come at the end of a much hyped (I'm sure somewhere) New York Fashion Week. It would have fit nicely into their concept, seeing how it's a playground of teasing in that forum. The perfect capper to a self-indulgent seven-day evening, the film now stands alone in the wake of 9/11's tragic loss. NYFW was cancelled almost instantaneously, two days into its execution. It will be up and running again sometime in late November. (Can't wait to see what Sean Jean's rolling out this year, huh?) In direct relation to the events of 9/11, Zoolander is one of many movies that have decided to digitally erase the Twin Towers. My initial thoughts on this were highly negative. I thought to myself, if I died in that building only to see the film industry vigorously rub out the sight of my demise, I'd feel as though they were erasing a piece of my soul. I found it highly disrespectful to both the collapsed structures, and especially to the innocent victims. It felt as though we were trying to evacuate these people from our thoughts in an alteration of history. Watching the movie, you are conscious of the fact WTC is missing, always looking for them, always trying to spot them in the background. It wasn't until I saw the last few frames of film, a shot of the New York skyline, that I realized how poignant a statement removing the Towers could be. In looking at this, you certainly feel the loss in absence. Taking out the towers speaks more in memory, at least at this moment in time, than leaving them in could have possibly done. There's a pain in the emptiness that hovers over the other buildings like a ghost. I agree with the decision and the way that it has been done in this release.
Zoolander isn't a classic. It is a good time, and well worth the effort in checking out, if in nothing more than to see Marcia Brady let her hair down. So far, you just can't go wrong with anything Owen Wilson has attached himself to (if you forgive The Haunting). Here's looking forward to the Royal Tenenbaums, his fifth movie with Ben Stiller. I guess they're trying to buck Lillard and Prinze Jr. for best screen duo of the double-o decade.
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