Three times male model of the year, Derek Zoolander is a vacuous, preening peacock (emphasis very much on the cock) who appears to have an ingrowing eyelash lodged in his brain. Still, the man has problems. Rival ponce Hansel (Owen Wilson) is poaching his catwalk tiara and there's the minor inconvenience of being hypnotised to assassinate the president of Malaysia...
Clawing satire gives way to in-the-know irony in a zippy comedy that's just as happy spoofing narrative conventions as it is putting the boot into fashionista sloganeering (""Moisture... is the essence of wetness""). As Derek, Stiller's egotistical simpleton triumphantly recalls a young Steve Martin.
DVD Extras:
Much like Derek himself, looks great but a bit empty on the inside. The deleted scenes are inessential, the outtakes in-jokey and Stiller's commentary with scripters Drake Sather and John Hamburg focuses on dumped rewrite ideas. Real highlight? The inspired-by VH1 skits, where an embryonic Derek gives us some devastating new "looks" (Tiger Shark, Nasty Pants, and, best of all, Broken Eggs).
