Zoolander has what are possibly the funniest first 10 minutes I’ve ever seen. Mugatu (Will Ferrell), a fashion kingpin, is told that he needs to find someone to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia so that they can continue to exploit child labor in the creation of their clothes. We then meet Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller), preparing for and then walking down the red carpet to the VH1 Fashion awards. Zoolander is male model to the extreme – fashion savvy but empty headed – and plans to win Male Model of the Year for the 4th consecutive time. The only thing in his way is Hansel (Owen Wilson), who is equally air headed and just as absorbed in his modeling world.

Stiller and Wilson and consistently funny as the duo who remind you of Dumb and Dumber, except with a sense of fashion. And to the degree that their film personalities come out in their characters, they’re even funnier. Stiller’s naïve but serious attitude come across humorously enough but Owen Wilson’s soft, nonchalant character takes the cake.

While Derek and Hansel work on resolving their issues, Matilda (Christine Taylor) works on solving the mystery of Mugatu and figuring out how he has brainwashed Zoolander before it’s too late. Though I find Ferrell frequently unfunny on SNL, he’s the perfect cast here. I can’t stop laughing at the scenes where is dressed up as and acts like a little girl.

Zoolander brings us well within the fashion world to the point that I believe there were some jokes that I missed; such as one cameo from Paris Hilton, who I certainly would not have known when the film came out in 2001, much less at the time it was filmed. The whole film is flush with star cameos and appearances – the sudden appearance of David Bowie being perhaps the best.

Zoolander also manages to capture all of the glitter and glam of the fashion world, as well as its shallowness. The farce never lest up and never tries to show us a serious side. The mockery is so extreme it feels as if Stiller is less concerned with satire and more concerned with simply having a good time. It certainly does so, and so do we.

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