Zoolander: 5 Reasons It’s Ben Stiller’s Best Goofball Comedy (& 5 Reasons It’s Meet The Parents)

Ben Stiller is known for writing, directing, and/or starring in some of the most memorable comedies from the 1990s onward. It’s no wonder Stiller is so prolific: he’s the offspring of talented comedy duo Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller started off the new millennium as the lead in two enduring contemporary comedies: 2000’s Meet the Parents and 2001’s Zoolander.

In the former, he’s a nurse named Greg Focker who clashes with his new girlfriend’s father, played by Robert De Niro. In the latter, he’s a moronic fashion model named Derek Zoolander who is implicated in a plot to assassinate the prime minister of Malaysia. Which goofball comedy is the most hilarious? Read below to decide for yourself.

10 Zoolander: Blue Steel

Derek Zoolander is a superficial and inane supermodel, a fictionalized parody of the fashion world. In addition to starring in, Stiller also directed and co-wrote the movie’s screenplay. With his spiky, outlandish hairstyle, skin-tight leather pants, and child-like earnestness, Derek is equal parts loveable and ridiculous.

Derek’s signature look, blue steel, is the centerpiece of his personality. Despite its reputation, blue steel simply involves Derek puckering his lips together.

9 Meet The Parents: Dinner Prayer

At his first dinner with his girlfriend Pam’s family in Jay Roach’s Meet the Parents, Greg Focker is asked to say grace. However, Greg is Jewish and doesn’t have much experience leading a Christian prayer.

Greg pushes forward anyway in an attempt to impress Pam’s parents. Not sure what to do, Greg employs lines from the musical Godspell. “We thank you oh sweet, sweet lord of hosts for the smorgasbord you have so aptly laid at our table this day, and each day,” Greg chants. This awkward moment sets the tone for the humor to come.

8 Zoolander: Eugoogly

After Derek’s roommates, who are fellow male models, are killed in an unfortunate gas station accident, he announces his official retirement from the fashion industry at their memorial service. Christine Taylor plays a Time journalist, Matilda Jeffries, who questions him after the service.

He refers to himself as the eugoogliser, and Matilda gives him a confused look. “A eugoogliser. One who speaks at funerals,” he says. “Or did you think I’d be too stupid to know what a eugoogly was?”

7 Meet The Parents: “My Mother” By Jack Byrnes

Robert De Niro’s performance as Jack Byrne, the father of Greg’s girlfriend Pam, is the stuff of every boyfriend’s nightmare. A former CIA agent, Jack is incredibly overprotective of his family.

However, during Greg’s first dinner with the Byrnes, he opens up by sharing a poem he wrote about his late mother, whose remains are in a vase over the fireplace mantel. Unfortunately, when Greg opens a bottle of champagne, the cork hits the vase, sending it crashing to the ground.

6 Zoolander: Mugatu

Will Ferrell plays the theatrical and pompous Jacobim Mugatu, a fashion designer tasked with brainwashing Derek in order to turn him into an assassin. Mugatu’s target is the prime minister of Malaysia, who is pushing for better wages and working conditions for clothing factory workers.

Mugatu’s dialogue and mannerisms showcase Ferrell’s talent for playing over-the-top characters. His white hair, corset, and high-heeled boots match his propensity for freaking out over the slightest inconvenience.

5 Meet The Parents: Toilet-Trained Cats

Jinx is the Himalayan cat Jack treats like one of his children. Jinx is even trained to use a toilet instead of a litter box. The concept of a toilet-trained cat is a running joke through the movie.

After Jinx escapes the house under Greg’s watch, he adopts a nearly identical cat from the pound and spraypaints its tail. It doesn’t take long for Jack to figure out what’s going on.

4 Zoolander: Underwear Scene

Derek develops a rivalry with an up-and-coming model, Owen Wilson’s character Hansel, and they decide to settle their differences by engaging in an underground walk-off. This grueling contest, hosted by none other than David Bowie, involves both models strutting their stuff on a make-shift runway.

Hansel raises the stakes by digging one of his hands into his pants, where he manages to pull his underwear out without issue. When Derek tries to complete the same trick, he gives himself a massive wedgie with his boxers.

3 Meet The Parents: “Gaylord Is My Legal Name.”

Once Jack’s war against Greg comes to a head, and once all of Greg’s unfortunate accidents add up, Greg is asked to leave the Byrne home. As he’s departing, the luggage he lost on his flight finally arrives.

To pour salt on the wound, the airport employee reads Greg’s legal name in front of everyone: Gaylord Focker. A defeated Greg accepts the barrage of jokes that come his way.

2 Zoolander: The Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can’t Read Good And Who Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too

Derek is daft to the say the least, yet he shows his somewhat more intellectual side when he reveals his dream: to open up a reading center for children. Mugatu lures Derek into his plot to assassinate the Malaysian prime minister by promising him a Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can’t Read Good.

When Derek looks at the model, though, he smashes it to the ground, yelling, “What is this? A center for ants?”

1 Meet The Parents: Flight Attendant

Greg’s interaction with a flight attendant as he’s trying to return to Chicago after his weekend from hell is pure comedy gold. Despite the fact that no other passengers are waiting to board the flight, she insists Greg must wait until his row is called.

Once he finally gets on the plane, she argues with him about his luggage. Greg makes the unfortunate mistake of saying the word “bomb,” and he’s swiftly kicked off the flight.

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