Retreating from the more ambitious and disturbing comedy of his unappreciated The Cable Guy, Ben Stiller in Zoolander aims for something closer to a Saturday Night Live movie. Indeed, the film is based on a skit Stiller made about an incredibly stupid male model for the VH1 Fashion Awards a few years ago. But Stiller's sense of humor is keener and weirder than the norm. The plot is purposely inane: wanting to maintain sweatshop conditions in Malaysia, a ruthless fashion mogul (played by SNL's Will Ferrell) tries to brainwash past-his-prime model Derek Zoolander (Stiller) into killing the country's reform-minded leader. The premise allows some splendid isolated moments: three male models playfully spraying themselves with nozzles at a gas station, or Zoolander saying, "I'd really like to continue talking about this conversation when I get back."

Still, Zoolander's annoying traits and mask-like expression can get to be too much (and not enough). Other characters are less interesting, most notably Ferrell's ugly but unfunny villain and Stiller's wife (Christine Taylor), who's there just to jiggle the plot. Only Owen Wilson, playing Zoolander's whacked-out rival, shines -- at times, you'd swear he's channeling Dennis Hopper. At the Apple Valley, Holiday, Hoyts Providence 16, and Showcase cinemas.