Whether in front of or behind the camera, Stiller has proven to be a versatile actor with a keen sense of humor. From the Generation X totem Reality Bites, to the darkly funny Flirting with Disaster and the wild satires Zoolander and Tropic Thunder, he has demonstrated a wide range of talent.
Reality Bites (1994)
One of the shrewdest and funniest mainstream movies about Generation X, Reality Bites has won a cult following. Winona Ryder stars as Lelaina Pierce, the valedictorian of her class who tries to balance work and love with her co-worker Michael Grates (Stiller).
Director and screenwriter Helen Childress etch in epigram and anecdote the characters’ ambivalent angst with wit and grace. The cast, including Ethan Hawke and Janeane Garofalo, turns stereotypes into believable people. The film was a surprisingly assured debut for first-time filmmaker Stiller.
The Cable Guy (1996)
The son of the famed comedy team Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, Stiller got a close-up look at show business as a child. He would sometimes appear with his parents on television and even made amateur Super-8 films that parodied blockbuster movies.
In The Cable Guy, Matthew Broderick stars as a designer who can’t seem to get rid of the annoying cable guy (Jim Carrey). The film starts out as a benign annoying-friend movie but eventually drifts into darker territory, turning the character into a pathological stalker.
There’s Something About Mary (1998)
As the son of comedy veterans Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, Ben Stiller grew up in the spotlight and learned about show business from an early age. He went on to star in numerous comedy films, and also directed, produced and wrote several of them.
He starred in the madcap Zoolander (2001), which he co wrote and directed, before joining forces with Wes Anderson for The Royal Tenenbaums (2001). He also made guest appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development. He currently stars on the HBO series Getting Desperate with David Spade.
Zoolander (2001)
In this frothy comedy, Stiller plays dimwitted model Derek Zoolander. After losing his VH1 Male Model of the Year crown to arch rival Hansel (Stiller’s MEET THE PARENTS co-star Owen Wilson) and watching his three airheaded roommates die in a gasoline fight, Zoolander is depressed.
But he may have found a new purpose in life when he is tapped by the fashion industry to help stop a conspiracy to assassinate the Malaysian Prime Minister. Featuring a number of funny cameos from the fashion world, this m4ufree film is a riot.
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Although Anderson has directed and starred in multiple studio comedies—including The Cable Guy, Zoolander, There’s Something About Mary, Dodgeball, Tropic Thunder, and the Madagascar and Night at the Museum series—he is best known for this quirky family drama.
Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) tries to worm his way back into his family’s lives by feigning a fatal illness, but his children—Margot, a playwright, and Richie, a tennis prodigy—refuse to forgive him. Anderson’s film has a quaint, offbeat look, and he often frames conversations with rectilinear compositions and shot-reverse-shot arrangements.
Tropic Thunder (2008)
After starring in the art-house picaresque Flirting with Disaster (1996) and eliciting laughs as a lovelorn nebbish in There’s Something About Mary, Stiller hit it big playing a male nurse in the satirical Meet the Parents (2000).
While the cast is impressive, Tropic Thunder often seems to be grasping at the lowest comedy fruit. The film’s scatology, racial humor and poorly aged jokes leave a bad taste in the mouth. The movie does have its moments. However, it is ultimately a one-joke wonder. The director tries too hard and succeeds only in making the audience uncomfortable.
Greenberg (2010)
Greenberg is a sharp character study of a man who seems unable to function in the real world. Stiller, who strips his screen persona of excess, delivers a restrained performance that is supported by Greta Gerwig and Rhys Ifans.
He followed up with the caper Tower Heist (2011) and the sci-fi fare The Watch (2012). Stiller also directed Escape at Dannemora (2018), based on the 2015 prison break. The film received critical acclaim.
Tower Heist (2011)
Ben Stiller tries to pull off an entertaining heist movie in Tower Heist but fails to match the likes of Ocean’s Eleven or The Italian Job. He’s backed up by a good cast which includes Matthew Broderick, Eddie Murphy and Tea Leoni.
When employees of the luxury Tower apartment building discover their pensions are being squandered by a corrupt Wall Street financier (Judd Hirsch), Josh Kovacs convinces dim-witted concierge Charlie, hapless thief Slide and safecracking maid Odessa to steal Shaw’s money back from him. But will they escape the FBI agents on their trail?
The Watch (2012)
The men of the local neighborhood watch team are a tired group of cliches. Condom jokes, jizz jokes, size jokes and shooting-aliens-in-the-dick jokes all are low-hanging fruit.
But director Akiva Schaffer (Hot Rod) tries them all and more, even going so far as to try out gratuitous gore and not-so-subtle product placement. As a result, the movie fails to make much of an impact.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)
As the son of famed comedy double act Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, Ben Stiller was practically born into show business. He performed in theatrical productions and landed occasional television gigs as a child and teenager before dropping out of college to try his hand at acting and writing.
He has appeared on a number of popular TV shows, including Friends, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development. In addition, Stiller directed and starred in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013). Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott and Shirley MacLaine co-starred in this film.