You Don't Mess with the Zohan

Starring: Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Rob Schneider, Kevin Nealon, Chris Rock (cameo), Mariah Carey, George Takei (cameo)
Directed by: Dennis Dugan
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
2008

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: An Israeli counterterrorist (Adam Sandler) decides to leave his violent past behind, and move to NYC to become a hairstylist. However, his past follows him, and soon he must be confront his past once again.

Review:

Tim: I can't remember the last time Adam Sandler gave us a completely enjoyable movie. Lately, it seems like he is mixing silly messages in with jokes that work to tear those messages down. In I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, they made gay jokes the entire film, before finally giving us a "heartwarming" message about tolerance and acceptance. Here, we get jokes about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before our heartwarming message of tolerance and acceptance. It is absurd, hard-to-swallow, and makes this movie look dumb.

You have to give Sandler some credit for throwing himself into the role. He looks ridiculous, but has no qualms about looking like a buffoon if he thinks it'll get some laughs (more often than not, it doesn't). I actually wish he'd play a normal guy again, instead of these increasingly silly characters. John Turturro is decent here because he can look like a moron and still make the role work (this is why he was so unforgivably bad in Transformers- because it didn't work). The rest of the cast are all forgettable. I will admit that I was impressed that Rob Schneider actually did look Palestinian, which was impressive. Emmanuelle Chriqui tried not to get sucked up into this buffoonery, and she mostly succeeds.

We get here an absurdist plot that barely makes sense at all. There are multiple plot holes throughout the movie and the plot itself only holds itself together by the most fragile of threads. There may have been a few laughs here and there, but honestly, I don't remember them. Like so many of these stupid comedies, this one holds it together for as long as it can before succumbing to nonsense near the end.

You Don't Mess with the Zohan tries to keep us interested with flashy images and almost-funny jokes. It might actually work for a while before finally falling down upon itself like a house of cards. This movie has no substance to it. It is a poor effort all around.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Click, Reign Over Me, The Longest Yard