You Don't Mess With the Zohan

Back to the Future
Sandler goes back to his juvenile roots with this one. That is not a bad thing in my book, I find Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore a riot. In this movie, Sandler plays Zohan. Zohan is a tough as nails Israeli intelligence operative who fakes his death because he is sick of all the violence in the Middle East. He goes to America to become a hair dresser because he wants everyone to have silky smooth hair. Not every joke works, but the silly situations come fast and furious. If one doesn't get you, then maybe the next one will. Yes it is pretty stupid and juvenile stuff, but I found most of the movie amusing. If you like his first movies, then this one is for you.

If only the world could be united with laughter
Well, clearly, not everyone has the same sense of humor. You've got to walk Disbelief right out the door with "You don't mess with Zohan," but if you just need a fun summer flick and you have a very bent sense of humor, this could be it.

Story in a nutshell: Zohan (Sandler) is tired of the Israeli Army. He busts it to capture a terrorist, the Phantom (John Turturro) and the government merely trades the Phantom back. So--when his next opportunity to go up against his arch nemesis comes up, Zohan stages his own death and comes to America to become a hairdresser. He ends up falling for a Palestinian girl, Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui) and realizing there are worse things than his original enemies.

The humor's just as juvenile as you would expect, but if you need a good, hard laugh--and you don't mind gross, this is it. Be warned, you will never look the same way at hummus again!

Rebecca Kyle, June 2008

Fighting Racism with humor
If you were ever a fan of blazing saddles like I am, then you'd see the value in this movie a lot clearer. Blazing saddles used humor to tackle a situation of racism in america that was a major issue that everyone just tiptoed around because everyone was so scared of offending others, but Blazing saddles took racism and punched it in the nose with humor. You don't mess with the Zohan is an exceptional film with slapstick humor all throughout delivered in the same manner that Blazing Saddles delivered. It managed to take the middle east conflict and all the racism and hatred that is there hit it square in the nose, sure there was plenty of stuff some might deem as "Offensive" but I was never a fan of political correctness, it censors us and brings us to a point where free speech is taken away. I salute you Adam Sandler, you made a funny movie, and you managed to tackle a much bigger issue in the process. This movie was art, if people can't appreciate it, then they need to open up their...

Click to Editorial Reviews