 |
|
|
|
| | | |
| MatchFlick Member Reviews |
All Movie Info
Starring:
Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, Mariah Carey, Henry Winkler, John Farley, Barry Livingston, Jacki R. Chan, Mousa Kraish, Shelley Berman, Todd Holland, Marly Coronel, Terrie Snell, Matthew Wolf, Mark Kubr, Jennifer De Minco, Danny A. Abeckaser, Kal Parekh, Blake Young-Fountain, Eric Feliciano, Les Gardonyi, Alex Luria, Barbara Ann Davison, Yossi Marshek, Aesop Aquarian, Dina Doron, Omid Abtahi, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Todd Justin, Constance Barron, Moran Atias, Sayed Badreya, Ido Ezra, Dana Goodman, Julia Lea Wolov, Uzimann, Nikki Giavasis, Ashley Ausburn, Guri Weinberg, Donna Feldman, Natasha Nov, Lina So, Anne Marie Howard, Sarah Stringer, Norma Michaels, Ryan Phillip Thomas, Vanessa Long, Melanie Bulujian, Ian Fisher, Herzl Tobey, Kristina Haddad, Nicole Montano, Christa Texeira, Mike Batayeh, Tina Mayer, Michelle Elyse, Sophie Texeira, Helen Siff, Ben Wise, Rick Gifford, Chris Spinelli, John Duerler, Riley Stewart, Susan Grace, Seth Texeira, Tim Mars, Jonah Texeira, Alexis McCombs, Yamit Sol, Ori Pfeffer, Shulie Cowen, Ido Mosseri, Necar Zadegan, Guri Weinberg, Keana Texeira, Adria Tennor, Maysoon Zayid, Daoud Heidami, Tim Bearden
Directed By:
Dennis Dugan
Written By:
Judd Apatow, Adam Sandler, Robert Smigel
|
|
|
| |
You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008)
 email this review to a friend
Movie Review by Jarrod 
June 7th, 2008
|  |
'You Don't Mess with the Zohan' is the latest disaster from Adam Sandler and director Dennis Dugan; what surprised me most was that Judd Apatow was one of the screenwriters. He is capable of so much better, but so too is Sandler, in the right hands, he is a likable and talented actor (Punch-Drunk Love and Spanglish are two good examples). But his fans typically like him in shameless, braindead comedies like this. 'Zohan' is a colossal misfire, a chronically unfunny and overlong combination of skits masquerading as a movie. The character Zohan is repulsive and obnoxious, but that is precisely how Sandler plays him, and how he has been written. He is a Mossad agent/spy who wants to become a hairdresser in New York. Can one derive humor from the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and terrorism? Sandler can, or at least he tries to. This is, for the most part, an ugly, offensive, and hypocritical film. Zohan is sort of like an Israeli James Bond; his nemesis is an Arab nicknamed The Phantom (John Turturro). Zohan fakes his own death and relocates to the Big Apple, where he gets a job working in a salon owned by Dalia (Emmanuelle Chiriquí). Zohan's female customers are more than pleased with his skills, especially when he takes them into the backroom for a quick bout of raucous sex. The Phantom reappears, along with another villain, Salim the cab driver (Rob Schneider).
Sandler sports a ridiculous accent, but it is obviously intended to sound completely artificial. Turturro hams it up with a red scarf wrapped around his head, to emulate an Arab as effectively as he can, and while it borders on caricature, it is fun by virtue of its total silliness. Rob Schneider is more or less unbearable; he is here primarily because of his friendship with Sandler, he has some kind of role in most of his movies, Big Daddy was the last if I recall. The romance that develops between Zohan and Dalia is an obligatory afterthought; we don't buy it for a minute, and it is strangely taken seriously while everything else is designed to be outrageous. There is a useless subplot about land developers (led by Michael Buffer as a Donald Trump knock-off) wanting to replace Dalia's salon with a huge shopping complex. The movie runs for nearly two hours, primarily because it wanders aimlessly from gag to gag, not caring how frequently it veers off course. I suppose this is a film that can only be truly appreciated by Sandler's biggest fans, of which I am not one.
Far from a laugh riot, and not really even mildly amusing, 'Zohan' is a disposable, forgettable comedy. Especially tiresome are the gay jokes (watch for the use of the word f*gola), which are interesting when one considers that Zohan himself exhibits many stereotypically gay traits (including a self-conscious obsession with his body, and keep in mind that any male hairdresser is typically thought to be gay, whether he is or not). Watch out for some cameos from George Takei, Bruce Vilanch, John McEnroe, and Mariah Carey. Kevin Nealon and Dave Matthews also show up, along with Charlotte Rae from The Facts of Life. Compared to other comedies I have seen this year (Foot Fist Way, Harold and Kumar, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, even Baby Mama), 'Zohan' falls short.
email this review to a friend
Comment on this Review:
Sorry, you must be a member to add comments to reviews.
Join or Login. |
 Subscribe to MatchFlick Movie Reviews through RSS
|
