'You Don't Mess with the Zohan' Movie Review

YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN MOVIE REVIEW

06/01/08

SYNOPSIS: n You Don't Mess With the Zohan, a comedy from screenwriters Adam Sandler, Robert Smigel (Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), and Judd Apatow (Knocked Up), Sandler stars as Zohan, an Israeli commando who fakes his own death in order to pursue his dream: becoming a hairstylist in New York. Dennis Dugan directs.

REVIEW: I hadn’t completely realized the kind of career Adam Sandler has had until I watched the MTV Movie Awards where he won the Generation Award. The career synopsis video opened my eyes to the fact that this guy has successfully done it all and he’s been around forever (well over 20 years). Ever since his breakout role in Billy Madison, he has never looked back. Well, actually he is kind of looking back with this latest production. I would categorize his movies into four groups:

Stupid, corny comedies (examples: Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, Waterboy)
Not so stupid comedies (examples: Anger Management, 50 First Dates)
More mature comedies (examples: Longest Yard, Click, Chuck and Larry)
“Dramas” (examples: Spanglish, Reign Over Me)

All of these were relatively successful productions. In this latest one, he is going back to his roots . . . the stupid, corny comedy. As I have mentioned before, my disclaimer is that I have a very open sense of humor so I do enjoy these stupid humor movies. This was no exception. It is very corny but very funny. It gets a good score on my “I laughed so hard it made me cry” factor. My brother almost choked from laughing so hard. I was worried there for a moment.

The best characteristic of this film is its original idea. As it is with most of Adam’s movies, he helps create these off the wall original characters that you can’t help but feel for and cheer on. Zohan is probably his most powerful and respected character to date, thus the title . . . heck, the Zohan is borderline superhero which is appropriate for the summer movie season. This character is what truly makes this picture very exaggerated fun. Speaking of exaggerated, there is an extensive use of hummus throughout the film. Remember the use of honey in the Bee Movie, or the use of windex in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, well then you get the picture on the use of hummus. As far as the rest of the characters, and as is customary with Adam’s movies, they all seem to complement the central character and make him stand out even more. Of course it helps to have a meaty cast to do this. You’ve got names like John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Nick Swardson, Lainie Kazan, and of course Rob Schneider bringing quality and spice to their characters, the script, and thus the story. And the story needs it because it’s not all that. It could easily be the weakest link in this production. In a film like this, it’s all about the characters and the comedy . . . the storyline, not so much. There were also some interesting cameos in this picture that I won’t mention so you will be surprised like I was.

To reiterate, this movie is very funny, but it also has its share of very corny moments, the kind that make you say “okay, moving right along”. But then again, different people have different senses of humor so you might like it or hate it. Either way you’ve got to hand it to Director Dennis Dugan for cranking out and yet another great comedy to add to his collection: e.g. Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, Benchwarmers, Chuck and Larry. If you’ve enjoyed any of these movies mentioned throughout this review and/or you’re a fan of Adam Sandler, you don’t want to miss this one.