Don't Mess with Zohan :: Wessex Scene Online

Don't Mess with Zohan

14th March 2009
Dean Read

About this film

Title	You Don't Mess with the Zohan
Director	Dennis Dugan
Release Date	15 August 2008
Certificate
Genres	Action, Comedy, Drama
Our Rating	2.5/5.0

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More by Dean Read

Don't mess with Zohan

If you’re a Sandler fan then you will see flickers of his former greatness but overall the patches of comedic death overwhelm them.

Please indulge me with a little preface. Adam Sandler has been involved in at least a couple of my favourite comedy films and therefore I have a bias – I want to like anything he makes regardless of how long ago it was now that Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison cracked me up. I understand his back catalogue is by no means flawless. Little Nicky is a steaming pile and Click made me want to puke with the ridiculous level of emotional manipulation. However, even the mediocre level of Sandler’s output (i.e. Anger Management) always contains at least a few decent laugh out loud moments. At no point do I ever doubt Sandler’s commitment to making the audience laugh and that’s what always makes his flicks watchable.

This latest outing sees Sandler taking on the (unbelievable) role of an elite Israeli military officer called Zohan. Zohan is indestructible and awesome at just about everything. The perfect weapon against terror. However this is no longer the life he wants, taking the chance of faking his death in a confrontation with The Phantom (Turturro), he escapes to America, aiming to live his dream of being a top hair stylist. While there he gets a job for ridiculously hot Palestinian salon owner Dahlia (Chriqui), banging his way through the older female clients who love his charms. Yes – the storyline is ridiculous but that should never be enough to put you off a film.

The real question is, how much did I laugh? The answer; a bit. This flick in many ways goes back to the Sandler glory days; not really family friendly fare but it doesn’t push its 12 rating either. There lots of old school outrageous slapstick, the results of which are hit and miss. I definitely laughed at them a few times but felt a little guilty when I did. Undoubtedly the supporting cast was a letdown. Rob Schneider puts in a significant appearance and produces no laughs whatsoever, he is horrific. Turturro hams it up like a pro and is always watchable. In regards to the rest, meh; they just didn’t seem like comic actors.

I am surprised by the choice of setting for this lightweight comedy, which trivialises the Israel-Palestine conflict to an almost unacceptable extent.