You Don't Mess with the Zohan

[KLAXXON]

Comedy superstar Adam Sandler is back - and funnier than ever - as The Zohan, the finest counterterrorist agent the Israeli army has. That is, until he fakes his death and travels to Manhattan to live his dream...as a hairdresser. Now this skilled fighting machine who used to clip bad guys is out to prove he can make the cut as a top stylist. All goes silky smooth until his cover is blown when he's recognized by a Palestinian cab driver (Rob Schneider). Now, The Zohan must fight to live a peaceful new life in New York in this razor-sharp action-packed comedy from Adam Sandler, Robert Smigel, Judd Apatow and Dennis Dugan.





Legendary Israeli counter-terrorist The Zohan (Sandler) fakes his own death and heads to New York to pursue his dream of styling hair. But the only job he can find there is in a Palestinian salon, and the enemies he left behind - including his fearsome nemesis The Phantom (Turturro) - are soon on his neatly groomed tail.




Few would have pegged Steven Spielberg’s Munich as an inspiration for American comedy. And yet, following Knocked Up’s discussions on Spielberg’s portrayal of Jewish machismo - “If any of us are getting laid it’s because of Eric Bana” - Zohan transplants Munich’s character arc, charting the ennui of a MOSSAD agent, into an Adam Sandler comedy that plays the Middle East crisis for laughs.

 

The movie starts on a great lick, with Sandler’s ’80s-styled commando The Zohan on the hunt for his nemesis The Phantom (Turturro), performing physically impossible feats – catching bullets in his butt-cheeks, putting piranhas on his private parts - and flirting with Tel Aviv beauties with a nutty energy that recalls the likes of Top Secret! or Hot Shots!. Once the movie reaches New York, with The Zohan changing his name to Scrappy Coco (don’t ask) and finding work in a Palestinian hair salon, director Dugan can’t keep the strike rate constant, straining too hard with running gags about hummus, the Middle Eastern love of bargaining and our hero servicing old women in a gag stolen shamelessly from The Producers.

Yet for every dud, there is an equal amount of inspired lunacy: Sandler and his cronies playing keepy-uppy with a cat, Sandler regular Rob Schneider as a militant Palestinian taxi driver phoning a Hezbollah hotline (“For terrorist supplies, press one”). And in a moment that - shock - borders on the subtle, a Palestinian immigrant laments: “People hate us. They think we’re terrorists.” An Israeli immigrant echoes: “People hate us, too. They think we’re you.”

The last act, which sees the Israelis and Palestinians unite against a mean property developer (Michael Buffer) looking to take over the neighbourhood for nefarious ends, feels forced - wheeling in a Mariah Carey cameo is always a sign of desperation. And yet what pulls you through is a charming cheerfulness that staves off the spectre of bad taste, and Sandler’s eminent likability. Be it playing over-the-top Bondian heroics or wooing shop owner Darlia (Entourage’s Emmanuelle Chriqui), Sandler mixes sentiment and silliness into an engaging confection. Pity the rest of the movie can’t keep up.



A strange, mostly enjoyable mix of big political questions and crude comedy, Zohan overcomes its skeletal plotting and uneven gag ratio through Sandler’s sheer commitment to nonsense.







Adam Sandler ...  Zohan Dvir
John Turturro ...  The Phantom / Fartoshi
Emmanuelle Chriqui ...  Dahlia
Nick Swardson ...  Michael
Lainie Kazan ...  Gail
Ido Mosseri ...  Oori
Rob Schneider ...  Salim
Dave Matthews ...  James
Michael Buffer ...  Walbridge
Charlotte Rae ...  Mrs. Greenhouse
Keana Texeira ...  Rock-throwing Girl
Sayed Badreya ...  Hamdi
Daoud Heidami ...  Nasi
Kevin Nealon ...  Kevin
Robert Smigel ...  Yosi




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