Posted: Thursday 14th August 2008

Reviewed by Jason Palmer

Zohan Dvir (Adam Sandler) is the best Israeli commando in his country. Because of his status as a national hero, he is known locally as "The Zohan". When Palestinian terrorist and Zohan's arch-nemesis The Phantom (John Turturro) hits the streets once again, he is asked by his government to re-capture him. The Zohan has had enough of the war and despite loving his country he wishes to leave this life behind and instead follow his dreams to America. He secretly harbours an ambition to be a hairstylist in New York City. Armed with his most prized possession, a Paul Mitchell style guide from 1987 he orchestrates his own death when he attempts to capture The Phantom. Leaving his world behind him, he arrives in New York under the new guise of Scrappy Coco. He soon befriends a meek man named Michael (the impressive Nick Swardson) and is taken back home where he manages to rent an apartment above Michael and his mother Gail (Lainie Kazan) in Brooklyn.

After spending an evening in a nightclub he gets spotted by Oori (Ido Mosseri), an Israeli immigrant now living in the US. Instantly recognising his countries greatest war hero, he befriends the Zohan and promises not to reveal his true identity. He helps the Zohan find a job in a small hair salon where his blend of dated hairstyles and womanising goes down a treat with the older female clientele. The only trouble is it's in the Arab part of town. Can the Zohan put aside his differences to make a career for himself in a fledgling neighbourhood where Israelis and Palestinians live in peace side by side? When Salim (Rob Schneider - Deuce Bigalow), a Palestinian cab driver with a grudge against the Zohan recognises him in his neighbourhood he contacts The Phantom who is celebrating the fact he killed his arch-rival back home. Now that The Phantom knows the Zohan is still alive he makes his way to New York to settle the score once and for all.

The trailer for this movie was very funny. It's a touchy subject but it looked like Adam Sandler worked his magic and crafted a decent attempt to make a comedy out of a very serious subject matter. Well having seen the full movie I can tell you that he has failed because You Don't Mess with the Zohan is a pretty poor attempt at comedy. It all starts off quite promisingly. The scene in which Zohan chases the Phantom on a jet ski by swimming like a dolphin was hilarious and there is a very funny scene involving Zohan attacking an afro wig in a hair salon thinking it to be an escaped animal. The Zohan's superhuman feats are quite impressive and funny too and a cameo by his favourite singer Mariah Carey is actually entertaining. Then there are some very amusing set-pieces poking fun at the absurdity of war like the Hezbollah information line Salim has to phone or the celebrity status the Phantom gains from killing masses of people and by being rewarded with a chain of fast food restaurants. But that's pretty much it - the rest of the jokes feel old, basic and juvenile (and not in the good way).

Then there is the hummus gag. Apparently hummus is used on everything and with everything...for eating, for styling hair, for putting in your coffee, for brushing your teeth with etc. Now the first twenty or so times you see this visual gag it's funny but it just keeps on being used and it's killed by the end of the movie. Using hummus to put out a fire may have been funny if I didn't see hummus being used for countless other things beforehand.

In places you can see that Sandler was definitely trying to create his own take on a cult favourite Anchorman. The scene in which Israeli and Palestinian shop owners are discussing which First Lady they would like to have sex with had tinges of the rival newsrooms facing off against each other from Anchorman but it lacked the genius and genuine comedy which that film possessed.

This movie steps just beyond the borderline of racist in some places too. It's not with a malicious intent or anything to that effect but if I was an Israeli or Palestinian I would find it very hard not to be slightly offended by this movie. Even though it's a comedy and it's tackling a fragile subject matter (which it should be commended for) the jokes just all seem to be at the expense of the Israelis and Palestinians and it just didn't sit well with me. It wasn't particularly funny either so it failed on quite a few counts. Taking a movie for face value is important and whilst I commend what Sandler and Judd Apatow (Superbad and The 40 Year Old Virgin) were attempting to do it just doesn't come off well at all. Much like Mike Myers, Adam Sandler needs a decent role to get back on track. The Love Guru failed for Myers and Zohan sadly fails for Sandler. It's a real shame because this character had the scope and potential to be his next Happy Gilmore. Instead, the end product has more in common with Little Nicky.