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RATING:  
When one walks into an Adam Sandler movie, there are a few things that you can typically expect - a huge dose of slapstick humour, exaggerated comedy and ironically enough, an underlying moral message to take away.
Sandler's latest comedy, "You Don’t Mess with the Zohan", did include all those elements, and then some, making everything just too over the top.
"You Don’t Mess with the Zohan" follows the story of Israeli counter-terrorist commando, Zohan, played by Sandler. Tired of all the on-going fighting between Israel and Palestine, Zohan fakes his own death while battling his Palestinian nemesis, Phantom (John Turturro). All this to escape and chase his long- harboured secret dream of becoming a hairstylist and making people "silky smooth".
Inspired by a 1980s Paul Mitchell hairstyle catalogue, Zohan runs away to the United States and adopts the alias of "Scrappy Coco". Ironically, he finds work in a small hair salon run by feisty Palestinian beauty, Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), in the Arab part of Brooklyn. Zohan, being the (older) ladies man that he is, goes on to achieve fame and recognition by providing not just hair cuts.
Having thoroughly enjoyed Sandler's other movies like "Click", "50 First Dates" and even "Big Daddy", it was hard this time to stomach the extremely crude and vulgar sexual jokes that were being cracked like there was no tomorrow.
On the flip-side, I must also admit that Zohan is probably Sandler's most innovative and original character to date.
Armed with a thick Hebrew accent and numerous signature phrases that you know you will be trying to imitate after the movie, Zohan does draw a considerable number of laughs.
Credit must also be given to Sandler (co-writing the script with Robert Smigel and the ubiquitous Judd Apatow; with Dennis Dugan acting as director) for once again being able to create a comedy based on such a serious and touchy issue like the Israel-Palestine conflict, without getting heavily blasted for it.
While poking fun at the various stereotypes Middle Easterners face in America, the movie light-heartedly challenges people to look at the similarities that they share, rather than focus on the differences.
My favourite moments of the movie had to be the numerous celebrity cameos from Chris Rock to tennis' resident bad boy John McEnroe and even singing diva Mariah Carey, who was not afraid to embrace her bimbotic side while shamelessly promoting her new album.
Like in all good films, there is a sub-plot which in this movie revolves another funny man Rob Schneider who plays an embittered Israeli New York taxi-driver.
Suffice to say, there is a terror plot thrown in along with gags and humour, some of which are really obscene.
While I would say that Adam Sandler has done a flawless job in embodying the uncouth, promiscuous and hummus-loving Zohan, this is one movie I wish I didn’t get to watch and if given the chance, would not watch again.
- CNA/os
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