Tuesday 3 June 2008

You don't mess with the Zohan

"You Don't Mess with the Zohan" is as dumb as it looks and more serious than it should be. The stupidity is expected, but the seriousness makes you wonder what director Dennis Dugan ("Happy Gilmore") is thinking. Really, commentary on the Israel/Palestine conflict in a silly Adam Sandler movie? If we need to rely on Sandler in dumbass mode for sociopolitical commentary, we're in serious trouble.

Zohan (Sandler) is the greatest counter-terrorist the Israeli army has ever seen, and he's made a career out of recapturing the Palestinian baddie known as the Phantom (John Turturro, gleefully hammin' it up) every time he escapes. What Zohan really wants, however, is to cut hair. Fed up with the ineptitude of his army, Zohan fakes his own death and escapes to New York City to start a career as a hair stylist.

He's laughed out of the Paul Mitchell salon, but he enjoys the company of a new friend (Nick Swardson) and his mother (Lainie Kazan) before finding a job in a small neighborhood where Israelis and Palestinians live and work closely together. What's more, his attractive boss at the salon, Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), is Palestinian, but she doesn't mind when he gives the "boom boom" to his elderly female customers after making their hair "silky smooth". There's also a corporate tycoon (Michael Buffer) who wants to raze the neighborhood and build a shopping mall, but that's just window-dressing for Zohan's ridiculous antics.

The nearly two-hour movie is an odd mix of absurdity and unorthodox reality. Written by Sandler, Jeff Smigel ("Saturday Night Live") and Judd Apatow ("Knocked Up"), the comedy is laugh-out-loud funny. Stereotypes are playfully skewered as eye glasses are dipped in hummus, everyone loves Mariah Carey and an Israeli electronics store pulls the bait-and-switch on its customers. There's also Zohan's superhuman action scenes, which include him swimming like a dolphin, catching a bullet with his fingers and contorting people into a pretzel.

As long as we're laughing, "Zohan" is just fine. It's only when the sociopolitical commentary awkwardly mixes with the juvenile amusements that we have problems. When everything else far-fetched it's difficult to take the "peace in the Middle East" message seriously.

Mind you, this isn't the first time Sandler has dabbled in social issues. "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" was a cinematic gay rights parade, but at least it had heart and a hottie Jessica Biel to keep things interesting. "Zohan" offers no such appeal, meaning there's not much in between the funny moments to keep us interested.

If Sandler wants to do drama, that's fine; his performance in "Reign Over Me" as a man whose life was ruined by 9/11 was surprisingly impressive. But putting relevant social issues in his idiot comedies does nothing but add seriousness to movies that, at their core, are just trying to make you laugh.

This should be his rule: If he's going to do stuff like catch fish with his butt cheeks (as he does in "Zohan"), then it's comedy only. Any other time he's free to do as he pleases.

(Australia.TO - Mariah Connection)



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