Hey folks, Harry here... I loathe the trailer for ZOHAN. It is a rake across the frontal lobes - and is pure pain. I hate it. Now Red Redding here has seen a test screening of the film - but apparently this is an old fashioned rascistly charged comedy about Middle Easterners. Ya know, that's just what we need right now. Right?
Red Redding here with a quick review of You Don’t Mess with the Zohan Where do I even begin with this movie. This is probably one of the most offensive movies I have ever seen, in every way imaginable, but I guess I am sick enough to have laughed my ass off the entire time. This movie takes every stereotype of middle easterners and uses them in extremely offensive ways. If you are middle eastern, have middle eastern friends, or just don’t like racist jokes, this movie is definitely not for you at all. But if you are like me (and my buddy… and the audience) and can take racist jokes, then this movie should please. Plot: Hmmmmm…. Not much here but I will set it up somewhat. Adam Sandler plays Zohan who is an Israeli super soldier who can do anything he wants (breaking the laws of physics as he goes) who fights his nemesis the Phantom (John Turturro) who is a Palestinian terrorist (who is famous for being a terrorist?). Zohan wants the fighting to stop so he makes it look like the Phantom kills him and he goes to the US and becomes a hair stylist… yes that’s the story. There is a love story and a few subplots, but they seriously do not matter at all. What Worked: If you like Adam Sandler and racist jokes, the two combined make for a pretty damn funny movie (I mean Robert Smigel , Adam Sandler, and Judd Apatow wrote the damn thing) with some pretty clever, albeit absurd comedy… this is just below Anchorman silly and the action reminded me of Kung Fu Hustle; like a cartoon. The movie is pretty much Sandler’s show and he is a Master of physical comedy. There are also some hilarious cameos that I wont spoil, but they seriously come out of nowhere and are pretty effective. There are many sexual references that are damn funny and seriously everything with Zohan in the salon is hilarious. This movie has some good belly laughs, but it is pretty much all physical comedy. What Didn’t Work: I never get movies like this that actually try to implement a love story AND two enemies and everything needs to be tied up at the end. That is why Anchorman is so damn funny because there is no plot and it knows it. They try with the love story and it is dumb (even though his love interest is gorgeous) and they have the rich white man trying to put them out of business. Seriously, what the hell is this doing here? Just let Sandler do his thing and that’s it. Sadly, Rob Schneider, who is usually pretty damn funny in Sandler movies, is pretty unfunny (not his fault he just has a thankless role). Finally, when the movie hits about the ¾ mark and starts to wrap things up, there are not many jokes because the “story” needs to end. Speaking of the length, this movie is 2 hours and it feels longer, which isn’t good for this type of comedy. Conclusion: I haven’t seen the last two Adam Sandler comedies (Click and I Now Pronounce…) and I am pretty glad I saw this one. It’s strange because the movie is so silly, yet so offensive that some audiences might be pretty confused on what is happening. If you have thick skin and don’t mind silliness, then this movie will be a good experience. Personally, I think it is one of the funnier movies Sandler has done in some time. If it seems I bashed this too much, it is just because I think that they could cut 15-20 minutes and it would be much better. As is, this is a 7/10.
