You Don�t Mess with the Zohan
Stars: Adam Sandler, John Turturro
Director: Dennis Dugan
*** 1/2 (out of five)
No one is expecting a treatise on the crisis in the Middle East from Adam Sandler, but the comedian has assumed the role of lightning rod just by setting his film amidst the war that inevitably defeats anyone who says they can solve it.
Sandler plays the title role in the film, a sort of Israeli James Bond with a secret dream of styling hair in New York City, who fakes his death and goes off to live his blow-dried, �80s-inspired dream.
Sandler plays Zohan with an Israeli accent so painstakingly bad that it becomes its own joke, as does the film�s barrage of Hebrew and Arab slang, most of it invented.
Needless to say, most of these newly minted words are euphemisms for breasts, erections, or the sexual act; if Sandler does have any hidden political agenda, it just might be dragging a conflict that�s frequently described as an obscenity down to the level of real smuttiness.
Rejected by Paul Mitchell�s Manhattan salon, Zohan ends up in the boroughs, on a street where Jewish and Muslim businesses sit side by side, cutting hair in a struggling hair salon owned by a pretty Palestinian (Emmanuelle Chriqui), making his reputation by servicing his elderly female clients with the casual hedonism that�s supposed to be a hallmark of Tel Aviv club culture.
His idyllic exile ends when he�s recognized by an Arab cab driver (the inevitable Rob Schneider) who passes the news on to The Phantom (John Turturro), his Palestinian nemesis.
There�s an evil real estate developer, a big showdown, and cameos from Mariah Carey, Chris Rock, John McEnroe and George Takei.
At the end, Sandler imagines that we�d all get along a whole lot better by forgetting our differences and � at least for guys � concentrating on the things that unite us, like sports, consumer electronics, and earnest debates about who we�d rather tap � Hillary or Chelsea.
If only it were that simple.
See Also
