You Don't Mess With The Zohan

Review by Sean Lynch

Having been an Adam Sandler fan long before the world began to hate him, it's a real shame to see the once great "King-Of-Stupid-Comedy" become little more than a neutered puppy.

But hey, if I made movies that grossed over $100M every time they hit cinemas - I wouldn't change my angle or style either.

In You Don't Mess With Zohan, a comedy from screenwriters Adam Sandler, Robert Smigel (Triumph the Insult Comic Dog), and Judd Apatow (Knocked Up), Sandler stars as Zohan, an Israeli commando who fakes his own death in order to pursue his dream: becoming a hairstylist in New York.

Make no mistake, this is the same movie Sandler has made for the last decade just with a different title and costume - but the simple fact is, Sandler is well aware of it and makes no attempt to hide that fact.

The cast & crew are all friends, all of whom can be spotted way back to the days of Billy Madison. 

And, especially for Sandler fans, spotting the familiar faces (Nick Swardson, Rob Schneider, Kevin Nealon, Allen Covert, etc, etc) is half the fun of his films. So, in that regard, Zohan isn't as big of a waste of time as most reviewers would have you believe.

Some of the gags work, some are lame, some just downright don't work. But Sandler does the best impersonation of Borat, while Rob Schneider does his best impersonation of, well, himself (which is what he does in every cameo he has ever made).

But no matter how generic and over-produced Zohan feels - there is still something immensely watchable and enjoyable about it. 

It's the sort of "Get Your Mind Off Things" flick which will never be regarded as a classic, or a cult hit (as Billy Madison or Happy Gilmore are) but it's by no means a waste of time or money.

3 out of 5

You Don't Mess with the Zohan
Australian release: 19th June, 2008
Official Site: You Don't Mess with the Zohan
Cast: Adam Sandler, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Rob Schneider
Director: Dennis Dugan