You Don’t Mess With The Zohan could’ve gone one of two ways – it could’ve been horribly embarrassing for all concerned (see Adam Sandler in Going Overboard), or it could’ve been halfway decent (see Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore, Wedding Singer). Thankfully, it leaned more towards the latter, though not entirely.
When Israel’s top-most Mossad agent, Zohan (Adam Sandler) gets tired of being completely relied upon to do all the dirty work, of which he is excessively adept at, he decides to fake his own death and pursue his dream of becoming a hairdresser in New York.
Putting aside an in-grained hatred for his enemy, Zohan changes his identity and finds work at a run-down salon owned by a beautiful Palestinian woman. Zohan soon becomes the star attraction as he not only cuts and styles hair, but also performs “additional duties” in the back room for the aging clientele.
Meanwhile, a mean real estate mogul wanting to replace the entire block of Middle Eastern stores with a giant shopping mall continually raises the rent, in hopes of forcing the shops to close. But Zohan’s flair for hair brings the salon back from the brink of losing their store.
Zohan’s cover is soon blown and his arch-nemesis, Phantom (John Turturro) arrives in New York for a showdown. But Zohan has learnt many things of war and of peace from his love interest/Palestinian salon owner, and the two warring sides must try to find a way to unite and fight the bigger enemy – the evil mall building guy.
You Don’t Mess With the Zohan builds some great momentum initially during the comedic action sequences, but this is sadly lacking in the second half where it gets a little more philosophical (well, as philosophical as an Adam Sandler comedy can get). But for the most part it’s a good blend of action and comedy that’s entertaining enough and for the most part amusing.
However with Judd Apatow (40-Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up) as co-writer, I would’ve expected more of his unique flavour of comedy infused throughout. But this reeks of Adam Sandler humour, which is fine if you like Adam Sandler movies. Otherwise, I’d suggest not bothering.
All the ex-Saturday Night Live Adam Sandler film regulars are there too, including Rob Schneider, and Kevin Nealon plus funny cameos by Chris Rock, Mariah Carey and others. Adam Sandler solving the world’s problems… it’s a difficult concept to grasp. But the idea and thought behind this film is well-placed and it’s a nice try at looking at the problems that people of Middle Eastern descent are facing.