'Shampoo' meets 'Munich': New Adam Sandler film stars Mossad hit man turned hairdresser
By Gilad Halpern
Tags: Mideast conflict, Israel
Adam Sandler, the Jewish-American comedy superstar known for over-the-top films aimed at the adolescent boy demographic, has ventured into territory associated with anything but comedy: the Israeli-Arab conflict.
"You Don't Mess With The Zohan", due to open in the United States on June 6 , tells the story of Zohan, a Mossad hit man who is fed up with killing. He fakes his own death and flees to New York to pursue a slightly different line of work - hairstyling. Think "Shampoo" meets "Munich" meets "Happy Gilmore."
Having specialized in killing Arabs, Zohan finds, to his amazement, Jews and Arabs living side by side in relative peace. One does not have to be a comedic genius of Sandler's caliber to recognize the potential for new heights of absurdity. Advertisement
From the early production stages, Zohan was known in and around Hollywood as "the Israeli movie." Sandler sought to fend off criticism and gain the movie an air of authenticity by casting Israeli and Arab actors, even going so far as opening a casting office in Israel.
But as much as Israeli actors were rushing to audition, the response among Arab actors was far from enthusiastic. One possible explanation is that Sandler, who is known as a patron of Jewish causes, is not so popular in the Arab world.
"Adam Sandler, in the Arab and Muslim communities, is not having a good reputation," Sayed Badreya, an Egyptian-born actor who plays one of Zohan's adversaries in New York, told The New York Times.
"When it came to working with Adam, I was like, 'Eh, well, I don't know.' My prejudice was bigger than me.
Adam Sandler’s latest movie “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” is outrageously funny, ridiculously silly, relentlessly offensive and yet a bit tedious. Fans of Sandler will enjoy his zaniness, but might be shocked by the raunchiness of the film. Any movie that generates this many laughs deserves credit even if it’s stupid.
This non-fan thought “Zohan” might be better than the average Sandler film, in some ways it is, but in other ways it’s just more of the same old same old. This non-fan also laughed very hard, especially in the films first half. Unfortunately, things go down hill once our hero fulfills his dream of becoming a hairdresser.
Some will be lured to “Zohan” knowing that current comedy wonder boy Judd Apatow helped write, along with Sandler and Robert Smigel (Triumph the Insult Comic Dog). Apatow no doubt ramped up the sexuality, which is not a Sandler trademark.
As “Zohan” progressed my mind wandered and I wondered how this got a PG-13 rating? It should have been an R. Yet “King Fu Panda” got a PG when it should have been G. Just be aware that the sexual content is very crude and explicit when your 12-year-old Adam Sandler loving kid begs you to see “Zohan.” The idea of Sandler’s Zohan having sex with older women, including Charlotte Rae (who will forever be known to me as Mrs. Garrett from “The Facts of Life”), creeped me out.
Sandler (who acts here, instead of just playing what seems to be variations on himself) is Zohan, an Israeli counter-terrorist expert. The opening scene with Zohan strutting down the beach with ‘70s style short cut-offs, high-fiving everyone, including a pelican, seemed so over-the-top I figured it must be a dream sequence, but no.
Zohan can stop bullets with his nose, leap buildings and swim faster than a dolphin, but he’s tired of fighting for his country. So during a duel with his arch nemesis, The Phantom (John Turturro), Zohan fakes his own death and stows away to New York City to start a new life as a hairdresser – even though he’s never cut hair before. But darn it, he loves it – cry ing himself to sleep with his Paul Mitchell book clutched tight …“silky smooth.”
He can’t believe that Arabs and Jews coexist in the city, but he’s soon working in a shop owned by pretty Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), a Lebanese woman. Even though his outfits suggest gay, Zohan is all guy – using his manliness in all manners. He also has a talent for catching things with his butt. Isn’t that special?
He’s so loved by his countrymen and hated by Arabs that he is soon discovered and The Phantom comes to America to take care of him, but they end up working together to takedown some corporate jerks who want the two sides to keep fighting. Somewhere in this mess is a message about everyone needing to get along.
Most of the Sandler regulars are here, Henry Winkler, John McEnroe and the always-unfunny Rob Schneider. Interestingly, singer Dave Matthews shows up as a redneck. Yes, they too are stereotyped along with Arabs and Jews.
Release date in Germany is 14 August..... what a downer. Posts: 30135 | From: The owner of this website killed ES....... | Registered: Feb 2004
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quote:Originally posted by massenburg2008: It will be shown in Egypt on 30 July.
Grrrr.... you wanna get me upset??
karim Member # 3077 posted 17 June, 2008 10:09 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I liked him in Anger Managment.
Lately I watched "Click" and "The Wedding Singer" (my favourite movie by him ).
Posts: 30135 | From: The owner of this website killed ES....... | Registered: Feb 2004
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Lately I watched "Click" and "The Wedding Singer" (my favourite movie by him ). [/QB][/QUOTE]
Posts: 1226 | From: Egypt | Registered: Nov 2003
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