by Beth Szczepanski

Created on: July 13, 2008

With "You Don't Mess with the Zohan," Adam Sandler returns to his goofy roots. No one should go to this movie expecting the new, improved dramatic actor Sandler. Instead, expect zany antics and childish humor to carry the day.

In this story, Sandler stars as an elite Israeli counter terror agent who decides to get out of the military life, faking his own death to become a hairdresser. He soon rises to the top of New York's hair-styling echelon, due to his previously untapped hairstyling skills and, to perhaps a greater extent, to his willingness to have sex with lonely, elderly clients.

All goes well until Zohan's terrorist arch-nemesis the Phantom, played by John Turturro, finds out about his new whereabouts and goes after him. As Zohan makes use of his remarkable skills as both barber and counter terror agent, the ridiculous plot progresses with heavy dollops of sophomoric humor.

Zohan is somewhat reminiscent of other depictions of earlier Jewish characters in comedy. Like Adam Goldberg's 2002 Hebrew Hammer, he is a warrior, but he behaves more like James Bond than Goldberg's more neurotic hero. Like Woody Allen, Zohan is surprisingly successful with the ladies, but again minus much of the neurosis of the earlier star. It will be interesting to see if this confident, modern (if a bit behind the times in hairstyle and clothes) Zohan will inspire a new character type for future Jewish comedians.

The humor in this movie is based primarily on sex, other bodily functions and, oddly, hummus. It is quite amazing how many gags about this tasty dip they managed to fit into less than two hours. I didn't find most of the gags to be any more than mildly amusing. In this film, the humor can be disgusting, offensive and ridiculously silly, but don't expect to laugh out loud much. Even appearances by a gaggle of Saturday Night Live alums don't raise this to the level of a really good comedy.

Although this film has little to offer anyone with a sense of humor beyond that of a ten year old, it does break some new ground. Never before has the conflict in the Middle East been treated so irreverently in film.

Some of the reviews I've read find the movie offensive for its lampooning of Israeli and Palestinian people. I, however, take this mildly amusing film as a good sign for the potential for peace in the region. After all, Zohan does leave the Israeli military because his is sick of the violence, and the movie does highlight the irrational nature of the conflict. A completely ludicrous comedy like this just might lead some to react by viewing the whole mess in a more productive, rational fashion.

It might be a stretch to attribute this to Zohan, but serious peace talks are now underway in France between Palestinian and Israeli leaders.

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