by Daniel Cummings

Created on: September 09, 2008

Sandler turns Middle Eastern for his latest venture into the comedic world of utter silliness.

You pretty much always know what to expect when going into the latest Adam Sandler offering; Punch Drunk Love and Reign Over Me aside, Sandler's more than happy to play anything for laughs. This time around the funny-man opted for the Middle East.

Sandler plays a legendary Mossad agent called the Zohan whom after years of service is fed up and desperate to start a new life as a hair stylist in New York City. After being sent out to capture his arch nemesis, The Phantom (John Turturro), he decides to use the opportunity to fake his own death and pursue his dream.

You Don't Mess With The Zohan undeniably looked promising on paper, especially as Sandler penned the script himself along with current king of comedy Judd Apatow. For the first 15 minutes at least, the film shapes up nicely with a hilarious opening sequence where Zohan performs all kinds of crazy stunts as he hunts down the Phantom. Catching bullets with his fingers and his teeth, and allowing a piranha to swim in his shorts are ingenious highlights.

Sadly though once this action packed scene finishes and our hero heads for the big apple to start his new life, an entirely different, unfunny, film kicks into gear. Running jokes about all kinds of Middle Eastern traditions like their love for bargaining and life in general away from home, grow very tiresome. The same can be said for the gags concerning the Zohan's seductive methods in the hair salon, where older women get more than they bargain for.

To be fair, Sandler manages to sustain a certain amount of charm throughout the picture and still manages to conjure up a few more laugh-out moments, including a game of kick-ups with a cat and that very funny, impossible feat of using both of his legs simultaneously to kick his opponents. Turturro, no stranger to creating silly characters in Adam Sandler comedies (Mr. Deeds, Anger Management), summons his most over-the-top creation yet with the Phantom but disappointingly fails to provide any real laughs this time out. Another Sandler regular, Rob Schneider also pops up as an aggressive Palestinian taxi driver but once again there are no laughs to be had with what is effectively just a throwaway creation.

The films very thin story winds down to a rushed and strained finale that sees Israeli's and Palestinians teaming up together to fend off a property developer looking to build a new shopping centre right over there businesses. This final act also manages to squeeze in cameos from Mariah Carey, Kevin James and John McEnroe, all of which feel a tad desperate to say the least.

All in all, Zohan can't match the kind of laugh ratio that the strongest Sandler comedies like Happy Gilmore contain. It also falls shorter when it comes to the likes of slightly lesser Sandler comedies like Mr. Deeds, which is a shame considering the potential that was clearly here; perfectly showcased in that excellent opening.

Verdict:
A strong, side splittingly funny opening is sadly let down by the remainder of the film that miserably fails to live up to the early highlights.

2 Stars

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