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Movies / On DVD / You Don't Mess With The Zohan
You Don't Mess With The Zohan

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You Don't Mess With The Zohan (2008)

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Reviews Counted:177

Fresh:64

Rotten:113

Average Rating:4.6/10

Consensus: You Don't Mess With the Zohan features intermittent laughs, and will please Sandler diehards, but after awhile the leaky premise wears thin.

Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins

Genre: Comedies

US Box Office: $100,018,837

Synopsis: Dennis Dugan (BIG DADDY, HAPPY GILMORE) directs this comedy co-written by Adam Sandler, Judd Apatow, and Robert Smigel. Disco- and hummus-loving Zohan (Sandler) is the Israeli army's best weapon.... Dennis Dugan (BIG DADDY, HAPPY GILMORE) directs this comedy co-written by Adam Sandler, Judd Apatow, and Robert Smigel. Disco- and hummus-loving Zohan (Sandler) is the Israeli army's best weapon. He can single-handedly take out terrorists and swim like a dolphin, and still find time to charm the ladies. But this lethal weapon is tired of fighting Palestinian terrorists like the Phantom (John Turturro). He has bigger dreams: he wants to cut and style hair. Unfortunately, once Zohan arrives in New York City with a new look straight out of the 1980s and an assumed identity after faking his own death, his lack of experience gets him laughed out of salon after salon. Finally, Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), a Palestinian salon owner, gives him a shot, and the older patrons love him. But just as Zohan is hitting his stride, Salim, a Palestinian New York City cabbie (Rob Schneider) recognizes him, and suddenly the Zohan's dream is in jeopardy. To confuse matters more, there is a Trump-like developer (Michael Buffer) who is trying to clear out the Manhattan neighborhood where Israelis and Palestinians peacefully coexist in order to build a mall. A bulked-up Sandler is amusing as Zohan, and this is Schneider's best performance in years. Despite the extreme stereotyping, there is an underlying message about the futility of war and fact that people really are, after all, just people. The film is peppered with brief appearances from a menagerie of celebrities, including Chris Rock, Dave Matthews, Charlotte Rae, Kevin James, John McEnroe, Mariah Carey, George Takei, and Bruce Vilanch. Lainie Kazan and Nick Swardson also star in this film as a mother and son who befriend the new immigrant. [More]

Starring: Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Nick Swardson

Starring: Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Nick Swardson, Lainie Kazan, Rob Schneider

Director: Dennis Dugan

Director: Dennis Dugan
Screenwriter: Robert Smigel, Adam Sandler, Judd Apatow
Producer: Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo
Composer: Rupert Gregson-Williams
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for You Don't Mess With The Zohan

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1 - 20 (sorted by source; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

If only the Zohan hadn’t messed with us. Worse than his excruciating Chuck And Larry, Sandler seems determined to refine the unfunny comedy. Please, Mr Sandler, stop it. Please. It hurts.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine Australasia | comment Comment
06/20/08
Ben McEachen
Ben McEachen
Empire Magazine Australasia
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Things work out, of course, to everyone's satisfaction: there are a few political gags that have a veneer of audacity, but in essence, the movie takes risks only with its audience's gag reflex.

Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | comment Comment
06/20/08
Philippa Hawker
Philippa Hawker
The Age (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Occasionally the film is so bad it's almost funny, if you think a scene in which a cat is used as a football is funny.

Full Review Source: The Australian | comment Comment
07/10/08
David Stratton
David Stratton
The Australian
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It goes on too long, but I enjoyed much of the crazy, off-the-wall nature of this political satire and the Sandler-Apatow brand of humour.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
06/16/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

You Don't Mess With the Zohan tries to mix high-brow satire with low-brow gross-out humor. The combination kills the story's pacing.

Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | comment Comment
06/10/08
Mike McGranaghan
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat

There are really only four jokes in the movie, and each of them goes from being pleasantly goofy to positively leaden as the film's needlessly protracted running time unspools.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
06/11/08
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

The whole style of humor seems dated.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
06/05/08
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

It says something generally about the acting when Mariah Carey, playing herself, is as good or better than just about everyone else.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
06/05/08
Bill Goodykoontz
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic

Zohan may have an Apatow label, but it's got Sandler guts.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
06/06/08
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

For all its perceived shock value, all the concern that a comedy about conflict in the Middle East would offend just about everyone imaginable, You Don't Mess With the Zohan is really rather conventional and familiar.

Full Review Source: Associated Press | comment Comment
06/04/08
Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire
Associated Press

You Don't Mess with the Zohan has bumped 'Click' from the top of Sandler's list as his worst movie ever.

Full Review Source: Atlantic City Weekly | comment Comment
07/11/08
Lori Hoffman
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly

Happily, You Don't Mess With the Zohan, Sandler's first collaboration with co-writer and current Hollywood comedy godhead Judd Apatow, is a crazed, delightfully bizarre return to form for Sandler.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
06/05/08
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle

If silliness equaled greatness, You Don't Mess With The Zohan would instantly join Citizen Kane and It's A Wonderful Life high atop the pantheon of great American films.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
06/05/08
Nathan Rabin
Nathan Rabin
AV Club

At 113 minutes, the movie bloats, and the humor wears thin, but it's still one of Adam Sandler's sturdier vehicles. That's consumer guidance for Sandler fans -- not high praise.

Full Review Source: Baltimore Sun | comment Comment
06/06/08
Michael Sragow
Michael Sragow
Baltimore Sun

Don't mess with audiences, Sandler. Yet another bum movie from the actor that so steeped in stereotypes, it's nauseating.

Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | comment Comment
06/07/08
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

Somewhere inside this Adam Sandler slacker silliness there is a fierce and provocative little satire trying to get out.

Full Review Source: Beliefnet | comment Comment
06/05/08
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Beliefnet

If You Don't Mess With the Zohan isn't the bravest movie ever made about current Arab-Israeli relations, it's at least the bravest movie ever made about current Arab-Israeli relations featuring a former Mossad agent who shags Lainie Kazan.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
06/06/08
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Peter Keough
Peter Keough
Boston Phoenix

It’s painfully unfunny and cumbersome for extended stretches, necessitating bizarre story detours to jumpstart jokes that, though funny, often seem completely misplaced.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/06/08
Wade Major
Wade Major
Boxoffice Magazine

There's just enough chutzpah to Zohan to keep it amusing and sporadically uproarious. It's a decent comedy construct: a film one unforgiving editorial pass away from greatness.

Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com | comment Comment
06/06/08
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
BrianOrndorf.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
all

Latest News for You Don't Mess With The Zohan

October 05, 2008: This counter-terrorism satire is its own worst enemy. Especially whenever Sandler's whining geek turned combo swaggering assassin hair stylist's too-much-information bulging prosthetic crotch pops up. Opens in new window
More...

August 19, 2008: Arab Censors Mess With The Zohan Opens in new window
In a move that will leave some American filmgoers seething with jealousy, censors in Egypt, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates have banned Adam Sandler's You Don't Mess With... More...

August 16, 2008: NewFilmReview: This counter-terrorism satire is its own worst enemy. Especially whenever Sandler's whining geek turned combo swaggering assassin hair stylist's too-much-information bulging prosthetic crotch pops up. Opens in new window
More...

July 13, 2008: Box Office Guru Wrapup: Moody Superheroes Rule the Box Office
Hellboy II: The Golden Army nudges Hancock out of first place while Murphy debuts as the summer's biggest flop. More...

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