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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 date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
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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

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

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

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

Warts and all, Zohan adds to a beautiful vision

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
08/26/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion
N/R

Click to read the article

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

...the latest in a long line of underwhelming Adam Sandler comedies...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
10/24/08
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/18/08
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

You have to give Adam Sandler some credit: He is trying new things and working to expand his particular brand of juvenile comedy, albeit not always successfully.

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
10/18/08
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

I cracked up during a lot of this movie.

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
10/18/08
JoBlo
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

The ideas and some of the individual bits in Zohan work, but the crudeness of the execution undermines the results.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
10/18/08
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune

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.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
10/05/08
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze

Slightly better than most.

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
10/01/08
Kit Bowen
Kit Bowen
Hollywood.com

An army hero wearing Mariah Carey t-shirts? Yes. Yes. Yes.

Full Review Source: ReelzChannel.com | comment Comment
09/08/08
Heather Huntington
Heather Huntington
ReelzChannel.com

Sandler prefers to fall back on cartoonish stunt action, sleazy innuendo and bodily fluid gags. These things may satisfy his core fan-base, but everyone else will leave the cinema feeling a bit cheated.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
08/15/08
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

The worst thing about the film is not that but the constant, feeble sexual innuendos with which Sandler saddles himself.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
08/15/08
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

Images of a thrusting male pelvis haunt the sensitive critic yet.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
08/15/08
Martin Hoyle
Martin Hoyle
Financial Times

The ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine isn’t exactly the obvious choice of topic for a comedy – which is perhaps why this film is about as funny as a suicide bombing.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
08/15/08
Sun Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The central character may be a spin on Borat, and many of the jokes a touch familiar, but the whole package is so unbelievably silly, you’ll find yourself laughing for at least half the running time.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
08/15/08
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

The central character may be a spin on Borat, and many of the jokes a touch familiar, but the whole package is so unbelievably silly, you’ll find yourself laughing for at least half the running time.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
08/15/08
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
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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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