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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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21 - 40 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
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By the end, I felt as though I had been carpet-bombed by comedy's answer to Vladimir Putin. But, on second thoughts, Putin is funnier.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
08/15/08
Christopher Tookey
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

There are enough comedy diamonds in the rough here though to make it worth a look, but only just.

Full Review Source: Heart 106.2 | comment Comment
08/15/08
Heart 106.2
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

After playing it relatively straight in his recent movies, Adam Sandler goofs off big time here, laying on a thick Israeli accent and proving real men blow dry. There are funny highpoints, but the grab-bag approach never quite gels.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
08/15/08
Tom Charity
Tom Charity
Total Film

While the premise may not stand up to scrutiny, Sandler's performance - relatively restrained and nicely judged - makes you almost warm to the man who dumbly shrugged his way through years of neo-com tat.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
08/15/08
Tim Evans
Tim Evans
Sky Movies

But it's Sandler who is pivotal to its amiable success. Less precious, less power-tripping than the likes of Ben Stiller, Jim Carrey or Mike Myers, he never looks down on his material. He makes us laugh by willpower as much as technique.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
08/15/08
Sukhdev Sandhu
Sukhdev Sandhu
Daily Telegraph

This is a silly, crass comedy about a badass Israeli commando who secretly longs to be a hairdresser specialising in 1980s stylings.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
08/15/08
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

You Don’t Mess With the Zohan is a rude and routine Adam Sandler farce with some exceedingly sharp lines.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
08/15/08
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There's a broad theory that no matter how funny the comedy, 90 minutes is the point at which audiences have had enough. You Don't Mess With The Zohan trundles on for 113 minutes, none of them funny.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
08/15/08
Jim Hall
Jim Hall
Channel 4 Film

Another sloppily concocted and naggingly non-controversial pretext for Sandler to pelvic thrust his way though a succession of increasingly wacky fish-out-of-water situations.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
08/15/08
David Jenkins
David Jenkins
Time Out

A strange, mostly enjoyable mix of big political questions and crude comedy, Zohan overcomes its skeletal plotting and uneven gag ratio through Sandler's sheer commitment to nonsense.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
08/15/08
Ian Freer
Ian Freer
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

O pior filme da carreira de Adam Sandler... e se considerarmos que estamos falando do gênio por trás de O Paizão e Little Nicky, esta constatação se torna mais do que deprimente; torna-se apavorante.

Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | comment Comment
08/15/08
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

Amusing Adam Sandler comedy with a bonkers premise, a surprisingly likeable central character and a handful of decent gags.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
08/14/08
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Just when you think civilisation may be moving forward a bit (OK, I'm an optimist), another Adam Sandler movie comes along.

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
08/14/08
Victor Olliver
Victor Olliver
Teletext

You should have known: You Don’t Expect Much from the Zohan.

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Jonathan Kiefer
Jonathan Kiefer
Sacramento News & Review

A comedy built around the belief that people speaking in foreign accents is endlessly funny, You Don't Mess With The Zohan is - how you say? - not good.

Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
07/23/08
Tim Grierson
Tim Grierson
Screen International

This should have a big label that reads '20% above average humor, 80% below the belt crass.'

Full Review Source: Spectrum (St. George, Utah) | comment Comment
07/19/08
Bruce Bennett
Bruce Bennett
Spectrum (St. George, Utah)

Zohan is both exponentially stranger than Larry and about twice as amusing.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
07/18/08
Amy Biancolli
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle

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

Why does Adam Sandler continue to make these comedies that aren't funny? Because your neighbor's 13-year old kid keeps going to see them.

Full Review Source: Star Newspapers (Chicago, IL) | comment Comment
07/07/08
Michael Drakulich
Michael Drakulich
Star Newspapers (Chicago, IL)

Sandler's best in a long time

Full Review Source: sbs.is | comment Comment
07/05/08
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
sbs.is
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; 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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