You Can't Mess With Zohan!!!

You Don't Mess With the Zohan sort of feels like it started out with a lot more ambition. You can just get a whiff of that certain subversive absurdity that Robert Smigel tends to pepper in his work. Maybe they lost their nerve along the way. Instead, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan falls back on some very old tricks. Big Sandler fans will still probably love a lot of it because of that. Everybody else can probably get away with not seeing it.

Zohan is Israel’s greatest Mossad agent, but he’s grown tired of the constant conflict. He fakes his own death so that he can escape to America and follow his dream: to cut and style hair. Taking the name Scrappy Coco, he takes a job at a small hair salon run by a Palestinian immigrant, Dalia, who’s struggling to make the rent. Zohan’s unorthodox approach to hairdressing makes him a hit with the clientele, and he soon finds himself living his dream. But a greedy landlord, a Palestinian taxi driver, and an old rival threaten to take it all away from him.

The film has some really funny moments in its repertoire, and there are a few big laughs scattered throughout. Unfortunately, the film tends to run its jokes into the ground through endless repetition. The first time you see someone in the film use hummus for something other than spreading on flatbread, it’s pretty funny. The next eight times, not so much. Cheesy disco, sex with old people, and Hacky Sack all get the same repetitive treatment. That’s pretty much the film in a nutshell: some funny ideas, done over and over again, for far too long, until they just aren’t funny anymore. There are bits of cleverness here and there; a light, subversive undertone that almost does justice to the controversial subject matter. It just doesn’t go far enough to actually matter.

One of the reasons the satire doesn’t have any punch is because of the filmmaking. Dennis Dugan doesn’t really have a light enough touch to let any the sophistication shine through. He hits hardest when doing slapstick, and the film works well enough at those points. When the film tries other things, when it dips it toe into the realm of satire, the cracks begin to show. He plays it too big, too broad, and it just becomes another throwaway joke lost among the much easier laughs.

Adam Sandler, whether you like him or not, is always a lot of fun to watch. He’s clearly comfortable in Zohan’s skin, and he delivers an effortless and strangely natural performance. John Turturro, who plays Zohan’s Palestinian nemesis, the Phantom, really commits to the role, and his enthusiasm carries you through some of the character’s weaknesses. Sandler’s usual gang of comedians manages to show up, and they do add something to the background of this film. Watch out for cameos from the likes of Henry Winkler, Chris Rock, John McEnroe and George Takei.

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan is really funny at times. There are points in the film where you’re just taken in by the majestic absurdity of what’s on screen. But then it starts to go wrong. The film shows you that majestic absurdity a second time. Then a third. And as it runs its jokes into the ground, your attention may begin to wander towards the paper-thin plot and the stale direction. And it might still surprise you with a bit of inventiveness, but by then, it might be too late. You Don’t Mess with the Zohan has it moments, but all in all, it’s not the easiest film to recommend.
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