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Movie Review: You Don’t Mess With The Zohan

Eric Emin Wood — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 03:29:53 +0000

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I seem to be hot and cold when it comes to Adam Sandler. On the one hand, he’s one of a handful of actors who’s usually reason enough for me to see a movie. On the other, I can see why many critics are annoyed by him (since I myself am often annoyed by him) – but in the right project I can easily embrace his conventions – the silliness, the goofy-but-sincere romances, the vomit gags, the barely repressed rage, the obligatory appearance by Rob Schneider (who appears in You Don’t Mess With The Zohan as a Palestinian cab driver), the blatant product placement (the final battle is paused so two of the main characters can promote a cellphone!), and most of all the steadfast refusal to mature until the very end. When all is said and done, you know what you’re settling with a Sandler movie, and no one else makes films quite like Adam Sandler.

That said, I can’t help but feel disappointed by this one. Like Anger Management (which he made with Jack Nicholson), Punch Drunk Love (directed by Paul Thomas Anderson), and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (which was co-written by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor), Sandler is once again working with someone whose mere presence should have resulted in a better movie (in this case, Judd Apatow). While Apatow’s touch is evident in the boatload of gratuitous male nudity (much of it involving Sandler), the film is missing the insight and attention to character development synonymous with the best of his work. Love interest Emmanuelle Chriqui may be gorgeous, but she doesn’t even leave an impact comparable to Kate Beckinsale in Click, let alone Katherine Heigl in Knocked Up and Catherine Keener in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

Apatow’s touch is also evident in the running gag about Sandler’s character – a Mossad agent who fakes his death so he can become a stylist at a Palestinian hair salon in New York – romancing his customers, older women from their late 50s all the way up to their 70s. Also, while Sandler’s never exactly shied away from his Jewish heritage, I wouldn’t be surprised if Apatow was largely responsible for this sudden willingness to make a comedy about the ongoing conflict in Israel.

So what happened? My guess is that Apatow, a busy guy with a frat boy’s sense of humour, can only spread himself so thin. The Apatow which cowrote You Don’t Mess With The Zohan is presumably the same one who produced Talledega Nights and Anchorman – funny, but with zero attention paid to character development.

And that, really, is You Don’t Mess With The Zohan’s biggest problem – it isn’t funny. The makers are sitting on a gold mine of material, but except for some decent comic-action setpieces (during which Sandler kicks his adversaries while staring them in the face and dismantles their guns before they can fire) and a pointed line about Israelis and Palestinians looking suspiciously similar (no surprise in this movie, since Israelis play most of the Palestinians) we’re treated to the usual gay jokes, 80s hair and music references, and others reacting to the Sandler character’s sexual prowess. Sandler haters can rest assured: if the man annoys you, you’ll find nothing to change your mind here.

I’ve never seen a Sandler film I’d give more than three and a half stars to (though embarrassingly I haven’t seen Punch Drunk Love or Reign Over Me), because four-star films in my opinion should be enjoyable for anyone and Sandler by definition is an acquired taste. On the relative scale of his movies, You Don’t Mess With The Zohan is my least favourite Sandler film of the ones I’ve liked – better than Big Daddy, Click and Billy Madison (I refuse to see Eight Crazy Nights or Little Nicky), but below The Waterboy, Mr. Deeds, Anger Management and his films with Drew Barrymore. For Sandler fans, I’d recommend You Don’t Mess With The Zohan as a rental. There are better things to see at the multiplex for $10.

Sandler Stands In For Letterman

andPOP Staff — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:06:06 +0000

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Funnyman ADAM SANDLER added chat show host to his impressive resume earlier this week when he agreed to stand in for an ailing DAVID LETTERMAN on US TV programme THE LATE SHOW.

Letterman pulled out of the show at the last minute with a bout of the stomach flu and Sandler agreed to helm the late night programme – and interview his REIGN OVER ME co-star DON CHEADLE.

The Longest Yard To Open Nationwide Tonight

Max Whiteside — Fri, 27 May 2005 16:09:46 +0000

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Adam Sandler’s newest movie, The Longest Yard, is set to hit the big screen on May 27. Chris Rock, and rap sensation, Nelly, co-star with Sandler in what could be this summer’s number 1 comedy.

The Longest Yard is a story about Paul “Wrecking” Crewe (Sandler), a respected football player back in his earlier days, who ends up in prison due to a drunk driving incident.

Paul later finds out that the deceiving Warden Haze, played by James Cromwell, who is well aware of Paul’s athleticism, has specifically requested him to his prison, and plans to assign him the task of bringing together a football team of convicts to play against the cruel team of prison guards.

With the assistance of the caretaker (Rock), Paul prepares for what builds up to be a very interesting game of football. With Paul as the lead man for this team of revengeful convicts, the warden and the guards will have no idea who hit them.

Burt Reynolds, who starred in the original 1974 film, will be playing the role of coach Nate Scarboro, who was originally played by Michael Conrad.

The film is packed with fun filled cameos from pro wrestlers including Bill Goldberg, to everyone?s favourite female Geller, Friend’s star Courtney Cox, to hilarious comedians such as Tracy Morgan. The Longest Yard has well prepared itself to be the hottest movie of the spring.

Anyone who is an Adam Sandler fan should definitely check out this flick, as you will see many familiar faces that Adam likes to bring along in many of the movies he stars in, including his good buddy Rob Schneider. The film marks Sandler’s first, and what appears to be his only big screen release for 2005.

Currently, Sandler is working on another sports film, entitled The Benchwarmers which has three friends attempt to make up for instances in their past that they now later in their life regret. The men form a three-man baseball team to battle against ordinary little league teams. The film will also star America’s beloved Napoleon Dynamite star, Jon Heder.

For more information on The Longest Yard, including the full cast list and movie trailers, visit The-Longest-Yard.com