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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.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for crude and sexual content throughout, language and nudity.

Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Jun 6, 2008 Wide

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

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Release:

Oct 7, 2008

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Comedy superstar Adam Sandler is back - and funnier than ever - as The Zohan, the finest counterterrorist agent the Israeli army has. That is, until he fakes his death and travels to Manhattan to live his dream...as a hairdresser. Now this skilled fighting machine who used to clip bad guys is out to prove he can make the cut as a top stylist. All goes silky smooth until his cover is blown when he's recognized by a Palestinian cab driver (Rob Schneider). Now, The Zohan must fight to live a peaceful new life in New York in this razor-sharp action-packed comedy from Adam Sandler, Robert Smigel, Judd Apatow and Dennis Dugan.
  • Source: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
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    Reviews for You Don't Mess With The Zohan

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    61 - 80 (sorted by date)
    Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
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    Director Dennis Dugan knows his way around shin-whacking slapstick, and Sandler is mesmerizing.

    Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
    06/09/08
    David Edelstein
    David Edelstein
    New York Magazine
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    'I just want to make people silky smooth,' cried Adam in the kind of Israeli accent which suggests that Israel borders France.

    Full Review Source: MovieJuice! | comment Comment
    06/09/08
    Mark Ramsey
    Mark Ramsey
    MovieJuice!

    ...nearly two hours of mind numbing junk.

    Full Review Source: Houston Community Newspapers | comment Comment
    06/09/08
    Gary Brown
    Gary Brown
    Houston Community Newspapers

    Were there laughs to be had? Sure, but even a "Dorf on Golf" videotape has its moments.

    Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
    06/09/08
    Pete Vonder Haar
    Pete Vonder Haar
    Film Threat

    Zohan might have made a relatively entertaining series of regular sketches on SNL but can't sustain a nearly two-hour running time

    Full Review Source: Movie Retriever | comment Comment
    06/08/08
    Brian Tallerico
    Brian Tallerico
    Movie Retriever

    Judd Apatow continues his quest to kill comedy with coarse, low class, low-intellect rubbish like this, which can turn you mind to porridge if you sit through it.

    Full Review Source: tonymedley.com | comment Comment
    06/08/08
    Tony Medley
    Tony Medley
    tonymedley.com

    Hopes are dashed for the screenwriting contribution of Judd Apatow to elevate Adam Sandler as a poor man's Groucho Marx...

    Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
    06/08/08
    Cole Smithey
    Cole Smithey
    ColeSmithey.com

    A silky smooth, subversively silly political satire.

    Full Review Source: SSG Syndicate | comment Comment
    06/08/08
    Susan Granger
    Susan Granger
    SSG Syndicate

    You Don't Mess with the Zohan is cacophonous and competitive comedy, more exhausting than fun.

    Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
    06/08/08
    Cynthia Fuchs
    Cynthia Fuchs
    PopMatters

    Adam Sandler takes on terrorism as Israeli agent-turned-hair stylist in raunchy shock comedy.

    Full Review Source: Leader Newspapers, New Jersey | comment Comment
    06/08/08
    Kam Williams
    Kam Williams
    Leader Newspapers, New Jersey

    The racial stereotypes that emerge in this film are as over the top and potentially offensive as Eli Wallach's Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. But what redeems the film to some degree is its general good naturedness...

    Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
    06/08/08
    Beth Accomando
    Beth Accomando
    KPBS.org

    Amid the silliness, the boorishness and the vulgarity is a certain warmness and sweetness.

    Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
    06/07/08
    Robert Roten
    Robert Roten
    Laramie Movie Scope

    opens with a close-up of [Zohan's] bulging crotch and remains in that territory, in every sense, for the 113 minutes that it violates the screen

    Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
    06/07/08
    Andrea Chase
    Andrea Chase
    Killer Movie Reviews

    So I smelled it, smelled it, smelled it and took it - and you know, I thought it was pretty good.

    Full Review Source: Seacoast Newspapers (NH/Maine) | comment Comment
    06/07/08
    Gina Carbone
    Gina Carbone
    Seacoast Newspapers (NH/Maine)

    Although this film could've been hilarious, almost every scene ends up as crude or just plain silly. But Adam Sandler looks terrific as Zohan!

    Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
    06/07/08
    Betty Jo Tucker
    Betty Jo Tucker
    ReelTalk Movie Reviews

    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)

    For as stupid as it is, part of its problem is that it really isn't stupid enough.

    Full Review Source: Film School Rejects | comment Comment
    06/07/08
    Kevin Carr
    Kevin Carr
    Film School Rejects

    It's a difficult feat to manage irony without antecedent, so rather than opt for knowing caricature -- like, say, Adam Goldberg's The Hebrew Hammer -- Zohan mostly opts for empty farce: topical humor for people unfamiliar with the topic.

    Full Review Source: New Republic | comment Comment
    06/06/08
    Christopher Orr
    Christopher Orr
    New Republic
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    [A]voids that pitfall that brings down this genre of nutty comedy far more often than not: there's nothing meanspirited about it. It's crude in many ways... but it's never vulgar, and in fact it's often strikingly sweet.

    Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
    06/06/08
    MaryAnn Johanson
    MaryAnn Johanson
    Flick Filosopher

    This is one of those movie ideas that leaves you wondering what other ideas, exactly, were rejected in favor of this one, on the grounds of being too lame.

    Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
    06/06/08
    Moira MacDonald
    Moira MacDonald
    Seattle Times
     
     
    61 - 80 (sorted by date)
    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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