Please, mess with the Zohan. Doing so typically leads to crude, explicit, and often hilarious moments ranking up there with Sandler’s best. Zohan is not a movie for the easily offended, those who dislike the human body in all of its unpleasant forms, or those who find excessive pubic hair jokes lacking merit.
Most of Sandler’s audience, well, all that works for them.
Even after The Waterboy, Billy Madison, and Happy Gilmore, Zohan proves that it is possible to actually be more absurd than all of those combined. Sandler, as the Israeli special forces immigrant, deals out blows with an efficient grace that defies all known laws of physics, the speed of sound, and all logic. That’s why it works.
While the story itself — which has Sandler desperately seeking a way to become a hairdresser despite his past — becomes predictable, each new scene brings something unexpected. From a countless number of cameos (Henry Winkler, Chris Rock, Kevin James) to the ways in which Sandler can repeatedly draw audiences to his crotch area and still remain funny, Zohan is rarely dull.
Pushing two hours, this one runs longer than it should without question. The funniest moments come as Sandler is allowed to finally cut some hair in a montage, and that’s when the film never lets up. Numerous scenes prior to this could have probably been cut for the eventual DVD release as they’re not lacking merit (or laughs), but add little to the flow of the film.
Zohan tries to do more than be an equal opportunity offender. The ending makes a valiant attempt to make note of American’s attitudes towards Middle Eastern immigrants, though attempting to make this is a message movie is a joke in and of itself. This is purely a surface level piece, and to expect to the audience to take something away from it is as absurd as playing hacky sack with your butt crack… which is also in the movie.
The film’s audience is already of aware of what to expect, and it’s hard to imagine anyone else even wanting to see it. Sandler’s goofy, raunchy comedy fans will be thoroughly satisfied. These types of comedies aren’t as common as they used to be with Sandler attempting more serious work, but it’s good to know he’s still willing to go back and act like an idiot when called on.
Article comments
1 - Maya Sandler
The stupidest movie I have ever seen, it is a shame to see an actor makes fun out of him self to the point that we had to leave the movie theater, I wonder who is the person and what is his motive behind the stupid idea, beside the greed for money, I am so sorry to donate my money to see how Adam Sandler looks like an Idiot, he was one of my favorites, now, I (and many more with me) will never go to his movies, and will never consider him as an actor. Well, you achieved your goal.