Adam Sandler Shakes Things Up In ‘Zohan’
Adam Sandler’s new movie “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” contains a script that was written not only by Adam Sandler himself – but also by Robert Smigel (Insult Comic Dog) , and Judd Apatow (“The 40-Year-Old Virgin). Naturally you can imagine the amount of hilarious antics that this new comedy can bring to the floor.
In the movie Sandler plays Zohan who is considered one of the best terrorists in the Middle East. “You’re like Rembrandt with a grenade,” one gushing admirer tells him. But Zohan is tired of all the fighting in the Middle East, and he dreams of going to America to pursue his true passion: cutting and styling hair. “I just want to make people silky smooth,” he pleads. But with everyone scoffing at this dream, the commando seems trapped in his current profession.
However, opportunity knocks when he does battle with a terrorist known as “Phantom,” played surprisingly way-over-the-top by John Turturro, and Zohan sees the chance for a new life. Taking a chance, Zohan fakes his own death and heads to New York City.
The aspiring hairdresser reinvents himself as “Scrappy Coc” but has difficulty getting a job as a stylist. He makes friends with a mother and son (veteran entertainer Lainie Kazan and frequent Sandler co-star Nick Swardson) and moves into their Brooklyn apartment building. When he finally does score a job, it’s in a small salon run by a Palestinian woman (the beautiful Emmanuelle Chriqui from “Entourage”), and the shop is located on a New York street where both Arabs and Jewish immigrants make their living.
Naturally, chemistry develops between Zohan and the shop owner, and of course, the tensions between the Arabs and Jews on the street are played to the hilt — including Rob Schneider’s turn as the surly Arab cab driver. Sandler and director Dennis Dugan (who previously teamed for “Happy Gilmore” and “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry”) have assembled an impressive, although at times, bizarre, collection of guest stars and cameos for “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.” The jokes come fast and furious, with some being hilarious (guys playing hackey-sack with a cat) and some that entice groans (Sandler urinating on a cat).