Written by: Dominick at 7:56 pm
Movie Info:
Writers: Adam Sandler and Robert Smigel
Director: Dennis Dugan
Cast: Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Nick Swardson, Lainie Kazan, Ido Mosseri, Rob Schneider, Dave Matthews, Michael Buffer, Charlotte Rae, Sayed Badreya, Daoud Heidami, Kevin Nealon, Robert Smigel
Rating: Unrated (PG-13)
Studio: Sony
Release Info:
Theatrical Release: June 6, 2008
DVD Release Date: October 7, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $
Imagine a movie where Adam Sandler is the hottest thing since sliced bread. The girls all dig him, the guys want to be him and he spends lots of time wiggling his hips in time to music, just to show off his abnormally large “package”. This thing is so huge, you assume NASA can see it from space. Well, you don’t have to imagine it, because that’s part of the premise for You Don’t Mess with the Zohan. I know that sounds kind of weird, but it is rather funny when it translates to screen. It’s that kind of, over the top, crude humor that Sandler is know for and allows him to thrive as an artist.
Here’s a note to all those parents with kids who like Adam Sandler. Watch this first, because boy was I embarrassed to be watching this film with my 13 year old Adam-Sandler obsessed son, who is somewhat naive and innocent despite understanding the point and premise of sex. There are many sex jokes in this and while it’s more than okay for older teens and adults, the youngsters will definitely have to skip seeing this one until they’re older. I think I would be embarrassed watching some of these moments period, because that was Sandler’s intent for the film!
While Zohan has Sandler returning to his earlier comic roots, with the kind of humor presented in Waterboy and Happy Gilmore, and it is a nice follow up to Chuck and Larry, it’s definitely not as good as said previously mentioned movies. Some of the jokes get a little too repetitious and while this is definitely better than Click, this wasn’t the return to comedy for Sandler that we all had hoped. Still, I have to admit, I found myself laughing out loud more than once.
Sandler is joined by his usual crew and a few new faces, that add some funny moments (though some are grossly awkward, on purpose). The cast of characters that help to add humor to this already interesting movie are Rob Schneider, John Turturro, Lainie Kazan, Nick Swardson, and even Kevin Nealon (who looks especially dorkorific in yellow!). It’s clear most of these actors are quite comfortable working with Sandler, as they step into their roles easily and with zest and zeal. I think their enthusiasm for their roles is part of what saved this movie.
Another thing that saved this movie was the life lessons learned. Zohan teaches to always follow your dreams. Even older women need lovin’, too. A woman is a woman and that’s a beautiful thing. If you kill a major Mossad specialist (and you’re Palestinian), you’re bound to own a series of Middle Eastern fast food chains. Always respect the hair, especially if it’s a Paul Mitchell hair cut. Never, never give up your dream, even if it’s clear you’re not yet suited for fulfilling said dream. With life lessons like these, who needs school?
You Don’t Mess With the Zohan Plot
Zohan (Adam Sandler) is the real deal in Israel. The chicks dig him, the guys want to be him and everything about his life seems perfect. Zohan is the best Mossad agent out there and he’s more than willing to kick some Palestinian terrorist butt. Well, at least he used to be content doing that. Zohan has a new goal. He wants to be a hair stylist. He secretly hides his Paul Mitchell 1980s book, which is his muse for hair cutting.
Zohan’s parents (Shelley Berman and Dina Doron) laugh at the idea of their son being a “fagala” hairdresser, which he most certainly is not considering his penchant for the ladies. They insist he stay at his current job, which will have him traveling to take out the Palestinian terrorist (again) The Phantom (John Turturro). While battling the Phantom, Zohan fakes his own death. The Phantom becomes a hero, and Zohan is able to go to New York City (sneaking on to the cargo area of a plane), without anyone knowing.
In New York, Zohan immediately heads to Paul Mitchell’s salon, but with his 80s do, he’s laughed out of the salon. He vows to one day be better than Paul Mitchell. Later that day, he ends up saving the life of a man named Michael (Nick Swardson), who takes him home to stay at his apartment with his mother, Gail (Lainie Kazan). It isn’t long before Zohan is bopping Gail and giving tips to Michael on how to get his own woman.
While at the club with Michael, Oori (Ido Mosseri) recognizes Zohan and realizes he is not dead. He takes him to the Middle Eastern part of town and Zohan discovers the Palestinian hair salon run by Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), might just be his ticket into the world of becoming a hairdresser. Unfortunately, a Palestinian farmer, Salim (Rob Schneider), that Zohan once stole a goat from, also recognizes him and he wants to get even. So, he does whatever he can to ruin Zohan’s new life.
There is a third subplot thrown in that affects most of the characters that work in the Middle Eastern area. A man named Walbridge (Michael Buffer) wants to open a massive mall. To do so, he has to kick all the Middle Eastern folks out. To do that, he keeps raising their rent, but if Zohan and the rest of those working in the area have anything to say about it, they won’t let these corporate losers get them down. Still, as the Americans try to start an inner city Israeli-Palestinian war on the street, tempers are bound to flair.
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Acting: 
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
The visual quality for You Don’t Mess With the Zohan Blu Ray is great. This part of the film isn’t exactly anything to complain about. You Don’t Mess With the Zohan is presented at a 1.85:1 aspect ratio in 1080p anamorphic widescreen. There aren’t really any compression errors. There is no grit, very little if any grain and no dirt or scratches. Everything comes through looking realistic with bright colors and a vibrant look that is pretty common for new releases on Blu Ray. The only problem seems to be with black levels, which appear somewhat hazy in many scenes. Now, if only the movie would have been better, it would have been an all around great Blu Ray release.
There are two Dolby Digital TrueHD 5.1 tracks in English and French. The English track sounded remarkably clear. There isn’t a lot of sound effects used in this movie, except during the action sequences, but once the dialogue takes over, the sound lacks the depth I’d expect with this kind of audio distribution. Paramount certainly could have done better with this release. There is a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack in Thai (who knows why?) and subtitles are available in English, French, Chinese, Korean, Bahasa, Thai, and Indonesian.
Visual:
Audio:
Bonus Features:
One thing that is impressive about You Don’t Mess With the Zohan is the sheer amount of bonuses, all of which are available in high definition. To start things off, there is a commentary. This commentary features Adam Sandler, Robert Smigel, Rob Schneider, and Nick Swardson. As you might guess, this commentary is absolutely amusing. It’s a casual affair that is a lot of fun. This actually made watching the film more enjoyable as the guys all weigh in on making the movie, their thoughts on it and the fun they had. This is definitely the kind of commentary I like.
Next up is another commentary. This one is with the director of the movie, Dennis Dugan. Following the engaging commentary with Sandler and the gang, this one is a dud. Sure, it is informative, but there are way too many quiet spaces. I don’t think commentaries with just one person are nearly as good with the multiple person in commentary dynamic. Overall, this is worth a listen once, but not overly appealing for extended use.
Following this is a bonus option called “Translating the Zohan”, which goes through all of the foreign words used in the movie and explains them in a hilarious way. This provides popups throughout the movie, with these funny explanations. This is good for people who have no clue what is being said throughout certain parts of the movie. To add more humor is the featurette, “Look Who Stopped By”, which lasts for nine minutes. This featurette explores the various cameos in this movie, thanks to Sandler having so many friends in Hollywood. This featurette is definitely worth watching.
In the featurette, “Dugan: The Hand’s on Director”, the cast and crew talk about Dennis Dugan. This is another good featurette because Dugan is an interesting guy. This lasts for over five minutes and it has some behind the scenes discussion fans will enjoy. The next featurette is “The Stunts of Zohan,” which is a self-explanatory featurette about the stunts. This feature is primarily run by Scott Rogers, the Zohan Stunt Coordinator. By far, my favorite featurette happens to be “Dugan Espanol?” This Featurette is hysterical as Dugan attempts to instruct extras in Spanish. Unfortunately, he’s just not that good at speaking anything other than English.
The interview with John Turturro is available in the feature, “Zohan vs. The Phantom”. This is kind of interesting, but way too short. I’d like to see more of John because he’s an entertaining guy. In an unusual add, the featurette “Zohan’s Doubles” looks at the stunt doubles of Adam Sandler. Since there really aren’t many bonuses on DVDs covering this subject this was a great addition as it explains a lot about the purpose of having stunt doubles and how they were used in this movie.
The featurette “Shooting Baja for Tel Aviv” is an on location look at how Baja was used to emulate the city of Tel Aviv, which is Zohan’s hometown. The featurettes keep rolling with “All American Redneck”, which looks at Dave Matthews cameo as a Redneck who leads some other Rednecks on a nefarious mission. There are still more featurettes, and next up is “From Guns to Scissors”, which looks at the Arab and Israeli conflict. Everyone knows that Adam Sandler is Jewish and many of the cast and crew have family or come from the area themselves, so this is an incredibly interesting discussion on the conflict.
As I said, there is a sheer amount of bonuses here and there are still more! The section “News on 3″ features three mini-featurettes. These are close to ten minutes in combined length. These featurettes are mini-news interviews with the actors from the movie, in character. These include both friends and enemies of Zohan. The short feature “The Robot” looks at a character originally meant to be in the movie, but who was cut. This has to be my least favorite bonus on this DVD.
The gag reel for Zohan is called “Laughing is Contagious”. This lasts over five minutes. It’s pretty funny if I do say so myself. There is a selection of 15 deleted scenes. This totals over ten minutes of footage. There is a featurette called, “Getting Sticky”. This looks at the girls who throw themselves at Zohan while he’s in Israel.
That’s it. That’s all the bonuses.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
You’re going to have to be an Adam Sandler fan who likes raunchy comedy to like You Don’t Mess With the Zohan. It definitely had its funny moments, but this is more crude humor that gets a bit repetitious by the end of the movie. This isn’t Sandler’s best nor is it his worst film. It is definitely worth a watch once, but owning it will have to be a personal choice. You should rent this before you purchase it. If you like You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, and know you want to buy it, consider the Blu Ray. While the quality is only slightly better than the standard release, it isn’t so bad it won’t be worth the purchase.
Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, Blu Ray, DVD Review, Sony, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, Comedy
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Written by Dominick - Visit Website
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Dominick Evans is in his late 20's. He spends his days working as a full time writer/editor and a part time musician/composer. His passions in life include music, directing films, watching movies, reading books, watching sports, wheelchair football, politics and spending time with his family (fiancée Ashtyn, son Robert, and shih-tzu Oliver). Other interests include being an advocate for the disability and GLBT communities.
