“So let’s go.” —Zohan
Today’s quick review: You Don’t Mess with the Zohan. Tired of his life as an Israeli supersoldier, Zohan (Adam Sandler) fakes his death in a battle against his nemesis, the Phantom (John Turturro), and travels to America to pursue his dream of being a hair stylist. But when breaking into the business proves harder than expected, Zohan takes a menial job at a struggling hair salon run by Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), a Palestinian immigrant.
You Don’t Mess with the Zohan is a comedy about an Israeli counterterrorist of extraordinary talents trying to make it as a hair stylist in America. The movie gambles on several risky forms of humor, including an over-the-top protagonist, rampant off-color sexual content, and playful jabs at Middle Eastern culture. You Don’t Mess with the Zohan has plenty of energy and creativity, but many viewers will find it either distasteful or immature.
You Don’t Mess with the Zohan has very inconsistent humor. The movie is at its best when it is flexing its creative muscles, either by setting up new feats of slapstick for Zohan to pull off or painting a comically exaggerated portrait of Israeli. It fills the rest of its time with Zohan’s dream of becoming a stylist, sex jokes that skew more ridiculous than titillating, and a flimsy plot about a real estate developer trying to take Dalia’s store.
The upshot of this is that, when the humor hits the mark, it hits it hard. The cultural exaggerations are truly absurd, the slapstick has a knack for catching the audience off-guard, and even some of the weaker jokes earn laughter through repetition. More broadly, the movie feels like it is having fun pushing the boundaries.
However, for every joke that hits the mark, there are several that sail wide of it. How much you enjoy the movie will come down to whether or not you mind the jokes that miss. For the right viewer, the failed jokes will be neutral at worst, a brief distraction before the movie takes another shot. For the wrong viewer, the failed jokes will be a constant source of irritation, drowning out the successes in a sea of juvenile humor.
As such, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan is a very hit-or-miss movie. Those who have a taste for absurd humor and don’t mind risking a few missteps should give it a shot. Those who prefer more grounded humor or dislike explicit content should stay well away.
For an even more over-the-top satire of Middle Eastern politics, check out Team America: World Police. For a martial arts comedy with a similar sense of humor and some of the same jokes, check out Kung Pow: Enter the Fist.
[5.5 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0960144/). I give it a 6.0 to 6.5 for uneven but occasionally hilarious humor; your score will vary wildly.