Sandler prefers to fall back on cartoonish stunt action, sleazy innuendo and bodily fluid gags. These things may satisfy his core fan-base, but everyone else will leave the cinema feeling a bit cheated.
Comment
08/15/08
You Don't Mess With The Zohan (2008)
35 %
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 175
Fresh: 62
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.
Theatrical Release:15-08-2008
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.... [More]
Starring: Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Nick Swardson
Director: Dennis Dugan
Reviews for You Don't Mess With The Zohan
The worst thing about the film is not that but the constant, feeble sexual innuendos with which Sandler saddles himself.
08/15/08
Images of a thrusting male pelvis haunt the sensitive critic yet.
08/15/08
The ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine isn’t exactly the obvious choice of topic for a comedy – which is perhaps why this film is about as funny as a suicide bombing.
08/15/08
The central character may be a spin on Borat, and many of the jokes a touch familiar, but the whole package is so unbelievably silly, you’ll find yourself laughing for at least half the running time.
08/15/08
The central character may be a spin on Borat, and many of the jokes a touch familiar, but the whole package is so unbelievably silly, you’ll find yourself laughing for at least half the running time.
08/15/08
By the end, I felt as though I had been carpet-bombed by comedy's answer to Vladimir Putin. But, on second thoughts, Putin is funnier.
08/15/08
There are enough comedy diamonds in the rough here though to make it worth a look, but only just.
08/15/08
After playing it relatively straight in his recent movies, Adam Sandler goofs off big time here, laying on a thick Israeli accent and proving real men blow dry. There are funny highpoints, but the grab-bag approach never quite gels.
08/15/08
While the premise may not stand up to scrutiny, Sandler's performance - relatively restrained and nicely judged - makes you almost warm to the man who dumbly shrugged his way through years of neo-com tat.
08/15/08
But it's Sandler who is pivotal to its amiable success. Less precious, less power-tripping than the likes of Ben Stiller, Jim Carrey or Mike Myers, he never looks down on his material. He makes us laugh by willpower as much as technique.
08/15/08
Top CriticThis is a silly, crass comedy about a badass Israeli commando who secretly longs to be a hairdresser specialising in 1980s stylings.
08/15/08
Top CriticYou Don’t Mess With the Zohan is a rude and routine Adam Sandler farce with some exceedingly sharp lines.
08/15/08
Top CriticThere's a broad theory that no matter how funny the comedy, 90 minutes is the point at which audiences have had enough. You Don't Mess With The Zohan trundles on for 113 minutes, none of them funny.
08/15/08
Top CriticAnother sloppily concocted and naggingly non-controversial pretext for Sandler to pelvic thrust his way though a succession of increasingly wacky fish-out-of-water situations.
08/15/08
Top CriticA strange, mostly enjoyable mix of big political questions and crude comedy, Zohan overcomes its skeletal plotting and uneven gag ratio through Sandler's sheer commitment to nonsense.
08/15/08
Top CriticAmusing Adam Sandler comedy with a bonkers premise, a surprisingly likeable central character and a handful of decent gags.
08/14/08
Just when you think civilisation may be moving forward a bit (OK, I'm an optimist), another Adam Sandler movie comes along.
08/14/08
A comedy built around the belief that people speaking in foreign accents is endlessly funny, You Don't Mess With The Zohan is - how you say? - not good.
07/23/08
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04/23/09
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. 
More...
August 19, 2008:
Arab Censors Mess With The Zohan
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.
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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