ScreenWize

The star system is often the hardest part of writing a film review, and quite a bugbear for a film critic. A deeply thought out and interesting film by a major talent that doesn’t quite deliver on its intentions might only deserve one or two stars. On the other end of the spectrum, however, are the films with few or no redeemable features that look awful and promise little which nonetheless succeed in delivering the goods. It always seems criminal to award successful bad filmmaking. This is the struggle going on in my mind this week, having just seen the new Adam Sandler comedy You Don’t Mess With The Zohan. On a technical level, the film is just awful. Adam Sandler’s films are usually low budget affairs, and here production values are just an inch away from just-as-long-as-the-boom-isn’t-in-shot-it-looks-good-to-us.

A beefed-up Sandler plays Zohan, an Isreali James Bond figure, impossibly good at his job, with an embarrassingly well filled pair of flashy underpants and a penchant for hairdressing. Tired of working to perpetuate a war he doesn’t believe in, he fakes his own death at the hands of Palestinian fighter The Phantom (John Turturro) and runs away to America to pursue his dream of cutting and styling women’s hair.

Sounds awful? I was expecting it to be… but the screenplay is a hilarious mix of high and lowbrow comedy, from the pen of Judd Apatow, who continues his dream run of comedies following on from his successes with 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Apatow and Sandler have crafted an ever escalating series of gags as Zohan comes up against (pun intended) middle class America. There are gay jokes, fat jokes, sex-with-old-people jokes. There are obvious gags you can see coming a mile off but still can’t help laughing at, and there are terrific sight gags (I especially loved Zohan’s endless supply of Mariah Carey t-shirts), as well as some quite poignant pot-shots at the futility of the Palestine-Israeli conflict. I laughed pretty much non-stop, though I must admit it is a film for the boys.

All of Sandler’s regulars are on screen, as well as cameos from big names including Mariah Carey as herself, Chris Rock, John McEnroe, Henry Winkler and star Trek’s George Takei. While Mensa will probably never host an Adam Sandler film festival, you can’t fault his heart as a filmmaker. Gay, straight, old, fat, Arab, Jew, Westerner – everyone gets a gentle ribbing, but at the film’s heart is an underlying respect for humanity, and a certain sweetness.

My left brain gives the film a zero, while my right brain gives the film a five. I am splitting the difference.

CK

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Filed Under: Reviews by Simon