An unusual comedy, to say the least. ‘You don’t mess with the Zohan’ (which could have done with a better title) was in every respect comparable to marmite; you either love it, or you hate it. Myself, I fall into the former category (for the film and marmite, at least no one steals my sandwiches).
The Plot
Pointless is the word here, the films primary concern is being funny, and the ridiculous plot takes a back seat). Basically, an Iranian counter terrorist gets tired of his life, fakes his own death (amazingly convincingly) and goes to America to become a hair dresser. Unfortunately, all he’s got to go on is a 25 year old hair dressing magazine. He takes the name Scrappy Coco based on two dogs he shared a containment crate with after sneaking into the hold of an airplane. (lot’s of Oscars there then...)
Characters
Zohan Dvir (Scrappy Coco): Played by Adam Sandler. A superhuman Israeli counter terrorist, capable of feats including complete immunity to pain, catching a bullet in his teeth, unscrewing a screw with his tongue, reshaping a damaged truck with his bare hands and destroying a street with his voice – referred to as ‘the sound’ (although he required another characters help with the last one). As in the title, think ‘Austin Powers on speed’. He is the protagonist of the film. He moves to America and claims to be Australian to pursue his dream of cutting hair, but his old life catches up with him.
Dalia Hakbarah – Played by Emmanuelle Chiriquí. A hair dresser with a low end hair salon in America where Zohan seeks work, who becomes Zohan’s love interest. Unfortunately, in Romeo and Juliette style, she is Palestinian, 2000 year old enemies of Israel.
Fatoush "Phantom" Hakbarah – Played by John Turturro, he is the initial antagonist, and is the only character in the film capable of providing a challenging battle for Zohan, but not a physical equal. He becomes good near the end of the film and helps save the day by performing ‘the sound’ with Zohan.
Michael Gunders – Played by Nick Swardson. A naive and slightly pathetic character who initially provides Zohan with a place to stay after the main character helps him in an argument.
Grant Walbridge – Played by Michael Buffer. The film’s main antagonist, he is a corporate magnate who has been trying to force out all the local tenants in the area so that he can build a mall, resorting to dirty and illegal methods to do so, including inciting racial hatred.
The Comedy
The film is very much a cult comedy and requires a highly immature sense of humor to appreciate, a contributory factor to the fact that all the previous reviews giving this high rating are the ones at the bottom. The film mocks both Israeli and Palestinian customs as well as the conflict between the two. It also draws humor from less-than-sophisticated culture shock scenes (such as Zohan’s 25 year old hair dressing magazine). The film also has cheesy sexual scenes of a slightly less than pleasant nature, such as with women who are way beyond their physical prime. It also uses corny dialogue such as ‘are you bionic? – no I only go for girls’ as well as cheesy attempts at serious moments – ‘the electrical store is a dream killer’. The film focuses on blatant rather than subtle humor.
Overall
A great film if you have a mental/ physical age of less than 15 or can maintain a mental age of 15 for a few hours. For those looking for sophistication and subtly, turn away now.
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07.06.2009 12:06
I thought it was alright....nothign great though!
04.06.2009 10:36
Nice review but definitely not my thing! - Colin
03.06.2009 15:09
Not a Sandler fan so in no rush to see this