Wednesday, October 8, 2008

You Don't Mess With The Zohan


Genre - Comedy
Year Released - 2008
Running Time - 117 minutes
Directed by Dennis Dugan (who also directed Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore & Big Daddy)
Written by Adam Sandler (who also wrote Happy Gilmore & Big Daddy) and Robert Smigel (a long time writer for Saturday Night Live)
Cast Includes:
Adam Sandler (Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer, The Waterboy, etc.)
John Turturro (The Big Lebowski - O Brother, Where Art Thou - he also plays Adrian Monk's brother in the TV Show Monk)
Rob Schneider (Deuce Bigalow, The Animal, The Hot Chick, as well as a ton of other Adam Sandler movies)
Emmanuelle Chriqui (100 Girls and Wrong Turn)
Also, keep an eye out for cameos such as: Henry Winkler, Mariah Carey, Chris Rock, Dave Matthews, Paul Mitchell, Kevin James, George Takei, and probably others as well

Rating: 4 Skulls

Plot Summary:

Adam Sandler stars as the titular Zohan, an Israeli counterterrorism soldier with a secretly fabulous ambition to become a Manhattan hairstylist. Zohan's desire runs so deep that he'll do anything - including faking his own death - to make his dreams come true.


Zohan - a hero who kicks through concrete walls!

Review:

Before I get into the review, I want you to go back and look at the top picture. Now, in your mind, turn the picture sideways, and you will have the picture on the DVD disc. Now, imagine the center hole of the disc, right where Sandler's crotch is. . . I am sure that this was intentional - either way, Hilarious! (this is a perfect example of the movie's humor)

Disco! Disco!

Comedies are generally hit and miss with me. I generally pass on comedies, all together, in the movie theatre, preferring to just wait for them to hit DVD, in case I think that they are just plain stupid.
(For instance, so many people told me that this year's Forgetting Sarah Marshall was so hysterically funny. . . Me, I just thought that it was "okay")

I would have had no problem watching Zohan in the theatres though, as I thought that this movie was absolutely hilarious! It was just so over the top that I was laughing out loud!!
This is probably my favorite Adam Sandler movie, and may just get my vote for funniest movie of the year (though I have yet to see Tropic Thunder, which looks hysterical as well)

John Turturro, as the villain - Phantom - Funny Stuff!!

To give you another idea of the humor in this movie, there is a scene with Zohan, surrounded by his guns and knives and other weapons of death, reading a Paul Mitchell hairstyling book. :-)
Zohan's dream, as stated in the plot summary, is to become a hairstylist (or as a friend of his, in the movie, puts it - a hair homo)
Zohan just wants to put all of the killing and death behind him, and in it's stead, he wants to make the world silky smooth, by cutting hair - it is pleasant, peaceful, and no one gets hurt.
Rob Schneider as a crazy Arab

The only thing that kept this movie from getting 5 Skulls, was the length.
The movie was just shy of 2 hours, which is a bit long for this type of comedy. For instance, the whole sexual escapades of Zohan, as well as a running gag with hummus, just got old after a while. Other than it being a bit long, I still feel that this movie is well worth watching - even owning.



Jason

10 comments:

ECHOMAMA said...

No, no, no, This was SO not the funniest movie of the year. Sorry Babe, but this movie was funny for about the first 45 minutes. I mean, how many time can you watch an obviously overstuffed crotch being thrust about. Really, I think they could have gotten so much more out of the premise if they had focused less on how many women Zohan can bed and more on his desire to make the world "silky smooth".

thebonebreaker said...

I agree with you, on the latter part, but I challenge you to name a funnier movie from this year :-)

Anonymous said...

Seriously?? This was the first good review I've heard of this movie. Now I have to see it....I'm still stinging from the Hex recommendation.. :P

Although I'm watching Pushing Daisies 1st season, and I admit to liking that a lot...

thebonebreaker said...

hahahahahaha - Hey, I told you my reason for digging HEX more than you did! ;-)

Glad to hear that you are enjoying Pushing Daisies ~ it is the writing/narration that sells that show!

When you watch Zohan, just remember that it is WAY over-the-top! (I mean, he can catch bullets between his fingers, for crying out loud!)
If you are not in the right frame of mind, it will not be as enjoyable. [it was exactly what I was expecting it to be, and I loved it!] :-)

ECHOMAMA said...

There is no "right frame of mind" for this movie...except maybe drunk. It would be a lot funnier drunk. In fact, you could make a drinking game out of it! Every time Zohan does the pelvic thrust, you have to take a shot...now THAT'S funny!

Anonymous said...

(sigh) I love Adam Sandler. Yes, I know, his movies got worse, but I still saw them. Maybe it's because I'm way too old to be as immature as I am, too. LOL

I can't wait to see this. My daughter saw it at the movies and loved it. But she's 14, so her humor is right at that level, too.

I'm sure it's all crotch, sex and bathroom humor. Right up my alley!

thebonebreaker said...

Babe,

You still haven't named a funnier movie... ;-)

Fred [The Wolf] said...

I haven't seen this because I haven't been much of a fan of Sandler's recent stuff as of late [I think his earlier stuff is better]. Still, a lot of people seem to be liking this one alot. I'm gonna check it out next month and see how it is. Great review.

thebonebreaker said...

Jessi,

Sounds to me like you will enjoy this movie as much as I did! :-)

Stop back by, after you have seen it, and let me know your thoughts.

J

thebonebreaker said...

Thanks Fred,

I agree that the majority of Sandler's earlier stuff has been far superior to some of his latter stuff.

Still, this one completely did it for me - I am glad to hear that others are enjoying this film as well (I don't know anyone else that has seen it, besides my wife)

I'll be looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it! :-)

J