Zohan Film Access

If you go in expecting Schindler’s List , you’ve missed the point. If you go in expecting a man to fill a blow-dryer with hummus and launch it at a group of thugs, you’ll have a pretty good time. It’s a guilty pleasure that, like a really great conditioner, leaves your brain feeling slick and shiny—and not a lot smarter.

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan : Revisiting Adam Sandler’s Strangely Prophetic Comedy

Looking back over fifteen years later, however, the film is a fascinating time capsule—and arguably one of the most audacious, if uneven, comedies of Sandler’s career. zohan film

Faking his own death during a firefight with his nemesis, the Palestinian terrorist known as "The Phantom" (John Turturro), Zohan escapes to New York City. He reinvents himself as "Scrappy Coco," a hairdresser at a struggling salon run by a beautiful Palestinian woman, Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui). Chaos ensues as he tries to hide his past, seduce older women with his "disco disco" moves, and stop a greedy mall developer from gentrifying the neighborhood.

It’s not subtle. It’s not diplomatic. But in a weird way, it’s earnest. If you go in expecting Schindler’s List ,

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan is a messy, ridiculous, and surprisingly idealistic comedy. It’s a film that believes, against all evidence and logic, that enemies can become friends if they’d just stop screaming and sit down for a good shampoo. It’s juvenile, offensive to everyone equally, and weirdly sweet.

Sandler, who co-wrote the script with his frequent collaborators Judd Apatow and Robert Smigel, was attempting something genuinely difficult: a mainstream studio comedy about Middle Eastern politics. The film explicitly argues that the cycle of revenge is childish, and that mutual respect (and capitalism, via a electronics store) can bridge seemingly unbridgeable divides. Zohan and The Phantom don’t finally make peace over a political summit; they make peace because they’re both tired of fighting and realize they’re better as partners in a hair salon. You Don’t Mess with the Zohan : Revisiting

John Turturro, in a hilariously committed performance, plays The Phantom as a tragic, cat-loving warrior who keeps accidentally blowing himself up. The film’s best joke is that he’s actually a better person than Zohan—he just happens to be on the other side.