Love him or hate him, it’s hard to deny that Adam Sandler has one of the strongest fan bases in all the land. Repetitive plotlines, immature jokes and critical drubbings never seem to be able to keep his flicks from waltzing off with bundles of cash (as a matter of fact, the last Sandler-starring, non-animated comedy to not make $100 million was “Little Nicky,” back in 2000). Pairing him with comedy’s newest golden boy, writer/director/producer Judd Apatow, seems like an almost sure-fire bet to make a buck. The only question: Is it worth your buck?
In “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan,” Sandler stars as the Israeli counter-terrorist Zohan Dvir, the absolute greatest at anything he tries, especially his job. And though he is the best in the business, the Zohan is tired of the never-ending war and is ready to pursue his dream: becoming a great hair stylist in New York. In spite of the criticism he receives from both his friends and family, the Zohan decides to make the move to the Big Apple, but his past isn’t quite done with him yet.
As is the case with every Sandler movie, “Zohan” is a bit of a vanity project, his character so tremendously able at everything he tries, and, of course, the apple in the eye of every woman he approaches. However, other than that fact, and the ever-pervasive vulgarity with a nice message at the end, the movie does manage to break a few of the comedian’s clichés. First off is the welcome return of Sandler actually playing a character, as opposed to the nonchalant, Adam-Sandler-playing-Adam-Sandler thing that he’s been cashing in on for the last few years. Though not about to win an Oscar, Sandler’s Zohan is an enjoyably silly part, and the absurdity of the character suits the plot well.
That plot happens to be the movie’s other major strength, with Sandler and Apatow working on the script together with Robert Smigel. Though it fails to adequately use its 113-minute running time by a pretty good margin, the movie does have its fair share of plot developments, which is much more than can be said about most other Sandler fare.
But before I lavish the script with too much praise, it should be pointed out that it forgets to accomplish one of the main focuses of a comedy, which is to be funny. Almost all the gags here are spare parts and recyclables, crotch and bathroom gags running amok. It only occasionally gets to the point where it’s cringe-inducingly juvenile, but it’s almost just as rare that you can offer it a true laugh. What starts out as an idiotically enjoyable time at the movies turns into a check-the-time-every-five-minutes for about the last half-hour or so.
Crude, immature and moronic are not insults to be flung at Sandler and his movies; they are simply facts that he and his team market, and “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” doesn’t mess with his formula for success. Those turned off by the normative Sandler fare would do best to stay away from this one, but those who do genuinely enjoy his comedy will find this to be at least a little more inspired than he’s been for the last few years. That might not be an embarrassment of praise, but it’s about as complimentary as one can be with a comedy that simply isn’t funny.