Adam Sandler is White Ladies Man in Judd Apatow’s ‘You Don’t Mess With the Zohan’

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CHICAGO – In the relatively anemic anthology of recent Adam Sandler flops, “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” hangs above with comedic charm and a nonsensically amusing plotline. The story is divisively intermingled with racial and ethnic sensitivities between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

At first, it even feels like a scribe sat down for a few weeks, slammed back a few brewskies and toked daily on the good ganja while attempting to ink a forcefully novel plot.

Surprisingly, its idiosyncratic nature tends to work as you build esteem for the libidinous man Adam Sandler has transformed into. While Sandler has played the full gamut of roles in recent memory, this time he’s actually a Thor who beckons women to his sexual mercy.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” in our reviews section. View our huge, high-resolution “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” image gallery.

Sandler as Zohan is the white version of the legendary Tim Meadows character The Ladies Man from “Saturday Night Live” but with a thick Israeli accent. Zohan is an Israeli counter-terrorist commando who fakes his own death in order to pursue his unlikely and embarrassing dream of becoming a hairstylist in New York.

To make matters more outlandishly canned, Zohan’s arch nemesis, Phantom (played by John Turturro), has a similarly humiliating reverie: selling shoes.

Lainie Kazan is welcome motherly relief – except when she’s revealed utterly nude from the rear and causes an eruptive audience gasp – and Rob Schneider, of course, can’t let an Adam Sandler flick make it to the big screen without joining him on it. As well, you might notice Dave Matthews in the film, but I didn’t.

In “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan,” Emmanuelle Chriqui stars as Dalia: a Palestinian immigrant to New York and owner of a hair salon who gives Zohan his big break in his dream to become a hairstylist. Photo credit: Columbia Pictures

In “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan,” Adam Sandler stars as Zohan: an Israeli commando who fakes his own death in order to pursue his dream of becoming a hairstylist in New York. Photo credit: Columbia Pictures

Read Adam Fendelman’s full “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” review.