You Don't Mess with the Zohan
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: June 6, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
17
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Los Angeles TimesMark Olsen
As another run-of-the-mill Sandler movie, it is better than most. At this point it seems a little foolish to want, let alone expect, "more" from the guy. If he can't be bothered to put more effort into his films, why should anybody else? Read full review
60
The New YorkerDavid Denby
An obscene, ridiculous, and occasionally very funny movie, and if it ever gets to the Middle East it will roil the falafel tables on both sides of the Arab-Israeli divide. Read full review
60
EmpireIan Freer
A strange, mostly enjoyable mix of big political questions and crude comedy, Zohan overcomes its skeletal plotting and uneven gag ratio through Sandler?s sheer commitment to nonsense. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Forget "Monty Python," You Don't Mess With the Zohan is a circus that never really flies. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Imagine Warren Beatty in "Shampoo" by way of a Jewish Rambo. Read full review
58
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Intermittently fresh and amusing in a low-down yet schmaltzy way. Read full review
50
Village VoiceElla Taylor
If nothing else--and there isn't much else--You Don't Mess With the Zohan pronounces the Middle East fair game for absurdist comedy. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
An Israeli-on-Arab version of "Shampoo," You Don’t Mess With the Zohan is terrible in many ways, and shoddy in every way that has to do with filmmaking. But politically it's sort of interesting. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
A little like watching an episode of the TV show of which Adam Sandler is an alum: "Saturday Night Live." Zohan feels like an extended collection of skits tied together by a flimsy umbrella story. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Spectacularly, unimpeachably, relentlessly preposterous. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephen Hunter
The movie is gross but not unfunny as it covers the Zohan's rise through hair culture, aided by his steamy heterosexuality, his lack of inhibition and his stereotypical career aggressiveness, until the old ladies are lined up all the way to the Bronx for a few minutes of bliss in the Zohan's chair. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
By the end of the film, the cliché of everybody getting along is reduced to both sides working together in the ultimate monument to capitalism: a mall. Some message. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
Though a bunch of the jokes are milked too thin, there are some absurdly goofy sight gags--like a hacky sack game enlisting a family pet--and a lineup of fun, silly cameos by guests from Chris Rock to Mariah Carey. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Directed with sledgehammer subtlety by Dennis Dugan ("I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry"). Read full review
40
VarietyBrian Lowry
The off-the-wall comedy of Robert Smigel and Judd Apatow leaves a mark on the script, but it would require a talent of Peter Sellers' magnitude to conquer this material, and he's not around. Read full review
40
NPRBob Mondello
What's more annoying than the crassness, really, is the directorial sloppiness that results in a virtually mirthless first half-hour and a slow build to chuckles thereafter. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
His humor works best when it's throw-away, but "Zohan" throws everything up to get a yuck. It's a shock to see how many "yuck!" moments Sandler settles for. Read full review
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