You Don't Mess with the Zohan

Columbia Pictures | Release Date: June 6, 2008

5.4	USER SCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 321 Ratings

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User Reviews

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HowardP.Jun 9, 2008

Stupid? Yes. Funny? Hell yes. At its core, it's really a send up of Israeli's. Some scenes, like Zohan strutting the beach in Tel Aviv, are priceless and dead on. Others, are simple dead on arrival (the Henry Winkler scene, for Stupid? Yes. Funny? Hell yes. At its core, it's really a send up of Israeli's. Some scenes, like Zohan strutting the beach in Tel Aviv, are priceless and dead on. Others, are simple dead on arrival (the Henry Winkler scene, for example). But it's probably the funniest movie out in June.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful

WillH.Jul 2, 2008

Eh. Funny in places, stupid in others. A teen movie, certainly.

1 of 1 users found this helpful

LatinCritic13Apr 7, 2019

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan considers to be Dennis Dugan’s “best work” when he combines the awful slapstick humor elements and satire together in a way that would get you socially and politically. And yes, this film and Click are the onlyYou Don’t Mess with the Zohan considers to be Dennis Dugan’s “best work” when he combines the awful slapstick humor elements and satire together in a way that would get you socially and politically. And yes, this film and Click are the only decent flicks that’s actually worth seeing Adam Sandler getting crazy.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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ChadS.Jun 9, 2008

Do you remember the barenaked old ladies in the Dove adverts that ran in movie theaters last year? Do you remember the snickers and gagging noises of your neighbors, while you tried to be mature about the commercial's pro-age rhetoric Do you remember the barenaked old ladies in the Dove adverts that ran in movie theaters last year? Do you remember the snickers and gagging noises of your neighbors, while you tried to be mature about the commercial's pro-age rhetoric that beauty is ageless? Teenage boys beg to differ, however, and they'll snicker and gag even louder as Zohan(Adam Sandler) has sex with his mature customers. Adam's extra-cirricular activities with these senior citizens is the subtext of Dove's Real Beauty campaign; that a woman can be desirable at any age. But in a puerile movie like "You Don't Mess With the Zohan", cross-generational sex is bound to be the stuff of cheap laughs. And the movie cheats, to get its easy laughs. Zohan attracts an older clientele because he's working from a Paul Mitchell book that dates back to 1986. The customers are at least, ten to fifteen years, too old. "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" starts off well, as Zohan's invincibility to injury suggests that his superhero-like ability is a satire on the comic book genre. That scene in which he kicks a man in the face with his legs from impossible angles makes him a mutant, right? But the film doesn't really follow up on this potentially interesting premise. Late in the film, the film scores a few points by showing that Zohan's destiny was to be a peacekeeper instead of a hairdresser. This is faint praise, but I've seen worse, much worse.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

AaronN.Jul 19, 2008

They should have given this the R rating for random sex scenes that have no meaning, and is not kinky at all. Not to mention the stereotypes of Arabians are highly enforced. Dipping everything in hummus. Smar move Adam Sandler, Smart move...

0 of 2 users found this helpful

JustinTJun 10, 2008

I'm an Adam Sandler fan, but this movie had a few laughs but thats about it. Overall it was disappointed and felt half-assed. Comedy was not there and simply said, had too many 8th grader jokes. Characters were lame and uninspired. I I'm an Adam Sandler fan, but this movie had a few laughs but thats about it. Overall it was disappointed and felt half-assed. Comedy was not there and simply said, had too many 8th grader jokes. Characters were lame and uninspired. I want my 2 hrs back.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

SteveOJun 16, 2008

Wow this was bad. Fake middle eastern accents? Sandler screwing 70 year old women? What happened?

0 of 1 users found this helpful

MarkB.Jun 13, 2008

Sophomoric can be good. The Zucker brothers, the Farrelly brothers, even the Marx brothers can be like a breath of fresh air in a dusty waxworks museum. Pablo Picasso once said that the enemy of art is good taste...but then, Picasso Sophomoric can be good. The Zucker brothers, the Farrelly brothers, even the Marx brothers can be like a breath of fresh air in a dusty waxworks museum. Pablo Picasso once said that the enemy of art is good taste...but then, Picasso didn't live long enough to see any Adam Sandler movies! More often than not, the undeniably talented comic actor's hits (Billy Madison, Big Daddy, The Longest Yard, Click ad nauseum) personify him not only as an arrested adolescent but a perpetually (and psychotically) angry one; the box office success of movies as unpleasant as those reveals things about their fans that I'm not sure I want to know. So it's a relief that Sandler's latest, You Don't Mess With the Zohan, is, relatively speaking, not too mean-spirited (although why Sandler continues to find humor in making children cry is way beyond me). As an Israeli James Bond/ Rambo combo who seeks a new life as a hair stylist in the US, Sandler gives a surprisingly disciplined, even graceful performance that's reminiscent, of all things, of his rather sweet romantic comedy turn in his least characteristic movie, James L. Brooks' Spanglish. Other enjoyable performances back Sandler's up: Emmanuelle Chriqui is a charming leading lady; Lainie Kazan's crack comic timing put me in mind of her uproarious portrayal of the ultimate Jewish mom in 1982's My Favorite Year (and she doesn't look like she's aged a day since); as two of the Zohan's old foes, John Turturro is amusing (even if he's in danger of becoming this decade's answer to Vito Scotti if he takes on too many more ethnic roles), while Sandler's longtime buddy and perpetual hanger-on Rob Schneider for once DOESN'T make you want to tear out either his hair or your own. And here, as in last year's I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Sandler interestingly attempts to blend genuine social commentary with copious gross-out humor in much the same way that Mel Brooks did in Blazing Saddles (a movie that, beyond the beans-around-the-campfire gags, wore its heart so firmly on its sleeve in favor of racial brotherhood that it stopped just short of singing "Kumbaya" to its audience); Sandler, who's admirably never been shy about proudly proclaiming his Jewishness, takes on xenophobia, suggests that Israelis and Palestinians CAN get along and--most controversially of all, perhaps--makes a case that disco music CAN be enjoyable in the right time and place. So why the 4? Simply because, unlike Blazing Saddles, Zohan (with the exception of one smart throwaway joke involving a terrorist telephone hot line) just isn't funny; the writing is extremely scattershot, hummus-on-the-wall, and frequently just plain desperate. Worst of all is Sandler's and director Dennis Dugan's conviction that endlessly referring to its title character's "package" is in and of itself a laff riot: the character Biggus Diccus in Monty Python's Life of Brian notwithstanding, the only time a huge penis in the movies is funny is in certain triple-X rated movies from the days of yore when John Holmes used to almost trip over his own. Ultimately, good intentions aside, the only point that You Don't Mess With the Zohan really proves is Newton's Law of Gravity; cowriter Judd Apatow has been THE dominant voice in American film comedy for the last three years (and I'm even counting the underrated Drillbit Taylor), but this movie proves that even HE had to come down some time!… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

shamusolarrySep 8, 2011

This movie is enjoyable, but to no great extent. It needed more over-the-top slapstick and less sex with old ladies. Not necessarily a waste of time, but not a movie you need to see.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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RayzorMooseNov 13, 2013

Zohan is a mess.
An extremely inconsistent film that fails with most of its delivery. The script is poor but not awful, and the acting is surprisingly okay. Many of the laughs fail, the excessive descriptive sexual content verbalized forZohan is a mess.
An extremely inconsistent film that fails with most of its delivery. The script is poor but not awful, and the acting is surprisingly okay. Many of the laughs fail, the excessive descriptive sexual content verbalized for "jokes" ends up getting very tiresome by the end. All I can say is that there are some cheap laughs that succeed.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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ManjeroJun 7, 2008

You Don't Mess With The Zohan, a seemingly great movie was almost a disappointment to watch. The main plot isn't really interesting, and although the there were many potential jokes and laughs that could've been rendered from You Don't Mess With The Zohan, a seemingly great movie was almost a disappointment to watch. The main plot isn't really interesting, and although the there were many potential jokes and laughs that could've been rendered from the story, only a few were able to make me laugh. In other words, the really entertaining parts were already presented in it's commercials.Though, iIf you are expecting another great Adam Sandler movie, the constant chuckles and crassness of the movie might just get what you're looking for.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

MartinS.Jul 14, 2008

It's weird. I can't think of one Adam Sander comedy I've actually liked and yet I loved "Reign Over Me," "Punch Drunk Love" and "Spanglish". Zohan is another ridculously stupid Sandler comedy.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

ZilcellJun 11, 2012

Its a weird concept, but You Don't Mess with the Zohan has very funny humor and a bit of action. I guess the action can also be considered funny too. It isn't afraid of being wacky and Adam Sandler gives a better than normal performance.