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You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008)

 -  Action | Comedy  -  6 June 2008 (USA)
5.5
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Ratings: 5.5/10 from 105,784 users   Metascore: 54/100
Reviews: 361 user | 193 critic | 37 from Metacritic.com

An Israeli Special Forces Soldier fakes his death so he can re-emerge in New York City as a hair stylist.

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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Phantom
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Dina Doron ...
Zohan's Mother (as Dina Doronne)
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Storyline

Zohan Dvir works as a Special Agent and lives with his orthodox parents in Israel. He wants to give up this life full of dangerous encounters with Palestinians. While in the process of apprehending a Palestinian activist known simply as the Phantom, he fakes his death, hides in a dog-kennel on a plane bound for New York, and decides to try his hand as a hair-stylist. He is refused employment initially, but when he offers to work for free, Dahlia hires him as a cleaner. When a hair-stylist named Debbie quits, Zohan replaces her, winning over elderly female clientèle, and falling in love with Dahlia herself. Before Zohan could propose to her, Dahlia's landlord, Walbridge, who has been raising rents regularly, hires skinhead goons to terrorize the neighborhood, creates misunderstandings between Jews, Muslims, Arabs, and Palestinians, and drives them out, so as to enable him to construct a new building which is topped by a roller coaster. When Zohan decides to confront these skinheads, he... Written by rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Lather. Rinse. Save the world. See more »

Genres:

Action | Comedy

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, language and nudity | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

|

Release Date:

6 June 2008 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

No te metas con Zohan  »

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,520,637 (UK) (15 August 2008)

Gross:

£5,200,666 (UK) (5 September 2008)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

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Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The Arabic text on The Phantom's head band spells SH-B-H, or 'Shabbah'. See more »

Goofs

When Zohan is having dinner with his parents, the amount of liquid in his drink bottle changes constantly. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Danny: You don't mess with the Zohan!
See more »

Connections

References What Women Want (2000) See more »

Soundtracks

"Hine Ani Ba"
(Here I Come)
Written by Shaanan David Street, David Ariel Klemes, Yair Cohen Harounoff, Guy Margalit, Moshe Ashraf,
Amir Ben Ami and Shlomi Alon
Performed by Hadag Nahash
Courtesy of Anana Ltd.
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Uneven, but funny
7 June 2008 | by (United States) – See all my reviews

Look folks, this is ADAM SANDLER we're talking about here. Yes, this is the same stuff that he was doing ten years ago with "The Waterboy." Yes, this is the same company that brought us "Happy Gilmore" and "Click." And yes, while I have aged a bit since I could appreciate the his silliness, there is still a part of me that enjoys the goofy fun that Adam Sandler likes to put on screen. I knew very well coming in to the 7:45 showing of "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" that this was going to be crazy. And sure enough, it was. But you know what, I liked it, my friend liked it, quite a few people in the audience liked it, it was a good time had.

Adam Sandler loves to put himself in ridiculous situations. In "Gilmore," he was a hockey nut with a hidden talent for golf. In "Mr. Deeds," he became a billionaire overnight. This guy has played football (twice), gone on fifty first dates, paused and sped up his life, and married Kevin James. Now, he's an Isreali counter-terrorist with a fetish for cutting hair. Oh, and he loves making sexual remarks as much as Borat does. Sound familiar? Thought it did.

So how does the humor compare to previous Sandler features? Well, it's unfocused. Part of the problem is that three writers with different mentalities are writing the script. The silliness comes from Sandler, the raunchy stuff comes from Apatow, and everything else comes from Smigel. Although I found myself laughing at quite a few parts (particularly when the Zohan was on the job as a soldier), there were also a lot of parts where I was thinking to myself "Come on. Another shot of the crotch?" (Or butt, or some other sexual reference) All of these various ingredients have been thrown in together, and the end result is, let's face it, uneven.

But though the movie may have lacked focus, I couldn't help but have fun with it. You see, unlike "Mr. Deeds" (which I found boring and lame), this film goes whole hog. Sandler and the cast surrounding him do almost everything in their power to make a joke out of something. These guys aren't sleepwalking through their roles, to the contrary, they're having a great time putting on a show. It's contagious. About halfway through the movie, I began to realize the reason I was having fun with the "Zohan" was because this movie essentially gives out an open invitation to enjoy the silliness that was being presented. By the end of the movie, Sandler had done the most outrageous acts I had seen him do since "Happy Gilmore." And frankly, I think I prefer Sandler when he just tries everything.

Fans of Sandler will most likely enjoy this one, non-fans should pass. For what it's worth, "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" is a good continuation of the act Sandler has put on for us for over a decade now. Worth a Saturday matinée.


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