You Don't Mess with the Zohans

A Superhero Film with None of the Snob Appeal

Genre: Comedy
Director: Dennis Dugan
Cast: Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Nick Swardson, Rob Schneider
RunTime: 1 hr 53 mins
Released By: Columbia TriStar
Rating: NC-16 (Sexual Humour)

My oh mine. This film was such a pleasant surprise! It was hilarious and totally enjoyable! After the huge disappointment that was Maid of Honour, I certainly did not want to have high expectations towards any film that promised to be fun. That is, when fun is wrung dry during the trailer, and the funniest bits are already shown umpteenth times during trailers months before it appeared on the big screen, you will know not to hope for the best.

However, I gotta say, Adam Sandler certainly knows how to keep his films fresh. First it was the ultra sweet Wedding Singer, then it was 50 First Dates and a string of other romantic comedies. Who would have expected a superhero movie from him? Together with the brilliant Rob Schneider who had a small bit part as a terrorist who had trouble containing his anger, all characters styling and make-up gets a two-thumbs up! And if you have never thought Adam Sandler to be remotely handsome or a woman magnet, this film challenges you to look at him with fresh eyes. I could hardly recognize any of them until I read the credits!

Hmm, how should I best explain funny? Does a gyrating superhero turn hairdresser sound funny to you? If yes, go watch Adam Sandler’s You Don’t Mess with the Zohans. If not, go watch it and know what I mean by entertaining. Of course, do not go into the cinemas with super high expectations. This movie is out to entertain, not to educate though they do attempt to with their cursory treatment of racial tension between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Having come from peaceful sunny Singapore where we are sheltered from even natural disasters by our dear neighbours, where the streets are safe to roam in even in the middle of the night, where our government’s pressing issues are urging our young couples to copulate and continue the Singapore lineage, where the new generation are contracting the “maid syndrome” (for the uninitiated, the maid syndrome refers to the phenomenon that Singapore children have become increasingly dependent, reliant and spoilt by their domestic help because both parents need to work to service their mounting loans – car loans, home loans, etc. etc.).

So there now, back to the movie, even when I do not differentiate or understand the differences between a Palestinian and an Israeli, the fact is that they are both very different and have been fighting the war for thousands of years and do not seem to want to end it all. So those who are sick and tired of the war in the Middle East will naturally gravitate towards the land of freedom – America!

So begins our hero’s story of love lost and found and a dream come true in where else but the land of hope and freedom.