Is it
Borat on speed?
Up
front I’ll admit enjoying Borat, so you know at once I’m
one of those doomed people who laugh at the politically incorrect.
Well here is another feast of hopelessly inappropriate nonsense
served up with agreeable enthusiasm by Adam Sandler and co. Producing
a wild slapstick satire on terrorism is surprising enough in the
current American climate; but spoofing Israeli and Arab relationships
(how different to the upcoming The Band’s Arrival) is fair
game too. Backed by Sandler himself, Robert Smigel and the worthy
Judd Apatow, the film features fast-track direction by Dennis
Dugan (I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry).
You Don’t Mess with the Zohan opens by quickly
setting the style for the production. Israeli commando, counter-terrorist
and low-level super hero Zohan (Adam Sandler), shows off his dubious
physical skills at a beach party with plenty of eye candy, before
being whisked off by chopper to track down dangerous Palestinian
agent and entrepreneur The Phantom (John Turturro). But Zohan’s
bored with fighting for the cause; his life’s dream is to
become a hairdresser in the US of A – much to his family’s
derisive astonishment. So in a struggle at sea with the dreaded
Phantom, he fakes his own death and absconds to New York.
A quick change of identity later, he emerges as
Scrappy Coco. After much difficulty, Zohan gains a position in
a small hair salon run by the lovely Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui)
who happens to be Palestinian. No problem – because Zohan
passes himself off incredibly as a Tibetan-Australian. He’s
a big hit with the elderly female customers; giving a style of
service that encourages a vast influx of new clients. Even Warren
Beatty (Shampoo) would be impressed.
However
Zohan can’t rest on his laurels. A Palestinian cab driver
(Rob Schneider) recognises him and reports his whereabouts, resulting
in The Phantom coming to America. Meanwhile, in a secondary plot,
nefarious property developer Walbridge (Michael Buffer) creates
trouble between the Palestinians and Israelis in the neighbourhood,
because Walbridge wishes to demolish their premises and build
a shopping mall topped by a roller coaster.
A heady mixture of verbal and visual gags come quickly
enough to keep boredom at bay, although in the mid section of
the quite long comedy, things falter with some unevenness and
repetition. Notable scenes for better or worse, include Zohan’s
gravity defying push-ups, his handling of a traffic accident in
NY, the dodgy electronics shop where unheard of brands are sold
with Sony “guts”, the hilarious sequence featuring
Zohan making out with the mother (Lainie Kazan) of his new pal
(Nick Swardson) who’s suitably dismayed; not to mention
a nice game of friendly football with the family feline.
There are swipes at all manner of sacred cows from
racial intolerance to, well, just about anything that moves. A
number of cameos by celebrities like John McEnroe and Chris Rock
are supposed to help things along; although Mariah Carey looks
quite gobsmacked as to why she is there at all. Towards the end
there’s a moral moment suggesting Arabs and Jews live peacefully
together in good old New York.
Adam Sandler (Reign Over Me) seems to be doing Borat
on speed, full of nervous energy and vulgar loud mouthing. One
feels the influence of Sascha Baron Cohen much upon him. So if
you’re a serious minded cinema-goer looking for a sophisticated
witty comedy in the manner of Oscar Wilde, this movie is not for
you. Yet, although it’s beyond the pale, often quite silly,
and lacks any literary merit whatever, many will find You Don’t
Mess with the Zohan delivers enough fun to make it worth the price
of a ticket. The audience at preview obviously enjoyed the show,
while I couldn’t help laughing.
John Bale
