What I enjoyed about Adam Sandler’s new persona “the Zohan” was that he had a fresh perspective on life; substantially different from prior characters Sandler‘s performed. The story is an homage of sorts to the “Bourne” movies, with Sandler as an Israeli super soldier. The twist is that he doesn’t want to fight anymore and would rather move to America to style hair. While the comedic engine was purring smoothly in the beginning with the spy and machismo humor, the movie breaks down shortly after Zohan gets his first hairstyling job. I have rarely seen such a funny first half of a film followed by such a jarringly bland, uninspired second half.
Sandler’s Zohan is a local celebrity in his home country of Israel, well liked by the men and better liked by the women. Sandler got into good shape for the role and he lets it all hang out to prove it. Palestinian terrorists have a reason to fear the Zohan, he is a one-man wrecking machine. Seeking to re-capture an escaped mastermind, the Phantom (played with an appropriate level of quirkiness by Jon Turturro; “Mr. Deeds”), Zohan uses the opportunity to escape to the United States. Life is not as easy for Zohan in the States; friends, family, and hairstyling professionals will not give him a chance to follow his dream of styling hair. He must start from the bottom and work his way up in the big city.
To say the story relies heavily on sexual humor is an understatement. The film devolves into downright nasty territory as Zohan bones every available woman, including his elderly customers. Zohan’s overt sexual nature was most humorous when there was the hint of impropriety rather than the actual repeated sexual acts. Trying to cram a romantic story involving the salon’s owner, Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui; TV’s “Entourage”) into the raunchiness that ensues creates an unbelievable side story. Add in some Palestinian wannabe terrorists living in America and an evil real estate developer, and the villains are overt stereotypes and unoriginal retreads. Turturro’s odd-ball criminal The Phantom, is the only other character that convincingly shares the spotlight with Zohan and creates some laughs of his own.
Sandler works best when he is a cute, everyman not an inconsiderate stud. There was a sampling of this character in the train wreck called “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” and it just doesn’t work for Sandler. In “Zohan” he managed to make the character likeable and approachable in the first half of the film, but he loses control of his creation in the second half. Once the hair styling dilemma is resolved, the movie runs out of steam. Sandler attempts to mine some humor from the Israeli-Palestinian situation and actually has a lighter touch with this material than the sex jokes. Whatever morale that is supposed to be gained at the end of the film, is lost in the highly contrived and anticlimactic ending. Ultimately, the film is only mildly entertaining, if you are not easily offended by raunchy humor.
Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, language and nudity.
