Reviewed By: Brendan Cullin

Rating: 6/10

Rarely does a summer go by that an Adam Sandler movie doesn't hit theatres. The summer of 2008 is no different.

In the summer of '08 movie, Sandler plays an Israeli counter-terrorist named Zohan, who has grown weary of fighting Arabs in the Middle East in "You Don't Mess With The Zohan". After faking his own death in a frenzied battle with a Palestinian terrorist named The Phantom (John Tuturro), Zohan moves to New York City to pursue his one true passion - hairstyling. He gets a job at a local salon and operates under the moniker of Scrappy Coco, where he becomes an instant hit with the geriatric female population of the Big Apple. Scrappy is loving his new life until some local Arabs recognize the former commando and take it upon themselves to expose the imposter.

"You Don't Mess With The Zohan" is probably Sandler's most risque project to date, in that it really tows the line with its racial stereotyping and sexual content. Once the movie ended, I wondered to myself if this sort of comedy was Sandler's response to The Judd Apatow Gang's hit comedies that have hit the theatres in the last couple of years but when the credits started rolling and I saw Apatow's name listed as one of the writers, it all made sense. I'd be interested in hearing how much Apatow contributed to Zohan's script because it really seemed to have a lot more penis and sex jokes than we would normally see in an Adam Sandler movie. I have to say, for the most part, those jokes worked. Every time Zohan walked into that back room of the salon with an 80-year old woman and finished her "haircut", I laughed my ass off. Those jokes never grew old. But some of the other penis and pubic hair jokes that resonated throughout the movie were either a hit or a miss or just plain disturbing. And the racial stereotyping is sure to have the Arab community up in arms - again, some of the jokes were actually quite funny and others were just plain stupid.

In the end, my reaction to "You Don't Mess With The Zohan" is a mild thumbs up. I've always been an Adam Sandler fan, so I want to like his movies no matter what. Although Zohan isn't nearly as bad as a movie as "Little Nicky", it definitely does not rank as one of the great Adam Sandler movies. It follows the usual Sandler formula with a sort of underdog in a sticky situation, a hot chick thrown in and a bunch of penis and fart jokes to tie things up. There's the usual cameos by a handful SNL alumni and appearances by some other Sandler regulars like Henry Winkler and John McEnroe. Of course, in the end, everything works out for the hero and, as expected, he gets the lady, who I must say is quite an attractive one to boot. I laughed quite a few times throughout the movie but I also found some of the jokes to be a bit lame and I was pretty disappointed in his supporting cast, which always seems to be one of the strengths of a Sandler movie. Guys like John Tuturro, Rob Schneider and Kevin Nealon just didn't bring it this time around. Usually Tuturro or Schneider are good for a few laughs but I can't remember one thing they did in the movie that would have made me chuckle.

If you do decide to see Zohan, I'm sure you will be amused at times but not much more than that. Zohan is a movie with a weak story even for an Adam Sandler movie, a few unfunny jokes that just repeat themselves throughout the film (the pubic hair and hummus jokes just didn't do it for me) and a fairly disappointing supporting cast. I'm not saying it's a horrible movie but don't expect "Zohan" to be this summer's hit comedy like "Knocked Up" or "Superbad" were last year, because if you are expecting that, you will surely be setting yourself up for a letdown.