You Don't Mess With The Zohan Movie Review

The very idea of an Adam Sandler movie with political content is enough to make anyone a little edgy, but when the man who coined the word "poopiscle" decides to address the Israel-Palestine conflict through farce, even mild-mannered film critics may feel compelled to seek safe distance.

The material is so explosive, and the rhetorical landscape so booby-trapped, it would seem impossible to comment on 5,000 years of war-torn history without some extreme casualties.

Yet, thanks to some cross-cultural vulgarity and some gross -- truly gross -- references to genital hirsutism, Don't Mess with the Zohan tiptoes through a minefield of political content and ancient religious history without losing a single appendage.

The charm stems from the titular hero: Zohan (Sandler). A highly revered Israeli counter-terrorist, Zohan is a genius with a grenade and a wizard when it comes to mortal combat. Yet after fighting the enemy for years without any real downtime for himself, Zohan is losing his taste for war.

All the blood and the killing has left him empty. He needs a change and a chance to pursue his real passion: Cutting hair.

Armed with his Paul Mitchell style book and a pair of cut-off jean shorts, Zohan heads to New York after staging his own death in the hopes of starting his own salon.

Things don't go as planned, but when he meets urban cyclist Michael (Nick Swardson) and saves him from a run-in with an angry suit, Zohan finds a home in the New World -- and it looks a lot like the old one.

Gravitating to the Middle Eastern hub of Brooklyn, Zohan finds work with struggling stylist Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui) and morphs into a hairier, hummus-eating version of Warren Beatty in Shampoo.

That's about the size of the gag, and while it fits easily into Sandler's newly exaggerated Y-fronts, it's not the hairdresser gags or the lusty sex with older women jokes that keep the movie off the ground: It's the built-in tension that keeps the audience watching as Sandler plays jump-rope with one tripwire after another.

Adopting the rather foolproof method of mocking everyone to avoid appearing biased in favour of one group over another, Zohan's screenwriters ensure everyone looks a little silly.

And super-talented. For instance, the film came under early criticism for glorifying Mossad agents as James Bond-styled spies. Yet, with John Turturro playing The Phantom, a highly trained Palestinian killer who dreams of selling shoes, both sides get an equal share of the so-called heroics, as well as screen time.

Even the requisite romance features a cross-cultural angle when Zohan falls for Dalia, a Palestinian woman with activist roots.

Sandler goes to such extremes to balance the movie that even risky scenes such as one featuring electronic phone menus for terrorists seem to land in something soft and squishy.

It's not always pretty. In fact, it's often disgusting, but Sandler's boyish sensibilities and schmaltzy sentimentality overcome the jittery moments with the notion that in America, even sworn enemies can find amity -- especially if they're united in their cause to save the neighbourhood.

It certainly wouldn't be the first time Hollywood has suggested hair salons offer social and cultural salvation for the oppressed, and for what it's worth, it's a nice idea to ponder. But for all the lather and conditioner Sandler pours into this effort, Don't Mess with the Zohan still wrestles with split ends and proves world peace is a lot more complicated than a Paul Mitchell hairdo. Well One advice though, Leave your thinking caps and Your Brain at home(you wont need them!)