You Don't Mess with the Zohan

You Don't Mess with the Zohan
Promotional poster
Directed by	Dennis Dugan
Written by	Adam Sandler Robert Smigel Judd Apatow
Produced by	Adam Sandler Jack Giarraputo Robert Smigel (executive) Barry Bernardi (executive)
Starring	Adam Sandler Emmanuelle Chriqui John Turturro Nick Swardson Lainie Kazan Rob Schneider
Cinematography	Michael Barrett
Edited by	Tom Costain
Music by	Rupert Gregson-Williams
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	June 6, 2008 June 19 ,2008 August 15, 2008
Running time	113 minutes
Countries	United States and Israel
Language	English (some Hebrew used.)
Budget	USD$90 million
Box office	$122,338,429 (worldwide)

You Don't Mess with the Zohan is a 2008 comedy film about Zohan Dvir (in Hebrew phonetics: זוהן דביר), an Israeli counter-terrorism army commando who, after growing tired of his Israeli post-draft's standing service, fakes his own death in order to pursue his dream: becoming a hairstylist in New York. The story was written by Adam Sandler, Judd Apatow and Robert Smigel, and was directed by Dennis Dugan. Sandler's production company Happy Madison produced the film, while it was distrbuted by Columbia Pictures. It was released on June 6, 2008. UK release date is August 15, 2008.

Plot

The movie begins with Zohan - a soldier in the Israeli post-draft's standing service - on vacation at a Tel Aviv beach, attracting several women and capturing the attention of every beach-goer with his Hacky Sack prowess. He cooks fish in the nude (using copious amounts of hummus) for himself, his friend and several women. As he finishes cooking, an Israeli Defense Forces helicopter arrives, stealing him away from his presumed well-earned vacation.

During a subsequent briefing, Zohan expresses his displeasure about having his vacation cut short. After being heckled by his officer, he eventually agrees to do yet another mission of recapturing a key Palestinian terrorist, the "Phantom" (John Turturro), who had been freed by the Israeli government in exchange for a captured Mossad agent, plus an additional "to-be-named-later" spy. Later, as Zohan expresses his desire to leave Israel and become a hairdresser in New York City, his wishes are met with laughter by his mother and his father, who had fought in Israel's Six-Day War.

The disgruntled Zohan fakes his own death during the pursuit of the Phantom, who is tricked into believing he had killed Zohan. Zohan smuggles himself into a flight to New York City in a pet crate of two dogs named Scrappy and Coco. Changing his hairstyle into a 1980s Paul Mitchell's Avalon style and taking "Scrappy Coco" as a new alias, he sets out to pursue his dreams in the Big Apple.

Initially unsuccessful in getting hired at an upscale Paul Mitchell salon (as well as an African American salon and a children's salon), Zohan's military expertise earns him a new friend, Michael (Nick Swardson), who gives him a place to stay. Michael later regrets the decision as he is forced to endure Zohan's disturbing sexual activities with Michael's mother, Gail (Lainie Kazan). Zohan's passion for 1970s disco runs him into a fellow Israeli named Uri (Ido Mosseri), a Zohan fan who is aware of Scrappy Coco's true identity but agrees to keep it a secret. Uri introduces him to a block in lower Manhattan filled with Middle Eastern Americans, who are split between a Palestinian side and an Israeli side of the street.

Zohan attempts to land a job in a struggling salon of a Palestinian woman named Dhalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui). After first only allowing the ostentatious Zohan to sweep floors for free, she eventually allows him to be a stylist after he pleases a senior lady with a satisfactory haircut and back room sexual service. Zohan's reputation spreads instantly among the elder women of lower Manhattan, who comment that "besides the sex, he gives a pretty good haircut." Dhalia's business booms, upsetting Walbridge (Michael Buffer), a corporate magnate who has been trying to force out all the local tenants on the block so that he may build a huge mall.

Eventually Zohan is identified by a Palestinian cab driver named Salim (Rob Schneider), whose goat Zohan had stolen after Salim threw his shoe at Zohan and spit in his face. Salim convinces his friends to help him exact revenge on Zohan. He rebuffs their advice to "let the professionals" take care of it because Salim wants the glory of killing Zohan for himself. He and his friends decide to build a bomb, but they are unsure how to do so. Thinking that they need "chemicals," Salim and his friends walk into a pharmacy and try to ask for liquid nitrogen. Hearing Salim's mispronunciation, the pharmacist instead presents Salim with Neosporin. Seeing that the Neosporin doesn't destroy Zohan's workplace, Salim reluctantly informs Phantom through a Hezbollah hotline. Now a successful fastfood chain owner, Phantom then pays a visit to New York to hunt Zohan down.

Meanwhile, Zohan realizes that he has fallen in love with Dhalia when he discovers that he has unexplainable erectile disfunction except in her presence. However, Dhalia rejects Zohan's feelings for her after he reveals he was formerly an Israeli counter-terrorist operative. Zohan decides to leave Dhalia and confront the Phantom in a Hacky Sack game. His fight is cut short with sudden news of the Middle Eastern block being attacked by racist white arsonists dressed in Arabic clothing. (The arsonists are hired by Walbridge to instigate an inter-ethnic riot between the Israelis and Palestinians and hopefully allow him to take over their stores more easily.)

As Zohan and Phantom are working together to save the block, Dhalia appears, revealing that she is a sister of Phantom – or "Fattoush" as she calls him. Zohan's personal dossier allows him to discover the arsonists' true identities as rednecks hired by Walbridge. Zohan and Phantom lead the united Israelis and Palestinians of the block to save their shops, defeating the rednecks, thwarting Walbridge's plans, and damaging all of the shops on the block by using "The Sound" which is a combination of stereotypical Arabic rhythmic calling and stereotypical Hebrew "chhhh" sounds. The police arrive to arrest Walbridge for his crimes.

With the Israelis and the Palestinians united, the block is transformed into a collectively-owned mall, in which Zohan and Dhalia realize their dream, opening a joint beauty parlor. The Phantom also fulfills his lifelong passion of opening up a shoe store. The movie ends happily as Zohan's parents approved of his Palestinian wife and hair salon, called "Dalohan," becoming customers themselves in a surprise visit.

Cast

• Adam Sandler as Zohan "Scrappy Coco" Dvir
• Emmanuelle Chriqui as Dhalia Hakbarah, a Palestinian hair salon owner/Zohan's love interest.
• John Turturro as Fatoush "Phantom" Hakbarah, Zohan's Palestinian nemesis
• Nick Swardson as Michael, Zohan's roommate in New York
• Lainie Kazan as Gail, Michael's mother
• Rob Schneider as Salim Husaamdiyaamaaazinqutaybamujaahiduaaaiaaaeeeh
• Ido Mosseri as Uri
• Alec Mapa as Claude
• Dave Matthews as James
• Michael Buffer as Walbridge
• Charlotte Rae as Mrs. Greenhouse
• Sayed Badreya as Hamdi
• Daoud Heidami as Nasi
• Robert Smigel as Yosi
• Dina Doron as Zohan's Mother
• Shelley Berman as Zohan's Father
• Chris Rock as Taxi Driver
• Henry Winkler as himself, riding in the limo driven by Zohan
• Kevin James as himself sitting at the Hacky Sack tournament
• Mariah Carey as herself
• John McEnroe as himself
• George Takei as himself
• Bruce Vilanch as himself
• John Paul DeJoria as Paul Mitchell (hairdresser)
• Kevin Farley board member uncredited
• Tom Arnold as himself – uncredited

Production

Sandler, Smigel, and Apatow wrote the first draft of the script in 2000, but the movie was put on hold after the events of 9/11 because those involved felt that the subject would be too sensitive. During an interview, Smigel indicated that Apatow left the project after the first draft in 2000 to work on his show Undeclared and that he has, for the most part, not been involved in the project since.

The movie is similar to a SNL sketch "Sabra Price is Right", which starred Sandler and Schneider and was written by Robert Smigel.

Robert Smigel worked with Sandler on past films including Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, Little Nicky, etc, but this is the first time in which he has been credited for helping to write the script. He was also an executive producer on the film which allowed him to further contribute to the movie's comedic sense.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz commented that the movie was known in Hollywood circles as the "Israeli movie." Haaretz also noted that while "Israeli actors were rushing to audition [for the movie], the response among Arab actors was far from enthusiastic. (Emmanuelle Chriqui, who plays Zohan's Palestinian love interest, was born and raised an Orthodox Jew.) One possible explanation is that Sandler, who is known as a patron of causes for Israel, is not so popular in the Arab world." Arab actor Sayed Badreya was quoted as saying that "Adam Sandler, in the Arab and Muslim communities, is not having a good reputation." But Sayed then noted that "When it came to working with Adam, I was like, 'Eh, well, I don't know.' My prejudice was bigger than me."

Cultural context

Scattered amid the more puerile humor of the film are some "good and unexpectedly sophisticated jokes" revolving around Israel-Arab conflicts in the Middle East, according to critic John Podhoretz. One joke involves the frequent trading of prisoners from Israel with prisoners held by Arab states or groups, another is about preparations for future fighting even as peace talks are ongoing. Some material is taken from Israeli culture, including a running joke about hummus and an orange soda called "Fizzy Bubblech". The Zohan character is a pushtak — a stereotypical figure of "sport" in Israel, mostly in the 1970s and 1980s, and the equivalent of a Guido in the United States. "The classic pushtak saunters down a Tel Aviv street with a pack of cigarettes rolled up inside his T-shirt sleeve," according to Podhoretz. "He believes he is God's gift to the world, especially to the ladies, and he takes himself with the utmost seriousness even as others laugh at him."

Sandler researched the role and took inspiration from real-life 'Zohan' characters the Arbib brothers; Nezi, Shaoul and Shalom Arbib. The brothers are former Israeli soldiers and hairstylists. Nezi Arbib runs Shampoo Too in Solana Beach, California, and Shaoul and Shalom Arbib continue to run Shampoo, the brothers' original salon in West Hollywood, California.

The film is the second major Hollywood studio release in 3 years to feature an Israeli protagonist, the other being the Israeli assassins in Steven Spielberg's film Munich, who hunted down and killed the men believed to responsible for killing Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games, according to Podhoretz. (Before that there was Paul Newman's character in the 1960 film Exodus.) Israeli characters in Hollywood films are more often villains, including hit men in Last Embrace, a lascivious wife of an arms dealer in Internal Affairs, bodyguards for a Jewish gangster's gay son in Lucky Number Slevin, and murderous Zionist conspirators in both Eyewitness and Homicide..

The film features actors of both Arab and non-Arab descent playing Arabs. Egyptian-American comedian Ahmed Ahmed plays a bit part as a Palestinian-American, whereas Jewish-Filipino Rob Schneider plays Salim Husaamdiyaa, a Palestinian American who recognizes Zohan in New York. The movie begins with comments from Zohan dismissing his Palestinian adversaries' complaints that Israel encroached on Palestinian lands, but moves toward a conciliatory tone where Palestinian- and Israeli-American characters say they don't want to fight any more. The film's political comedy relies on the idea that Palestinian-Israeli hatred for one another is age-old and irrational, rather than based on political events of the last century.

Soundtrack

The score to the film was composed by Rupert Gregson-Williams. He recorded his score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage in April 2008. The soundtrack contains many songs in Hebrew, mostly by the popular Israeli band, Hadag Nachash, and the electronic music duo, Infected Mushroom.

Critical reception

As of June 30, 2008, Rotten Tomatoes reports that 33% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 138 reviews — with the consensus that the film "features intermittent laughs, and will please Sandler diehards, but after awhile the leaky premise wears thin." Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 54 out of 100, based on 35 reviews — indicating mixed or average reviews.

John Podhoretz, in The Weekly Standard, wrote that the movie has a "mess" of a plot and features, "as usual for Sandler, plenty of dumb humor of the sort that gives dumb humor a bad name, but that delights his 14-year-old-boy fan base". But the film also has an "unusual" amount of "tantalizing comic ideas" so that "every 10 minutes or so, it makes you explode with laughter."

Some critics found the movie to be tasteless and propagandistic as it ignores the historical context of the conflict and dismisses it as a result of baseless hatred. Those critics find most of the jokes made in the movie to have a grain of racism towards Palestinians and a hint of denial for their rights.

On the positive side, TIME claimed the film to be a "laugh riot", and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. David Edelstein of New York Magazine went as far as to say "Adam Sandler is mesmerizing" and A.O Scott of The New York Times said it was "the finest post-Zionist action-hairdressing sex comedy I have ever seen". Entertainment Weekly gave the movie a C+ grade, calling it "another 'mess' from Sandler" which is, unlike Monty Python, a "circus that never flies".

Trivia

• Kevin James has a cameo as a guy sitting at the hacky sack tournament. James also starred alongside Adam Sandler in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry about two firefighters who pretend to be gay to collect domestic partnership benefits.

Box office

You Don't Mess with the Zohan went on to gross $38 million on its opening weekend, ranked second behind Kung Fu Panda.

External links

• Official site
• You Don't Mess with the Zohan at IMDb
• You Don't Mess with the Zohan at Rotten Tomatoes
• You Don't Mess with the Zohan at Metacritic
• You Don't Mess with the Zohan at Box Office Mojo
• Template:Amg movie
• Scoring Session Photo Gallery at ScoringSessions.com
• The "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" glossary