Smelly Feet
"You Don't Mess With the Zohan -- in which Adam Sandler plays an Israeli counterterrorist commando whose big dream is to become a hairdresser -- is the movie Munich should have been. At the very least, it's got to be the first picture to use smelly-feet jokes as a means of parsing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But more than that, it's a mainstream movie that dares to make jokes about the kinds of complex political realities that most of us don't dare bring up at dinner parties.
"And while it doesn't attempt to offer any viable diplomatic solution (you won't see Sandler accepting the Nobel Peace Prize anytime soon, or ever), it makes a valiant effort to bridge a gap that most of us, dispiritingly, have come to believe is unbridgeable. When Zohan's mother, played by the saucy, sunny Dina Doronne, urges him to stay in the army, she professes to see some light at the end of this very long, dark tunnel: 'They've been fighting for 2,000 years, it can't be much longer.' The stark reality is that it probably will be." -- from Stephanie Zacaherk's 6.6. review on Salon.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 7, 2008 at 6:26 PM
comment #1
lazespud
says ...
Has there ever been a lower rated movie on the rotten tomatoes tomatometer which a more elite group of critics that loved it? The movie scored 35 percent, and 37 percent with the top critics, but The Wall Street Journal, Time, Salon, the Boston Globe, the New York Times and even Ebert liked or loved it...
But then again my dad loved it and he loved "Going Ape" starring Tony Danza and bunch of orangutans...
Posted by lazespud
at June 7, 2008 6:48 PM
comment #2
Jeremy Smith
says ...
GOING APE is a beautiful film.
I took my chances with ZOHAN yesterday, and was pleasantly surprised, but it's more like "the big-hearted comedy MUNICH never aspired to be." It's a good ten minutes too long, and Dennis Dugan sabotages a number of jokes that should've killed, but the Smigel/Apatow/Sandler script still boasts a pretty favorable hit-to-miss ratio.
Posted by Jeremy Smith
at June 7, 2008 7:03 PM
comment #3
Zoidberg
says ...
I actually liked Zohan....
The first Sandler movie I've enjoyed since Punch Drunk Love.
I think the Salon review describes it rather well.
Posted by Zoidberg
at June 7, 2008 7:35 PM
comment #4
berg
says ...
And everything was good in lunch lady land ...
Posted by berg
at June 7, 2008 8:13 PM
comment #5
berkguru
says ...
I would rather cut off a finger than watch one of his movies. Seriously.
Posted by berkguru
at June 7, 2008 8:18 PM
comment #6
Mgmax, le Corbeau
says ...
The movie Munich should have been is a movie about the actual kidnappings, not a movie about a made-up Israeli hunt for the terrorists, invented by some fabulist who was never in the Mossad.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article715657.ece
Posted by Mgmax, le Corbeau
at June 7, 2008 8:31 PM
comment #7
Mumbleboy
says ...
Is this the same critic who bashed There will be Blood? I stopped listening to her after that miss.
Posted by Mumbleboy
at June 7, 2008 8:45 PM
comment #8
Roman
says ...
Wells, do us all a favor and try to understand THE NATURE of the conflict before offering your own advice. Otherwise, you end up sounding like shallow fool.
Oh, and Munich was the movie of the decade.
Posted by Roman
at June 7, 2008 9:40 PM
comment #9
diesel
says ...
bashed 'there will be blood'. my god, I've never heard of anyone who did this. Except me retarded brother-in-law who "didn't understand what it was about".
But I'm pretty sure he liked Zohan.
Posted by diesel
at June 7, 2008 10:21 PM
comment #10
Dan
says ...
Actually, Stephanie Zacaherk is an amazing critic. One of the best working today. She's very brave and, obviously, is not afraid to go against the general critical consensus.
And she hit the nail right on the head with her There Will Be Blood review, although she might have been a bit too harsh on it. Ebert liked it, but he said it was not a great film as well. I was shocked that they were essentially the only two major critics who got it right on that one.
And I should mention that Ebert gave Zohan a favorable review, too.
Posted by Dan
at June 7, 2008 11:34 PM
comment #11
thatrader
says ...
Count me in the pleasantly surprised how good it was category. It represents Apatow at his sketch comedy (Walk Hard, Ben Stiller Show) not sitcommy (Knocked Up, Superbad) best.
Posted by thatrader
at June 8, 2008 1:49 AM
comment #12
Rothchild
says ...
Zohan is an extremely funny movie.
Posted by Rothchild
at June 8, 2008 1:59 AM
comment #13
DavidF
says ...
The problem Mgmax, is that you're never going to know the real story. At the risk of sounding like I've watched too many X-Files episodes, if you were the Mossad and Yuval Aviv was really Avner, wouldn't you have a campaign discreditng him? Saying he was never in the Mossad?
I don't think Munich (or Jonas' book) is 100% accurate but I also wouldn't expect one of the world's best spy organizations to go, "Yup, that's exactly what we did," when someone chooses to write about an off-the-books operation of theirs. You'll never know what "really" happened so there seems little point criticizing the tack Spielberg chose to take.
Also, I wanna see this Zohan thing. Sandler can be funny when he's not doing his 50th version of Idiot Manboy.
Posted by DavidF
at June 9, 2008 9:07 AM