REVIEW: DON'T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN

I went out and saw the Zohan last week and came home with a mixture of elation and dissapointment. I know. Not exactly a mixable pair, but hey, does it really matter whether somthing is possible or not? Anyways, as all of you know, Adam Sandler used to be a prime time player on Saturday Night Live. Alongside Chris Farley, David Spade, and Chris Rock (who makes a cameo in the movie) he formed what have come to be known as SNL's bad boys. When I came to see the movie, I was not in the mindset to find any deep or emotion stirring story. I wasn't after 50 First Dates or Big Daddy, if you even consider those emotion stirring. I was going for one of the things that Sandler does best. Sometimes, when jokes are going to far, people will say "don't go there, man!" Well, Sandler goes there. Again and again and again. And thats what people can trust in him. Don't get me wrong, he has shown he is capable of doing more than just going on screen and letting a fish fly into his butt, but when it comes down to it, hes the only one who WILL. His unrestrained sense of humor keeps drawing audiences back for the next movie. Don't get me wrong. There was definatley problems going on with Zohan. For instance, I wasn't particularly fond of the ending. Whats all this sonic screaming crap? Theres really not much of a joke in that. I find the plot just a tad underdeveloped. Even though the comedy was almost always there, audiences have a hard time accepting the film without trust in the storyline. On the other hand, was anybody actually looking for a well developed storyline when they went to see a movie about an ex-anti-terrorist who moved to America and became a hair-stylist? Sounds kinda silly now doesn't it? Simply the fact that Sandler made it sound plausible at all in any context is reason to give him some kudos, if you ask me. Just to sort of tie this into SNL, I'll say that after looking at this movie, it seems like the kind of character that would be easily transformable into a sketch. It would be a lot less formidable because of the lack of special effects and stund doubles, but probably still pretty funny. In his days back on SNL, many fans saw a duo developing between Sandler and Farley, with Sandler playing the subtle, ridiculous characters, and Farley balanceing that with his boistrous, out of control everyman characters. Sandler seems to bring this into his movie, with Zohan never truelly raising his voice or going out of control, but always saying ridiculous things. Plus, Zohan is pretty much the definition of a ridiculous character.