Critics gave a jaded eye-roll to Adam Sandler's latest flick in which he plays an Israeli assassin-slash-hairdresser, expecting it to garner half-hearted protests for its outsized characterizations. But "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" found an unlikely audience in Israelis, the very people Sandler's character spoofs.
The thoroughly silly looking film about a former Mossad agent who fakes his own death to become a New York City hairstylist, cowritten by Judd Apatow, made almost $400,000 in its first weekend out, four percent of the average yearly box office haul in Israel.
The Independent credits the film (which hasn't opened in the UK yet) for addressing Israeli-Palestinian politics directly, but most moviegoers are just glad to see Israeli actors getting work. Somehow they aren't offended by Sandler's take on their national security.
Then again, maybe they like it because the actor, who is Jewish, represents a new muscular ideation of Israeli foreign policy in opposition to the current prime minister, whose approval rating recently hit single digits. Whoops, did we just ascribe political motives to a summer blockbuster? Clearly we've been out in the sun too long.
Related Stories
· Hollywood Playing Politics: Tinseltown's New Taboo-Busters [Independent]
· Israelis Flattered by "The Zohan" movie [AP, via Yahoo]
· Movie Set Travel: You Don't Mess With the Zohan [Jaunted]
[Photo: movies.yahoo.com]
0 Comments - Add Yours
by egw
Leave a Comment
Not yet a member? Click here to become a member.
Already a member? Login below: