The Great Zohan May 2026

4 out of 5 stars. Not for the easily offended, the humorless, or those who think hummus is just a dip. For everyone else? Let’s go make some silky smooth.

Sandler and co-writers Judd Apatow and Robert Smigel refuse to play by the rules of "respectable" political discourse. They don't give a solemn monologue about peace. Instead, they have a scene where a Palestinian man teaches an Israeli man how to properly insert a pager into a rectum to fool a metal detector. It is crass, vulgar, and somehow the most effective peace negotiation ever put on film. The casting is a secret weapon. John Turturro, a serious actor from Coen Brothers films, plays The Phantom with a ridiculous cat-like hiss. Rob Schneider shows up as a salivating, aggressive street vendor who sells "scratchy" towels. Dave Matthews plays a racist redneck. The film creates a world where everyone is a cartoon. the great zohan

In 2008, the world was a very different place. Gas prices were spiking, the War on Terror was in its seventh year, and Adam Sandler was the undisputed king of a very specific brand of lucrative, low-brow comedy. When the trailer dropped for You Don’t Mess with the Zohan , audiences saw the same formula they expected: Sandler with a funny accent, slapstick violence, and a scene involving a fish (or in this case, a bottle of Sprite) used in an inappropriate manner. 4 out of 5 stars

Think about the core conflict. The film posits that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one of the most intractable geopolitical quagmires of the modern era, is actually a macho misunderstanding fueled by outdated pride. Zohan and his nemesis, "The Phantom" (John Turturro, giving one of the most unhinged and brilliant performances of his career), are mortal enemies in the Middle East. But when they move to New York and are forced to live next to each other, they realize they have more in common than they thought. Let’s go make some silky smooth