For some reason I feel compelled to write a note about a movie I just watched. I must admit that even though my major in college was in journalism and communications, I am not much of a movie critic. I like all sorts of movies. Without a doubt, my favorite kind is shoot-‘em-up movies and the occasional well done comedy. 

 

Why do I like action films? Why do I love comedies? Well for one, I see enough drama in my everyday life that when I go to the movies, I just want to sit back, relax and enjoy. 

 

I just came back from watching “You don’t Mess With The Zohan.” I am still trying to figure out what I think.

 

First, this movie should not be rated PG-13, it should receive an R rating, but then again, just like I am not a movie critic, I also wouldn’t make a good censor! That aside, I believe Adam Sandler is a Genius. I know what you are thinking… How can anyone say that Sandler, who uses bad language, exploits stereotypes and over exploits the Israeli Bravado be considered a genius? I will tell you why. 

 

There is no other Jewish filmmaker in the world today that has attempted to tackle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a different perspective. With Adam Sandler, no one is safe. He makes fun of everyone alike, and in his doing so, he brings out some truths that many of us refuse to talk about. 

 

If you think about his other movies, by enlarge, they always touch on Jewish themes and even “50 First Dates” ends with a scene of him standing under the Huppah. By the way, let us not forget that Adam Sandler is also responsible for perhaps the only really famous Jewish song in the past 20 years, “The Hanukkah Song,” which also re-defined how we see ourselves as Jews and the pride we take in our positive differences when talking about Jewish Identity.  

 

What I will never forget is that during the very long and painful years of The “Intifada,” Adam Sandler constantly appeared in public with his Hebrew Coca Cola T-Shirt. When other Jewish celebrities openly criticized Israel, Sandler stood by her no matter what.

 

We can say many things about Adam Sandler but unlike many other Hollywood greats, he hasn’t forgotten who he is and has not lost his soul in the midst of Hollywood’s “everything goes” mentality. I am sure that many of you will not like the movie — the sexual innuendo is constant and irreverent, yet he manages to portray things unique to the Israeli Social Experience. When was the last time you saw someone brush his teeth with hummus? The last time I was in Israel, I had so much hummus that it could have happened! 

 

Sandler manages to take certain traits of the Israeli psyche and transform them into jokes of stellar proportions. I still don’t understand how people who are not Jewish or have never been to Israel or have had contact with Israelis will manage to understand the movie. Just like the first time I saw Borat and there were people around me insulted by the apparent anti-Semitic tone of the movie, only to find out later that Borat himself was speaking in Hebrew. I am sure that sitting through “You don’t Mess With The Zohan,” there were people who couldn’t understand how funny and painfully ironic this movie really is.

So, what rating would I give this movie? I would give it 4 out of 5 spoons full of hummus.

© Rabbi Felipe Goodman, all rights reserved.

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 23rd, 2008 at 11:06 am and is filed under Israel, religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.