'Zohan' a cut above usual Sandler fare

Adam Sandler's new comedy "Don't Mess With the Zohan" revels in juvenile tastelessness, rude nudity, sexual shenanigans and cartoon violence. And yet, it might have a greater influence on establishing world peace and reminding us of what America stands for better than any political speech or military action.

I'm only half-joking about that. "Zohan" might be a real crass act - a naked Sandler squeezing a dead fish between his butt cheeks attests to this - but it packs ideas behind the gross-outs and comic mayhem. One idea is that America still stands for a place on earth where people can go and forget about past hatreds and start anew. Another idea is that America allows people to follow their dreams, no matter how strange and personal.

This brings us to Zohan, Sandler's elite, super bad, anti-terrorist Israeli commando supreme. He's more of a comic book hero than commando. He catches bullets in his teeth. He bounces off buildings. He kicks Palestinian soldiers in their faces through walls, even though he can't possibly know exactly where their faces are. Women find his raw sexual magnetism irresistible.

More Coverage Video Gire reviews 'You Don't Mess With the Zohan'

Zohan has achieved the heights of anti-terrorist self-fulfillment.

Still, he just wants to be a hair stylist working in New York City.

So, one day while battling his arch-enemy, the dreaded Palestinian terrorist the Phantom (John Turturro), Zohan fakes his own death, sneaks off to America (airport security is no match for the Zohan!) and winds up taking the only hairdressing job he can find: in a Palestinian beauty shop run by the beautiful Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui).

Suddenly, the Palestinians no longer pose an immediate threat to Zohan. But American capitalists do. A businessman named Walbridge (professional boxing ring announcer Michael Buffer) wants to buy up all the stores on Dalia's block so he can build a huge commercial development. One of the tricks up his gray, worsted-wool sleeve is to hire a hate group of American rednecks to pretend to be Jews or Palestinians and attack their businesses, thereby inflaming the smoldering ashes of conflict.

This is an old and worn plot, and fortunately "Zohan" only uses it as a foundation for a series of ridiculously funny, gross and clever sequences that might have been directed by the trio behind the original "Airplane!" spoof back in 1980. Here, legendary filmmaker Judd Apatow has his humorous producer fingerprints all over "Zohan," which magically seems to know the exact location of the line separating outrageously funny from offputtingly gross.

However, "Zohan" has been directed by actor Dennis Dugan, a style-challenged filmmaker whose uninspired talent makes movies that succeed despite themselves. From "The Problem Child" up through "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," Dugan-directed movies have no sense of flair or comic timing, but have scripts and casts with box-office appeal.

Sandler, of course, has made a career out of funny-talking characters who anger quickly and solve problems with violence. Outside of playing Barry Egan in the little-seen "Punch-Drunk Love," Zohan marks a career high for Sandler. Spoofing an Israeli super agent, Sandler goes for broke in a highly physical, daring role where he engages in sex with every middle-aged woman at his salon, and manages to keep it light and non-creepy.

Zohan has his own naughty vocabulary for sexual terms, and they're apparently so funny and disarming that the hairdressing super agent can get away with verbal murder.

By the time bad guys threaten to kill a litter of adorable puppies, "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" is running on humor fumes. But the scene where Zohan casually uses a cat as a live Hacky Sack?

Priceless.

"You Don't Mess With the Zohan"

1 star (out of 4)

Starring: Adam Sandler, Emmanuelle Chriqui, John Turturro

Directed by: Dennis Dugan

Other: A Columbia Pictures release. Rated PG-13 for violence, sexual situations, language, nudity. 113 minutes.