Anyway, among the mosaic of tactical diplomacy that necessitates, is my need to occasionally supress my cynical tongue and agree to rent certain movies that I instinctively believe will irritate me, bore me to tears and/or elicit 100 minutes of mental gag reflex.
And once in a blue moon, I'm proven wrong.
Bringing us to: You Don't Mess with the Zohan . . and let me hasten to warn everybody, irrefutably, that I am not recommending this movie!
Is it a bad movie, then? No, I wouldn't exactly say that; I did end up finding it about 125% funnier than I thought it would be, and there is a certain, streaming current of quasi-SNL, transethnic, panurban cleverness to it all, kinda like if John Cleese had collaborated with the Festrunk brothers to script a romantic comedy over one drunken weekend . . but hey, it's the brainchild of the funniest teenager ever to escape Manchester, NH: Adam Sandler, right? The catch being that even if you are a diehard Sandlerite, you still gotta confess that his comedy track record is at best right around 50/50; I myself have a midway appreciation for Adam S, but although I roared in delight at Big Daddy, and Anger Management, the off-center 50 First Dates was abysmal, and Chuck & Larry was aggressively crappy . . and in respect for one G. Cooper, we will say nil about the Mr. Deeds remake!
As for Zohan, I guess one needs to ask oneself how often you can laugh at shticks like goofy accents, male endowment, geriatric sex, bitchy hairstylists, hummus addiction and butt-muscle stunts . . . 'cause you'll be seeing a lot of all that stuff here.
[Though I gotta admit, playing hacky-sack with cats {and not in the nice way, either} never fails to make me laugh!
]But if this is a review, why isn't it over in Fernando's "What Films Have You . ." thread??
'Cause the real reason for this post is Zohan's sneaky secret weapon: the indisputably unique Lainie Kazan!
Big role? Naw, little better than middle-act window dressing. Strong performance? Nope, she breezed through it like she was improvv'ing at a country club benefit.
But, Land o' Goshen, it's Lainie Kazan, warm, sparkling, witty, bubbly, just breathing with humor & panache (as ever), and stars & garters, that woman does not look like she just turned 68 !! She's looking better now than she did 9 years ago in My Big Fat Greek Wedding . . or 19 years ago in Harry & the Hendersons . . or even 23 years ago in Lust in the Dust! (And if that gratuitous "derriere shot" wasn't a body double, this gal's been hitting the gym and the spa lately!)
Lainie's always been a treat, big screen or small (and has always been on my List), but as we cruise deeper into the 21st Century, I really think she needs to be working more often, and in more places; I mean, we've just recently lost sweet Suzanne, Babs Streisand's looking like 4 miles of rough road, Sally Kellerman's under the radar, doing TV voice-overs, Bett Midler seems to be subsidizing every cosmetic clinic in L.A., Pam Grier's contracted body & soul to Showtime's L Word, Rita Moreno is so tiny anymore, her health can't be good, and I guess sweet ol' Cloris is just gonna go on tele-dancing 'til she blows a hip or gets a camera caught in her cleavage . . .
See, there just don't seem to be many multi-media metro mamas left!
