You Don't Mess With The Zohan; Kung Fu Panda; The Promotion

You Don’t Mess With The Zohan (Jun 6) - Usual Sandler Schtick Except It’s About Arab-Israeli Relations

(Directed by Dennis Dugan, with Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Nick Swardson, Lainie Kazan, Rob Schneider, Chris Rock and Mariah Carey)

"'You Don't Mess with the Zohan,' the new Adam Sandler movie, has an abundance of daffy visual gags and some pungent lines of the most politically incorrect sort (although swaddled in thick faux Middle Eastern accents). The picture is also a goofy satire of Arab-Israeli relations, and already there's been earnest media whining about this — the playing of such a combustible subject for laughs. Too bad for the whiners that the picture is so funny … In Manhattan, Zohan finds a job at a small salon run by a beautiful Palestinian woman named Daria (Emmanuelle Chriqui, of ‘Entourage’). The shop is on a street populated by Arab immigrants on one side and Jews on the other; and while it must be admitted that the movie does find Arabs to be a little funnier than their desert brethren, the laughs generally go both ways. (A Jewish-run electronics store that's actually called Going Out of Business offers cheap cell phones ‘with free HBO.’)"
- Kurt Loder, MTV

“Zohan is a top Israeli counterspy who bops down the boulevard like Borat imitating a disco-era Travolta snapping Chuck Norris moves. He is the master of almost any situation from a hacky sack challenge to outswimming a jihadist on a jet ski … The film has a disorienting, daffy feel, swinging easily between the comic romance of Zohan and the pretty Palestinian owner of his salon (Emmanuelle Chriqui), and farcical action scenes that demolish half of Brooklyn. The dialogue is full of left-field weirdness: When Zohan explains his accent by insisting he's Australian, someone comments that it's much nicer there since they ended apartheid.”
- Colin Covert, MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

“Sandler plays an ace agent for the Mossad, the Israeli secret police; he has no interest in counter-terrorism and spends as much time as possible hanging out with babes on the beach … His archenemy, the Palestinian agent known as the Phantom (John Turturro), is also in New York, and they make war. The Phantom's training regime is severe. He takes eggs, cracks them and live chicks emerge. These he puts in a glass and chugs. He punches not only sides of beef but a living cow. Like the Zohan, he is filled with confidence in his own abilities, and with reason (he can cling to ceilings). Their confrontation will be a battle of the Middle-Eastern superheroes …

There are scenes here that make you wince. One involves a savage game of hacky-sack using not a hacky-sack bag but a living cat … Sandler works so hard at this, and so shamelessly, that he battered down my resistance. Like a Jerry Lewis out of control, he will do, and does, anything to get a laugh. No thinking adult should get within a mile of this film. I must not have been thinking.”
- Roger Ebert, ROGEREBERT.COM

“Despite the huge popularity of pictures such as Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison and Sandler's box office clout, the actor has gotten rich on one of the worst oeuvres of any comedian since Jerry Lewis (there's a lesson in there somewhere). This is why Zohan feels like such a surprise. Sandler, now 41, is still doing his sweet-nice guy schtick: Even though the Zohan is the baddest of bad-asses who can take down an army single-handed, catches bullet with his teeth and throws piranhas into his crotch to prove he can tolerate any pain, he also happens to be a modest, courteous lad who doesn't mess with anyone -- unless they mess with him first …

"What's different about Zohan is the script, co-written by Sandler, Robert Smigel (Triumph the Insult Comic Dog) and Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, Superbad), works overtime to ensure the movie is more than just a premise … The film has an ethnic or racial joke to go along with each of its can't-we-all-get-along sermons, which makes the heavy-handed and obvious speechifying go down a lot easier. Essentially, You Don't Mess With the Zohan isn't all that different in tone and sensibility from Sandler's previous films, but he's really trying in this one, and the effort pays off.”
- Rene Rodriguez, MIAMI HERALD

Kung Fu Panda (Jun 6) - A Cartoon for the Children of Martial Arts Movie Lovers

(Directed by Mark Osborne & John Stevenson, with Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, and Michael Clarke Duncan)

“Once again, a schlub who loves kung fu for its outward hy-yah! appeal gets selected as a ‘chosen one’ to battle some great evil, so he's gotta get in shape and learn about karate's disciplines the hard way by training with tough masters. Of course … To be honest, I dreaded going into Kung Fu Panda -- it looked ripe with opportunities to make bad jokes at the expense of what is essentially a way outdated view of Chinese culture. Not only that, it's also a DreamWorks Animation production, and I've grown to shudder at one of those when approaching it. They're reliable for delivering cheap humor, often crass, smart-alecky, and laden with current pop culture references and celebrity send-ups. If this approach is combined with what's essentially a cultural target -- well, the horrific possibilities seem endless. As it turns out, Kung Fu Panda emerges as a pleasant surprise. It avoids easy targets and actually bases its humor in its performances -- voices and accompanying character animations.

“It's a completely self-contained little story, and it sincerely delivers its comedy and, yes, drama. Jack Black's voice performance, sense of humor, and, no doubt, point of reference for the main character's physical performance are what give the movie its modern accessibility, but I admit I was surprised when the rest of the story and characters actually provided a straight and calm, complementary background to Black's spotlighted antics … The whole of Kung Fu Panda serves to solidify further the romanticizing of the old kung fu flicks. The homage has less to do with Chinese culture than with Chinese movies, and it amounts to the same love Forbidden Kingdom was expressing -- an earnest fondness for Bruce Lee, Shaw Brothers, crouching tigers, drunken masters, and five deadly venoms. All this, and DreamWorks is finally able to deliver an animated feature with a warm heart, sans condescending irony.”
- Jeffrey Chen, REELTALK MOVIE REVIEWS

“The movie achieves its creative pinnacle right at the start. Po, a supreme fighter only in his dreams, fantasizes about taking on a saloon-full of plug-uglies and winning the admiration of his idols, the Furious Five: Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross). In bold 2D animation resembling imagery ripped from street posters, this introductory sequence presents Po as an upside-down tornado (funnel at the bottom), whirling into action against opponents who at their eeriest are like animated shadow puppets. As Po offers a running commentary on his own greatness, the sequence mixes hilarity with braggadocio and braces audiences for comic wonderments to come … Kung Fu Panda is a gift, too, albeit a modest one. In a good way, this chop-socky cartoon reminded me of the old joke about chop suey joints: An hour after you see this film, you're hungry to see another one. You may not want to see it twice, but it does whet your appetite for movies.”
- Michael Sragow, BALTIMORE SUN

“The nicest surprise about ‘Kung Fu Panda’ is that it's so much better than the goofy-cutesy title would lead you to expect. It entertains with consummate skill and aims to please without (pardon the pun) pandering. The latest computer-animated feature from DreamWorks pushes the envelope of quality as ambitiously as its Pixar rivals … There's not a lot of unnecessary exposition standing in the way of the gags. Still, the traditions of the genre are treated with affectionate irreverence, not mocking parody. ‘Panda's’ creative team loves the films that inspired them … The character animation is outstanding; Po's expressions are bug-eyed, slack-jawed marvels to behold. And the vocal performances are uniformly strong. Black's turn as the endearing buffoon-hero is a perfect match of casting and character. Hoffman is a dry delight as the unflappable Shifu, who adds shadings of worldly sophistication and sarcasm to even throwaway lines.”
- Colin Covert, MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

The Promotion (Jun 6) - Another Cultural Commentary Comedy

(Directed by Steve Conrad, with Seann William Scott, John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Lili Taylor, Gil Bellows, and Fred Armisen)

“ …what is most different about The Promotion in today’s movie market is its unusual lack of malignancy, to the point that one feels sympathetic to both the apparent protagonist, Doug, and the apparent antagonist, Richard. Then what accounts for the quiet horror of the situation? Dare I say it? It’s the infernal system that tortures and enslaves the great majority of ordinary people …

“The talented ensemble players fit seamlessly into the writer-director’s controlled patterns of dispensing information from a variety of viewpoints amid sudden transitions from the impersonal to the subjective. All in all, The Promotion deserves to be remembered fondly when this year’s award season comes rolling around. At last, we have a completely and profoundly American movie with all the classical skills of timing, editing and character development that we associate nostalgically with some Hollywood golden age.”
- Andrew Sarris, THE NEW YORK OBSERVER

“The Promotion was written and directed by Steve Conrad, who also wrote The Pursuit of Happyness and The Weather Man. This movie may be less sentimental than those films on the surface, but, like Judd Apatow’s best films, the four-letter words and squirm-inducing comedy actually hide a surprisingly well-intentioned heart … Part of The Promotion's satire is in how far Doug and Richard are willing to go in the name of seemingly miniscule advancement; at the same time, it's clear that the promotion would truly change things for the better for each man. Both Doug and Richard are capable of doing things they aren't proud of, and it's a tribute to Conrad's script that we get to glimpse their struggles and self-judgment peeking through comedy that, while it earns big laughs, never feels too broad or showy … The Promotion is a fairly unblinking look at modern American life, and it sneaks up on you with a superbly balanced mix of comedy and drama.”
- James Rocchi, COMMON SENSE

“Fueled by a sense of economic desperation that's all too familiar, ‘The Promotion’ may wind up being the funniest, timeliest comedy of 2008. The picture stars John C. Reilly and Seann William Scott as assistant managers at a grocery store who are vying for a new manager position. The only way it could be more apropos for the current economy would be if they were frantically competing to retain their paltry jobs, not earn a better one …

“At first Reilly's Richard seems to be the picture's foil, yet the actor gives such a humanizing performance that you begin to root for him too. Even though Richard is clearly the doofus of the two candidates - his woeful mishandling of a community relations meeting is one of the movie's comic highlights - Reilly's performance always reminds us that Richard's needs and dreams are just as real as Doug's. Indeed, ‘The Promotion’ doesn't really pit its two leads against each other as much as it lampoons the rat race within which they are trapped. These are two decent, average Joes clawing after the same moldy piece of cheese.”
- Josh Larsen, LARSENONFILM