Reviews

Films

You don't mess with the Zohan

Directed by Dennis Dugan, starring Adam Sandler, John Turturro

Adam Sandler's attempt to satirize the Israeli-Arab conflict in his new movie might not contribute too much to peace in the Middle East.

The story revolves around the unlikely character of Zohan, "the greatest soldier Israel has ever known", a man likened by his father to "Rembrandt with a hand grenade," who one sunny day decides that his killing time is over. Instead he wants to flee his life of battling Arab terrorists, and settle for the simple life of a New York hairstylist.

Of course it doesn't work out the way he wants as his Palestinian nemesis comes after him. But along the way Zohan generously provides a full sexual service to many of his elderly clients and has time to learn some new home truths about the intricacies of the interminable Middle East conflict.

Sandler, whose Jewish heritage is well known, tries to avoid singling out either side for blame. In his movie, Israelis seem overconfident and oversexed while Palestinians bluff and bumble their actions. But with the movie's "why can't we all live together" plea symbolized by a joint love of hummus, it's unlikely to make anyone reexamine their political concepts in the way that Borat forced many Americans to face up to the shortcomings of their culture.

Despite the subject matter, Sandler doesn't seem at ease in making anything but the blandest political comments - and there's no doubt that he struggled to find the right tone in the eight years that it took to bring the film from interesting idea to box-office blockbuster.

There are jokes about a Hezbollah phone line that withholds bomb-making instructions during peace talks with the Israelis, and caricatures of soothing Jewish mothers.

But the majority of laughs are at the expense of Arab characters, a fact that did not overly trouble Egyptian-born Sayed Badreya, who plays one of Zohan's New York adversaries, and who called the film a step in the right direction of reversing Hollywood's usual stereotypes.

Gone Baby Gone

Directed by Ben Affleck, starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris

Like a cat on its ninth and final life, Ben Affleck may possibly have saved his career in the improbable role of director. Here he appears at last to have a success on his hands with this watchable, surefooted, if melodramatic cop procedural about child abduction, starring his brother Casey.

Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan play Patrick and Angie, live-in lovers who are also a private investigation team. Just as news about a missing girl is plastered all over the TV, the kid's strait-laced aunt and uncle show up at their apartment, begging them to take the case and use their community credibility to get information that locals won't give the cops.

Through a strange mixture of impulsive generosity and hubris, Patrick agrees, and the pair have an uneasy chat with the girl's unreliable mother, Helene (Amy Harris), a cocaine addict; their presence infuriates Captain Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman) and Detective Remy Bressant (Ed Harris), who, under intense media pressure, have something to prove.

Ben Affleck's script (he is the co- writer, with Aaron Stockard) shows a shrewd awareness of this.

The flaw in the film is Michelle Monaghan, who once again gives a faintly kid-sisterish performance. Her character turns out to be a more vengeful, and more possessed of Old Testament values, than is entirely consistent with the rather gentle, muted personality she projects in earlier scenes.

But Casey Affleck coolly holds the center of the film: a wiry, stubborn presence, intent on solving the case but aggressive and unstable with it. It is his persistence, both as actor and character, that tides us over the tricky plot reversals.

As for the ending, it is pure fantasy, and could be condemned as essentially mendacious. But this is well-crafted pulp, and the director contrives a neatly judged final shot before the credits: two people watching daytime TV, left alone with their lack of illusions. The Guardian

(China Daily 06/11/2008 page20)