You Don’t Mess With The Zohan **
Cast: Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Nick Swardson, Lainie Kazan, Ido Mosseri, Rob Schneider, Michael Buffer
Director: Dennis Dugan
Running Length: 1:53
MPAA Classification: PG-13

Zohan (Sandler) is an Israeli special agent who is tired of the Middle East conflict and dreams of moving to America to become a hair stylist. He is able to fake his own death in a battle with his arch enemy, The Phantom (Turturro), and moves to New York City. Once there, he affects a disguise and goes to work Dahlia (Chriqui), a Palestinian hairdresser, and soon becomes popular with the ladies for the extra service he provides in the backroom of the salon after the styling. Soon, The Phantom learns that Zohan is still alive and comes looking for him to finish him off for good.

“Zohan” is mediocre Sandler that runs way too long. 20 minutes could have been cut and would have improved the overall film. The last half hour drags. Sandler is amusing as Zohan, the super agent who can do just about anything, including style hair. Turturro is always entertaining, and his Phantom is no exception. Sadly, this film also suffers from having the best parts shown ad nauseum in previews. The scenes still get laughs, but one cannot help but think that they would have been more effective had they not been played to death beforehand in previews. Sandler fans will probably enjoy “Zohan”, but non-fans will tire quickly. Wait for DVD if you must mess with the Zohan.

Secret Window ***1/2

Cast: Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Maria Bello, Timothy Hutton, Charles S. Dutton
Director: David Koepp

Author Mort Rainey (Depp) is on the brink of a divorce and living a deeply depressed life in his cabin in the woods, trading everyday interaction with people for a comfy sleeping spot on his sofa. Every once and a while he might even write something. One day, his life is disrupted by the appearance of a stranger, John Shooter (Turturro), who claims that Rainey stole his story, and he wants Rainey to "make it right". Initially dismissing this claim, Rainey soon finds that his story and Shooter's story are almost identical, and Shooter will not be ignored. Shooter begins to turn up the heat, and Rainey finds himself racing against time to prove himself. Depp, fresh off of Pirates of the Caribbean, is back in a Johnny Depp-like role in the quirky, unkempt Mort Rainey. Turturro, who is always good playing the weirdo does an excellent job as the mysterious Shooter. Well directed by Koepp, with subtle clues as to the answer of Rainey's delimna, this adaptation of a Stephen King story is very well done. And for those who have read the story, the movie actually improves (in my opinion) on the ending.