Star rating: ***
Dir: Dennis Dugan
With: Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui

Having played it semi-serious with his last few films - Spanglish, The Longest Yard, Reign Over Me - the prince of potty humour, Adam Sandler, returns to what his legions of fans love him for with this supremely daft and wantonly crude comedy. In it Sandler plays an Israeli super commando with bulging biceps and an even bigger crotch who, tired from his endless conflict with John Turturro's indestructible Palestinian agent and fast-food entrepreneur, fakes his own death and heads off to New York City where he reinvents himself as a hairdresser. Now operating under the new credo that sex can save the world, Zohan nevertheless finds himself drawn back into conflict by Rob Schneider's Palestinian taxi driver, who has a chip or 10 on his shoulders.

Co-scripted by Sandler and reigning comic king Judd "Knocked Up" Apatow, Zohan employs the scatter-gun approach with its hit-and-miss mix of endless cartoon violence and lewd sexual and lavatory humour. Ultimately, it's a bit more miss than hit, though it does benefit from some well-intentioned commentary on Middle-Eastern diplomacy.