LONDON, UK -- Ever since I read A. O. Scott's extremely complimentary review of the new Adam Sandler picture You Don't Mess With the Zohan, an off kilter idea has been blossoming in my head. I didn't like the review itself all that much; to me, it seemed like one of those awful smart-guy-tries-to-sound-like-dumb-guy-
to-prove-he's-a-regular-guy routines that American criticism is plagued with these days (sorry, A. O.). But the piece stuck in my mind anyhow. Reason being: This is the second time in the past few months that a big, dumb American comedy has caught my attention with a plot that actually INCLUDES rather than excludes that most cable news of topics: geo-politics.

Who didn't do a double-take the first time they saw the words Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanomo Bay on a one-sheet or a print ad? And who expected Adam Sandler to go the Austin Powers secret spy guy route via an ass-kicking Israeli Special Forces commando replete with an evil Palestinian master nemesis? Admittedly, it's a controversial concept that would appear to have been softened into the usual Hollywood cross between gauze and cheese via the inclusion of Zohan's Palestinian love interest, played by Emmanuelle Chriqui, whose first line probably should have been "Can we all just get along?" if Wade Major's BOXOFFICE review of the picture is any indication.

But still, as the old saying goes, "when a donkey flies, you don't blame him for not staying up all that long." Sandler -- one of the most seemingly politically disengaged comedians we've got until now -- is waking up to the world. What's next? A Sandler/Rob Schneider remake of Spies Like Us?

For the last, like, thirty years, mainstream American comedies have mostly avoided politics at all costs. This is sort of a surprise given the omnipresent influence of Saturday Night Live over American movie comedy content. Since SNL, Comedy Central and late night chat-show monologues are pretty much the only places where political comedy lives in the USA today. Zohan is apparently kinda toothless (even Scott admits this, which he sees as a plus because it's just a comedy -- I gotta remember to send A.O. my copies of Dr. Strangelove, Modern Times, Monty Python's Life of Brian and Three Kings for a quick demo of why he's wrong to say that). But I can't help thinking that Zohan's very existence, and that of the Harold and Kumar picture, and especially that of my pick for great-big-summer-success-you-aren't-even-really-tracking-yet, the Ben Stiller comedy Tropic Thunder, may be harbingers of something weird going on in the good old moviegoing zeitgeist.

Maybe things have gotten so bad out here in the real world that even our comedies have to reflect that back at us. A politically involved Adam Sandler? That's got to be a sign of the Apocalypse.

But since we're coming into a big presidential election and all that, for some reason, I find all this a hopeful sign. After all, it might be nice (for once) if the public started paying attention BEFORE they vote in a guy who's in a better position to mess up the whole planet than pretty much any other human being on the face of the earth.

Two PS's:

DOWNEY WATCH: Ray predicts: Robert Downey Jr. will get a supporting Oscar nomination for his ballsy Tropic Thunder performance which is going to resound in movie comedy memory the way Richard Pryor's did in Silver Streak back in the day (that is to say, it will seem like it's going to be remembered until it's forgotten), and Downey Jr. will emerge from the film's release (and Iron Man's success) as a star of Johnny Depp-like repute and proportion.

HULK WATCH: If the stock market is any indication, there is a lot of faith in the Ed Norton Hulk movie; Marvel's shares have been gaining against a generally horrible market for the past week. So once again, what do I know?