Review of The Cobbler (2014) by Chris R — 19 Aug 2015

"WOW! Just WOW! "The Cobbler" is one of the most misguided and ill-conceived movies I've ever seen".

Movie Review: The Cobbler.

Date Viewed: March 15 2015.

Directed By Thomas McCarthy (The Visitor, The Station Agent and Win Win).

Written By Thomas McCarthy and Paul Sado.

Starring: Adam Sandler, Dustin Hoffman, Steve Buscemi, Ellen Barkin, Method Man, Dan Stevens, Melonie Diaz, Sondra James, Dascha Polanco and Lynn Cohen.

Several months ago, Adam Sandler finally got away from his Happy Madison production team and his adolescent humor to make serious movies like "Men, Women & Children" and "The Cobbler". Sandler has shown that he can act but "The Cobbler" just continues his bad movie streak. The big surprise about this movie is that it was written and directed by Thomas McCarthy who made three fine indies, "The Station Agent", "The Visitor" and "Win Win". The premise of this movie is so bad, I kept waiting for Sandler to say, "STOP!", "STOP!", "STOP!", "This story is completely inept".

What is this movie about? It's about a Manhattan cobbler who repairs shoes for a living but when he finds an ancient machine once operated by his great-grandfather, he uses it to repair shoes. When Max Simkin (Sandler) tries on the alligator shoes he fixed from the machine, he morphs into his customer. The alligator shoes belong to a vicious gangster named Ludlow (Method Man), he terrorizes the neighborhood, he beats up his girlfriend and he threatens to kill Max if he doesn't repair his shoes.

So Max can transform into any of his customers as long as their shoes are a size 10 1/2. He dons the shoes of a sexy Brit (Dan Stevens), a young 12-year-old black kid, his father, Abraham Simkin (Dustin Hoffman) who abandoned the family years ago and he can even don the shoes of a dead person. Isn't this movie fascinating. When Max morphs into his father, he has a romantic dinner with his ailing mother (Lynn Cohen) and when he morphs into the handsome Brit, he goes into his apartment where he sees the Brit's girlfriend taking a shower. At one point, the girlfriend invites him to join her but if he takes off his shoes, he'll transform back into Max.

Through all of these silly and uncomfortable situations, we're supposed to be rooting for Max. Even though he performs some good deeds while inhabiting the soles of his customers, his actions are inexcusable. We also get Ellen Barkin as an evil real estate mogul and Steve Buscemi as the barber who works next door to Max. "The Cobbler" is one of those awful movies that has a you-got-to-be-kidding-me climax. At the end of the movie, there is a big reveal which makes no sense at all.

"The Cobbler" is one of the most misguided and ill-conceived movies I've ever seen. I'm sure McCarthy can come back from this mess. He is too talented for this silly fable. As for Sandler, it's not entirely his fault, I blame the idiotic screenplay by McCarthy and Paul Sado. At least he tried.