The Cobbler features a shy Adam Sandler

Movie:    The Cobbler

PG-13, 1 hour 38 minutes

Grade:    D

In a Nutshell:    The Cobbler is a curious little film that hit the big screen in March 2015 and then landed on DVD 2 months later.  If you blinked, you missed it.  Guess how much money it made....$4 million?  $2 million?  Try $24,000.  Yikes.

While considered a complete dud, it's still a refreshing departure from Adam Sandler’s usual mix of crass and stupid; however, what could have been a charming fairy-tale gets muddled along the way.  

The premise is interesting: what would you do if you could transform yourself into other people’s lives?  Unfortunately, co-writers Thomas McCarthy and Paul Sado fail to dig deeper and we never get to really know the people whose shoes Adam Sandler’s character wears.

Uplifting Theme:

·         Sometimes walking in another man’s shoes is the only way to discover who you really are.

·         “It is a privilege to walk in another man’s shoes.” – Abraham

Things I liked:

·         The delightful Dustin Hoffman makes a welcome appearance.

·         “Method Man” gets a lot of screen time, and you’ll recognize Melonie Diaz from that sweet and quirky film Be Kind Rewind .

·         It’s always a pleasure to see Steve Buscemi.

·         Ellen Barkin is always at her best when she plays hardball.

·         Orange Is the New Black: Season 1 fans will get to see Dascha Polanco for about 3 minutes.

·         The ending is fun, but completely nonsensical.  Don't even try to figure it out.

Things I didn’t like:

·         It’s odd that a successful director like McCarthy could create such an uneven mess.

·         So many of the scenes are shot from boring, non-creative angles.

·         Droopy Jewish chords play in the background throughout the entire first half of the movie.

·         Max continues to make such dumb mistakes.  That’s super frustrating for me to watch.

Interesting lines:

·         “Who do we have to worry about? – Max

“Dry cleaners.  They’re not nice fellows and they’re very powerful.” - Abraham

Tips for Parents:

·         Kids will be curious about this film because it has Adam Sandler Sandler in it.  They might be entertained by it, but it’s definitely not what they’re expecting.

·         Some mild profanity and someone flips the bird.