MOVIE REVIEW: ‘The Cobbler’ Will Soon Be Forgotten

Film: The Cobbler
Starring: Adam Sandler
Director: Thomas McCarthy

While watching The Cobbler I encountered a problem that I have rarely, if ever, found in a film before. Instead of starting strong and later letting me down, the film’s biggest fault occurred in the opening moments and lasted almost the entirety of the first act. It was such a colossal misstep that anyone choosing to skip the remainder of the film would be understood, though they would also be missing out.

Adam Sandler stars as Max Simkin, a fourth generation cobbler who cannot help feeling like his best days are already behind him, if they even existed at all. His mother is ill, his father is absent, and as far as we know he hasn’t fallen in love a single time in his adult life. To say he’s depressed would likely be an understatement, but all that begins to change the day his sewing machine breaks. It’s a chance occurrence that forces Max to search for a quick solution in order to finish the day’s orders. He discovers an old sewing machine in his basement and quickly gets to work, but not long after completing his work he discovers something magical. Every pair of shoes made or fixed using the machine that Max puts on his feet transforms him into the owner of those shoes, which in turn allows him to literally walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.

Now you may think this premise provides ample room for Sandler to deliver the same schtick he has been shelling out in bad comedies for the last decade, but truth be told there is little of his signature antics to be found in this film. Aside from an initial montage of shoes, which finds Sandler transforming from himself into Method Man, a zombie, and even a transvestite, the film largely keeps the sillier possibilities at bay. Instead, filmmaker Thomas McCarthy and co-writer Paul Sado choose to send Max on a journey of self-discovery, with laughs and heartfelt moments aplenty littered throughout. It’s not exactly high brow entertainment, but there is something wholesome to the whole affair that sets it apart from the majority of titles being pushed on audiences today.

Sandler doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to the more serious side of dramedies, but his performance in The Cobbler is among his best in recent memory. This is no doubt aided by a strong supporting cast, which is highlighted by Steve Buscemi and Dennis Hoffman, though neither ever appear together in the same sequence. Their storied talent, along with the impressive work of younger stars like Melonie Diaz and Orange Is The New Black favorite Dascha Polanco, provide Sandler with a wonderful universe of believable characters to work with and exist amongst without overshadowing his presence.

The film’s biggest fault is its opening act, which begins in 1903 and jumps to the present day with little to no effort made in connecting the two aside from obviously featuring two different generations of the same family. It’s a strange framing device that is never really touched upon again, at least not in any direct way, and one that seems to exist for no other reason than stretching the film’s runtime beyond the 90-minute mark. It’s unnecessary and boring, not to mention carrying a completely different tone than the rest of the film, and even several days after my initial viewing I am still in the dark as to why no one pointed these facts out to the filmmakers or studio before anyone tried settling on a final cut.

Those shortcomings aside, however, The Cobbler is a good story that offers a unique and sometimes fun twist on the idea of learning to appreciate the things we have instead of yearning for those we do not. Outside of cutting the first twenty minutes altogether I cannot think of many ways the film could be improved upon without adding significant time to its length, and with a story like this I don’t think more time is the answer to improving quality. Some stories are not capable of greatness, and I feel The Cobbler is one of them. It’s a good story, nothing more, and the film is no different. Expect anything more and you will be disappointed.

GRADE: C-

Review written by James Shotwell

James Shotwell
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