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Cast: Adam Sandler, Cliff "Method Man" Smith, Ellen Barkin, Melonie Diaz, Dan Stevens
Director: Tom McCarthy
Max Simkin has had enough of working in his little New York shoe repair shop where he quietly envies people with more interesting lives. So when he discovers an old family heirloom with the magical ability to change his appearance and transform into any of his customers, the temptation is too good to pass up. However, his newfound ability to become someone else proves to be as troublesome as it is fun. When a ruthless real estate developer tries to take over his neighborhood, Max uses his gift to become the hero he always hoped he could be. Featuring an all-star cast including Adam Sandler, Steve Buscemi, Cliff “Method Man” Smith and Ellen Barkin, The Cobbler proves that sometimes you have to walk in another man’s shoes to discover who you really are.
"The Cobbler" tells the story of Max, a third generation cobbler who is growing tired of his life. As he thinks about selling the place and moving on fate decides to intervene. When Max's old stitching machine breaks down he decides to head to the basement to see what his dad might of left laying around and to his surprise there was the old manual stitching machine his dad taught him to use when he was little. What he doesn't know is the machine has some kind of magical power that allows him to step into any of his customers lives by putting on their shoes. But by doing so Max finds himself in more trouble than he could of imagined. He will also find out that his dad had a few more secrets before he left them one day as well.
When I watched the trailer for this film I thought it looked like something original for Adam sandler. The story being a dramedy/fantasy looked good on paper so I was interested in seeing it. The film starts off innocently enough but I knew something was going to happen before long because of the fantasy aspect. By the time the credits began to roll I was left with mixed feelings.
For starters I thought the story had too much going on, if it were to focus on just the one plot it would of been much better but instead it lends itself to other side stories that bog down the film's original story. Now do not get me wrong it is not Sandler's worse film but I thought it could of been a lot better. I am not going to go into plot details to make my point so not to ruin the film for those waiting to see it but I do believe it could of been much better with a little script work.
Another thing that let the film down a bit was the characters, Sandler is very good as Max but actors like Dustin Hoffman and Steve Buscemi are not used in the film enough for their characters to have any real impact.
So in the end I did enjoy certain parts of the film and I thought Sandler was very good in a very different kind of film for him. If you like Sandler or if you are looking for something a bit different then I recommend checking it out. Just do not expect anything special here.
Available now on DVD and Blu-ray, you can order the DVD HERE and the Blu-ray HERE.
Released by Image Entertainment
** 1/4 Out Of *****