THE COBBLER (review)

THE COBBLER

Starring Adam Sandler, Method Man, Steve Buscemi and Dustin Hoffman

With a track record that includes THE STATION AGENT and THE VISITOR, one can’t help but have high expectations for the latest film by Thomas McCarthy. Worries began to arise though when it was announced that Adam Sandler would star. Anyone who’s seen Sandler’s recent dramatic efforts knows that the genre – with the exception of 2002’s PUNCH DRUNK LOVE – isn’t his strong suit. Sandler does the best he can here but he’s not given very much to work with.

It turns out that THE COBBLER is not the quiet dramedy we usually see from McCarthy, but a flat-out comedy instead. Sandler plays Max Simkin, a quiet cobbler who owns a shoe-repair shop in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. One day, Max’s electric sewing machine breaks and he rediscovers the peddle-powered sewing machine his father used when the shop was his. The machine is actually magical (yes, magical) and will allow Max to turn into the owner of any shoe that is stitched with it.

McCarthy has his fun with this, as Sandler runs around New York appearing as a young boy, a drag queen, and even a corpse; but once this is done, the film strives far beyond its reach to find a conflict. This is where Ellen Barkin and Method Man come in, as two people plotting to kill an old man living alone in an apartment complex they wish to knock down.

I never thought I’d type these words, but McCarthy simply wrote a weak script here. This plot would’ve made for a great short film, or better yet, a five-minute “Funny or Die” sketch. After twenty-minutes though, THE COBBLER has nowhere else to go and it ends up wasting both the time of its audience as well as its talented cast.

Your turn!

How many sheep would you give The Cobbler?

[kkstarratings]