The Cobbler (2014)

A cobbler, bored of his everyday life, stumbles upon a magical heirloom that allows him to become other people and see the world in a different way.

Director:

Tom McCarthy

Writers:

Tom McCarthy, Paul Sado

Stars:

Adam Sandler, Melonie Diaz, Steve Buscemi

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Elli	...	Goldman (as Elli Meyer)
Adam B. Shapiro	...	Schneider (as Adam Shapiro)
Evan Neumann	...	Neumann
Allen Lewis Rickman	...	Kessler
Donnie Keshawarz	...	Pinchas Simkin
Ethan Khusidman	...	Herschel Simkin
Adam Sandler	...	Max Simkin
Sondra James	...	Anna O'Hara
Kim Cloutier	...	Taryn
Dan Stevens	...	Emiliano
Steve Buscemi	...	Jimmy
Melonie Diaz	...	Carmen Herrara
Lynn Cohen	...	Sarah Simkin
Method Man	...	Leon Ludlow (as Cliff 'Method Man' Smith)
Stuart Rudin	...	Old Bearded Man

Storyline

Max Simkin repairs shoes in the same New York shop that has been in his family for generations. Disenchanted with the grind of daily life, Max stumbles upon a magical heirloom that allows him to step into the lives of his customers and see the world in a new way. Sometimes walking in another man's shoes is the only way one can discover who they really are.

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Plot Keywords:

cobbler the shoemaker | coca cola | mother son relationship | adult lives at home | new york | 

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Taglines:

Saving the neighborhood one sole at a time.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violence, language and brief partial nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Yiddish

Release Date:

13 March 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zapatero a tus zapatos

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Voltage Pictures, Next Wednesday Productions, Golden Spike (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sandler means "cobbler" in Hebrew.

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Goofs

When Max, as the overweight teen, sees Leon go up in the elevator, it stops on the third floor, but when Max goes upstairs, he (as Leon) exits the staircase on the 4th floor and finds Leon's apartment.

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Quotes

Carmen Herrara: I'm delivering groceries to one of our elderly neighbors.
Max Simkin: All by yourself?
Carmen Herrara: Yeah, Max, I'm a bad ass.

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Alternate Versions

The scene in which Leon is killed by being stabbed in the neck with a stiletto heel is censored in both the US and UK versions of the film to attain a PG-13 and 12 rating respectively. The version shown at festivals, and the German release, are uncut. In the censored version, blood has been digitally reduced in the medium shots of Leon, and a shot is removed entirely of Leon taking the heel out of his neck as blood runs down his shirt. The UK version makes an additional change to the scene where Leon roughs up a thief; throughout the scene, the blood on the thief's face has been digitally recolored to be darker in order to soften the impact of the scene.

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Connections

References *batteries not included (1987)

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Soundtracks

Vesti La Giubba
Written by Ruggero Leoncavallo (as Ruggiero Leoncavallo)
Courtesy of APM Music

User Reviews

Unique and bizarrely invigorating, The Cobbler is better than Sandler's recent works

Adam Sandler has made an array of dubious movies for several years now, filled with cheap jokes and crude slapstick moments. The Cobbler has significantly different direction than all of those, it brings an odd near magical concept that unexpectedly works. While it also has a couple of flaws like some corny jokes and predictable plot devices, it remains entertaining without forced juvenile moments and delivers genuine laughs.

Story follows Max Simkin (Adam Sandler), a cobbler who finds out that his old apparatus has another magical function other than fixing soles. It allows him to change into the person who owns the particular shoes. The premise is good, Max steps into other persons' lives and also the wrong crowd, whose lives are far more diverse than his. Adam Sandler take a different role than his usual silly middle age men role. He brings more of casual awkwardness from a polite man, the addition of background and cultural aspects are also very welcomed to set a more identifiable setting.

Cinematography is slightly somber, certainly a change of pace from Sandler's usual overly colorful tone. To its credit, there are amount of details of the environment and the movie portrays the setting as a fundamental part of it. Humor mostly hits the spot, the jokes will create a few chuckles here and there. Though it's not all gold, it is definitely better than maniac laughs in Grown Up which isn't infectious at all. The film has more focus as it tells the comedy with both subtlety and exaggerated motions.

Actors deliver fair performance. Max's transformation takes him into different skins, all of which are portrayed with shared clumsiness. The body switching subgenre has a few predictable twists, the film also faces this problem, but it creates scenes with enough refinement that makes them refreshing and presentable. Screenplay and script have substantial material, they don't overreach the premise even though there are a few subplots in play.

There are some narrative hiccups towards the latter half, although these are not intrusive and shouldn't deter one from giving the movie a chance. The Cobbler reminds me of Click, it has strange concept yet surprisingly effective. This is an improvement in Sandler's movie line-up and it's certainly worth a view.