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.

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

Live your life in someone else's shoes

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The plot involves Adam Sandler's character "becoming" other characters. Ellen Barkin appears in the film. She also starred in another body-swap film called Switch (1991), where she played a womanizing man who is killed and comes back in the body of a woman.

---

Goofs

When the thug who is beating "Patrick the Ratprick" pulls out a semi-automatic Glock pistol to shoot Patrick, you hear the sound of the gun's slide being cycled, which would put a round into the empty chamber. When Leon tells him to stop, you see the thug cycle the slide again, as if this action would "de-cock" the weapon, which it does not. In addition, no cartridge is ejected when he does this, which is what would happen had a round actually been in the chamber.

---

Quotes

Max Simkin: I don't sell shoes, Mrs. Stevens.

---

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.

---

Connections

Referenced in Nostalgia Critic: Pixels (2015)

---

Soundtracks

Listen and Learn
Written by David Luke Schmidt
Performed by Lukito
Courtesy of StereoRoyal / 5 Alarm Music

User Reviews

This shoe flick won't necessarily steal-etto your heart, but it's a nice movie with a lot of sole.

Oh my Galoshes, there's a lot to say about this movie. I'll try to polish over both good & bad, so at times I might sound like I'm Flip Flop-ing. But rest assured my overall experience was positive, and I came out of the theater feeling pretty Pumped.

"The Cobbler" is an entertaining flick that's good wholesome fun for you, your family and your Keds. My one & only criticism is I don't think it fully explored the moral lessons it could've presented, nor did it delve too deep into the characters. Instead, it deliberately took the route of being a plot driven story, and so it ended up being more of a comedy crime caper than an intimate moral tale. I guess you could say this shoe flick strikes a New Balance between action and heart.

First let's talk briefly about the plot. Adam Sandal-er plays the cobbler Max, a 40-something loser whose life has very little meaning. One day he stumbles on the power to transform himself into any person whose shoes he wears. The story is a clever & original take on the moral lesson: "Don't judge anyone until you've walked a mile in their shoes" (because then you can talk smack about them, and you're a mile away and you've got their shoes). Or something like that.

The entire production is very well done, and all acting performances were excellent. With a supporting cast of legendary talents like Dustin Hoffman, Steve Buscemi & Ellen Barkin, you'd think "The Cobbler" would be a Shoe-in for movie of the year. But I can't help but think it missed a great opportunity to explore the aforementioned moral. You'd think this would be a great way to delve into social prejudices as Max learns what it's like to experience the lives of people of different races, genders and social status. But the film doesn't touch upon that at all, instead remaining rooted in the story of a man who uses his special power to take on the bad guys. That sort of Suede my opinion against the film.

Comedy is sparse & low key but effective. If you're an Adam Sandler fan, you probably know that he doesn't always play the wisecracking comedian, but his serious roles are every bit as good if not better ("Punch-Drunk Love", "Funny People", etc). It's definitely interesting to see him take on the role of Max. He has a way of giving the character a personal touch so you can really Fila lot of emotion. The character is a man of few words, but we can still learn a lot about him through his fleeting interactions and Converse-ations.

So there you have it: a mixed review but overall positive; I wanted to give you an idea what to expect if you watch "The Cobbler". Hopefully Adidas all a favor. This is a nice, breezy movie that'll entertain you for 99 mins, and it has a nice surprise twist that might make you want to hur-Reebok to the theater and watch it a 2nd time.

And as I'm completely out of cheesy shoe puns, I think I'll end this review. See ya Laces!

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Yiddish

Release Date:

13 March 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Cobbler

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,501,058

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