Writer: Naseem Randhawa

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Watch this if you liked: "Click", "Reign Over Me", "Spanglish"

The Good, the Bad and the Walking in One's Shoes:
Over the past few years a string of bad comedies have been stubbornly following Adam Sandler, but "The Cobbler" is a slight step up from those movies as Sandler has wisely decided for his latest to follow in the vein of his better faring string of emotional comedies like "Reign Over Me", "Spanglish", "Click" and "Funny People".

Sandler shows appreciation to his Jewish heritage on screen; from the usage of the Hebrew language, customary traditions and even the soundtrack of the movie is very much laden with Jewish influences; much more here compared to his other movies, as he takes on the role as a working class Jewish man in Lower East Side, Manhattan.

Initially Sandler manages to make audiences feel sorry for him as a somber middle-aged cobbler who has taken over the shoemaking family business from his absent father. His dreary meaningless life is made up of getting talked down to by customers, taking care of his senile mother and making small talk with the neighbouring shop-owner, a concerned barber played Steve Buscemi. This all changes when he finds an old shoe stitching machine at the back of the shop that when he wears the stitched shoes, lets him magically change in physical appearance to actually become the person who owns the shoes.

Although the premise of the story brings "walking in ones' shoes" to a whole new meaning which if pulled off brilliantly could've been an emotional masterpiece, unfortunately falls short for certain scenes for which its emotional range just wasn't explored enough. Even the emotional range showcased by the actors at particular heart-wrenching moments just made one think, "wait, that's it?".

Apart from Sandler, we also have Method Man and the charming Dan Stevens. They are some of the main physical appearance the cobbler takes on, and while the former somewhat excels as a thug who is recovering his humanity and morals (thanks to the cobbler's impersonation), the latter's character who plays a famous DJ, has no substance and charm on-screen and the only reason the cobbler takes on his appearance is deliberately just due to his looks, making Stevens' scenes in the movie rather dull and barely tapping above the surface to make a lasting impact.

Although "The Cobbler" has holes in its overall message that desperately needs stitching, it still makes for a decent Sandler movie with heart that's worth walking into.

Cinema Online, 08 April 2015