THE COBBLER

Director: Thomas McCarthy
Writers: Thomas McCarthy, Paul Sado
Stars: Dan Stevens, Adam Sandler, Steve Buscemi, Dustin Hoffman
Strength: Story and script 
Weakness: Gets a bit slow at times
Runtime: 99 minutes
Rating: 3/5

Plot: 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.

Review:  The Cobbler is the feel-good movie of the season and a must-watch for Adam Sandler fans. Although this is not your typical Adam Sandler movie with cheap jokes and forced situations created only for the purpose of humour, some of that is still thrown in to ensure that the movie is classified as a comedy. The Cobbler is actually something in between a comedy and a serious drama. With an interesting story with a nice twist, the movie has a lot of heart and it has a morality tale spun in as well. It has a good cast of characters and watching Adam Sandler trying to mature his typecast cheap comedy roles into something more serious yet entertaining is rewarding to watch. Adam Sandler gets most of the screen time in the movie as he is really the only character that undergoes any character development at all. No-one else was really in the film long enough to be developed enough, which is a shame because it felt like a more in-depth back story for Dustin Hoffman's character would have made the movie better. This is not fast-paced entertainment which a typical comedy is supposed to be, but it is rather light movie with humour thrown in to keep the audience engaged while it tries to deliver an important message about life that will stay with the audience after the movie is over. The movie is best watched in a typical slow weekend afternoon when you have nothing better to do, and is fun for the whole family.
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Reviewed by Zakir Mushtaque