Cobbler, The (3/13/2015)

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

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

Directed by Thomas McCarthy (Win, Win)

Maybe I’m getting older or maybe Adam Sandler is in a major film making rut.

Max Simkin has had enough of working in his little New York shoe repair shop where he quietly envies people with more interesting lives. So when he discovers an old family heirloom with the magical ability to change his appearance and transform into any of his customers, the temptation is too good to pass up. However, his newfound ability to become someone else proves to be as troublesome as it is fun. When a ruthless real estate developer tries to take over his neighborhood, Max uses his gift to become the hero he always hoped he could be.

Adam Sander has stared in over 16 films in the past decade…I have enjoyed two of them. So I was hoping The Cobbler would be different. Well it was different …meaning it wasn’t juvenile and raunchy like Jack and Jill and That’s My Boy, but not different enough to be entertaining.

To say Sander has a limited range is a huge understatement. I used to enjoy his ridiculous characters on Saturday Night live and his early films, but those characters are no longer funny, and his “serious” roles are even more absurd. In The Cobbler he plays Max, a sad, lonely, uninspiring shoe repairman. I believe he was going for sympathetic, but it feels more pathetic.

Steve Buscemi, Dustin Hoffman and Ellen Barkin costar…and for the life of me I can’t figure out why. I mean, why would these Hollywood stars agree to make this film??!

Oh and there is also Method Man…that’s right, Method Man plays a thug gangster. Can you say typecast?

The premise of the film is actually decent and allows us to ask the question, “what would we do if we could become anyone we wanted?” but the story they chose to develop that premise is very clumsy. And the plot twist is so predicable that I will not insult your intelligence by spoiling it for you.

This movie is painfully slow, extremely predictable, very forgettable….and a “Coaster.”

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
The Cobbler is rated PG-13 for some violence, language and brief partial nudity, so I would say no to kids for this one.

CONVERSATION STARTER;

1. If you could put on anyone’s shoes and become that person, who would it be? Why?


2. What did Max learn from his experience?


3. What would you hope to learn?

While it is impossible to become someone else by putting on their shoes, we read in Ephesians 5:1-2 that we are to be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
4. How can we be imitators of God?


5. What do you think it means to “walk in love”?


6. How can you walk in love this week?