The Cobbler (2014)

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.