Normally, Adam Sandler trailers are met with a heady mix of disappointment, regret and sadness. But the first clip for The Cobbler is something rather different, and it looks set to be a surprisingly heart-warming tale that has Adam Sandler at its core. You can check out its trailer below.
Not too bad, I’d say. In fact, The Cobbler’s trailer takes you through a steady stream of emotions. At first you see a slightly bearded Adam Sandler and realize that he has really got his acting face on. Gone are the poop, fart, pee and gross out jokes that he makes when he is starring alongside David Spade, Rob Schneider, Kevin James and Chris Rock. Now we are in Punch Drunk-Love, Reign Over Me and Funny People territory. Unfortunately, just one of those films proved to be truly worthwhile. But you can only praise Adam Sandler for pushing himself when he could just as easily make another multi-million dollar grossing comedy that everyone hates but still goes to see.
The Cobbler’s trailer then starts to veer into over-sentimental terrain as Adam Sandler’s character is revealed to still be living at home, lonely and having missed out on the love of his life. The introduction of Method Man, a magical machine and the ability for Adam Sandler to literally walk in the shoes of the people he serves then teases that The Cobbler will be akin to Adam Sandler’s work in the fantasy driven Bedtime Stories and Click - which were both huge disappointments too. And when the trailer started to play for laughs by having Sandler’s character as a transsexual touch his genitals I did start to worry.
But the fact that it then rounded back to his relationship with his mother, and how she bitterly misses his father, suggests that The Cobbler has its heart in the right place. And just as long as Adam Sandler can be kept under control it should prove to be an elegant, emotional watch. Its fine supporting cast that includes Steve Buscemi, Dustin Hoffman, Method Man, Dan Stevens, Ellen Barkin, and Melonie Diaz should also help to make it immensely watchable too.
But the real reason why The Cobbler could prove to be Adam Sandler’s best film in years is the involvement of writer/director Thomas McCarthy. Over the last decade he was overseen the likes of The Station Agent, The Visitor, and Win Win which have each been thought provoking lo-fi slices of celluloid that have moved and amused in equal measure. Plus, the fact that he had a hand in writing Pixar’s Up means that he is already a bona-fide cinematic legend. Unfortunately, after its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival reviews for The Cobbler, which is still yet to be given a US release date, have been decidedly mixed. Maybe Adam Sandler would have just been better off making Grown Ups 3 instead.
