The Cobbler 2014

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: Throughout The Cobbler, Sandler himself seems more invested than he's been for a long time. But the rest of this ghastly movie lets him down. Read more

Wesley Morris, Grantland: A movie like this, in which not a single scene comes together, in which almost nothing makes you laugh or cry or think, reminds you that it's truly a miracle when movies work at all. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: A painfully earnest and totally unfunny magic-realist fable set on the Lower East Side that works in no way whatsoever. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: It revives the pleasant art of storytelling most of today's young filmmakers have all but abandoned, and cures (temporarily, anyway) my allergy to Adam Sandler. Read more

Andrew Barker, Variety: A slow-motion zeppelin crash that starts as a dull-edged fable, and then spirals further and further out of control without ever growing more exciting or interesting. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: Flamboyant caricatures and casual prejudice have always been cornerstones of the Adam Sandler empire, and The Cobbler is no exception. Read more

Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic: "The Cobbler" definitely won't please the audience for Sandler's mainstream blockbusters, and it's unlikely to win him new fans among the indie intelligentsia, either. Read more

Esther Zuckerman, Entertainment Weekly: What starts off as a potentially charming fantasy never finds its footing. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: Likeable but ordinary. Read more

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: "The Cobbler" is a wildly ill-conceived curio from director Tom McCarthy, who co-wrote with Paul Sado. Read more

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly: The Cobbler has invented a new category of terrible: cruel schmaltz Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: The conceit is both ridiculous and clever, but the director, Tom McCarthy, pushes it to facile conclusions without tapping its deeper potential ... Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Maybe there's a good movie in here somewhere - or would have been, more than 40 years ago, with Judd Hirsch as the shoemaker. Or nearly 60 years ago, as a quick "Twilight Zone" episode. But as it's done today, it's just forced and unfunny and fake. Read more

Jordan Hoffman, New York Daily News: The shoe doesn't fit. Read more

Andy Webster, New York Times: The sophomoric humor may be absent, but in its place is only a souffle of whimsy, seasoned with soot, that fails to rise. Read more

Molly Eichel, Philadelphia Inquirer: A failed fairy tale with a saccharine, klezmer-inflected tone undercut by the movie's own plot. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: It's a toxic smear of curdled whimsy about a New York shoe-repair man (a lumbering Adam Sandler), who transforms into his customers when he puts on their shoes. The film is beyond awful. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: Fans of Adam Sandler are a hardy lot, impervious to the derision of friends and family and the slings and arrows his films frequently attract from critics. The Cobbler is likely to test their mettle. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: A top-of-the-range supporting cast makes this grindingly dull experience almost bearable. Read more

Steve Tilley, Toronto Sun: Sandler is solid, and a supporting cast that includes Steve Buscemi, Melonie Diaz and Method Man are all very watchable. But the movie is never able to find its footing. Read more