THE COBBLER [2014]

With strong leading performances from Peter Dinklage, Richard Jenkins and Paul Giamatti in his previous works, I found it odd that director Thomas McCarthy would pick Adam Sandler for his latest film, The Cobbler.
A depressed shoe repair man discover when he steps into someone else's shoes he actually physically becomes the footwear's owners.  With Sandler in the lead I was somewhat doubtful of this film, but McCarthy's previous movies all impressed me so that gave me some hope for this one.  That hope was diminished pretty quickly with this unbalanced disaster.  It can't decide if it's a McCarthy character piece or a juvenille Sandler flick and with that it never manages to join the two comfortably in the middle.  The former SNL funnyman is at his best when he's restrained, as he effectively proven before but there's far too many flashes of his manboy humor just threatening to boil over into this unfocused mess.

1 pickle out of 5

Wild Bill (1995)

WB is a Hickok story that acknowledges the embellishments surrounding the real life character and works them into the plot. I liked that. But the shifting back in time via black and white flashbacks is something that I didn't like. It was distracting and made everything feel disjointed.
What drags it down more than anything else, however, is the casting. Jeff Bridges as the marshal with a gun in each hand would definitely seem a good idea on paper, but it didn't work so well onscreen. Likewise, John Hurt is a fine actor but not a good choice for Bill's close friend Charlie. Jane's role is necessary; it's a shame she's annoyingly melodramatic. The worst of all is David Arquette's piss-weak attempt at being the antagonist.

2½ remedies for the restless spirit out of 5

OPERATION: ENDGAME [2010]

A fantastic ensemble cast makes up the comically and ridiculously violent thriller Operation: Endgame.

Sadly that's about all this film has going for it, as each and every single character is despicable and once the plot starts it never really develops into much.

One thing I found fun, despite what the poster art depicts, there's only one gun in the entire film and it's not loaded.  Each character is hilariously killed by something you'd find at an Office Depot.  

2½ footprints of blood out of 5