The Cooler

 

 

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Shelly Kaplow is an old fashioned casino owner in this brilliant Wayne Kramer film. Shelly is played perfectly by a once lost actor Alex Baldwin, whose previous failures as a leading man have led him down the path of becoming an absolutely magnificent character actor. Shelly is a man Who runs his casino his way, despite being urged by other forces (including Ron Livingston's great performance as Larry Sokolove) to update his business beyond Las Vegas nostalgia. Shelly also employs "Coolers"; these are people who carry an array of bad luck and destroy the luck of even the hottest casino tables. Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy) is the very best Cooler in the business and despite their checkered past, he is also Shelly's only real friend. Bernie's luck is terrible until he finds love in the form of Maria Bello's Natalie. His luck turns as he is planning to leave the business and Shelly is trying to talk him out of it. So the stage is set for these actors to roam free and walk us through a delightful and at times shocking thriller.

I laughed at these characters and thoroughly enjoyed watching the actors absolutely rule the screen in this enjoyable little movie. Macy normally must outshine stronger roles around him as a supporting actor but here we see him in a rare feature role and he is as good as ever. Macy comes off as perpetually unnerved by all the cards he is dealt in his life no matter what they are. The only time Macy is upstaged or equaled is by Maria Bello's convincing opposite role as Natalie, and the furious and often hilarious performance unleashed by Alec Baldwin. Ironically, we see Baldwin take the reins and steal scenes in a supporting role from a career supporting role master in Macy, and his leading role here. I knew Baldwin was good because the hype was seemingly coming from all the right places, but he is extremely entertaining in this film, even more so then I expected.

At times The Cooler has it's share of predictable details I really shouldn't get into here, but I don't think that it's ability to surprise us with some of its twists is what the film sets out to accomplish, although there were some points where I wish they did. We get to understand the reasons why Natalie and Bernie are in love so fast, we understand why Shelly is a sadistic and egotistical power monger (a rarity to see a microscope put on such a villain) and Macy under plays his role as an alternative to Baldwin's fiery Shelly...perhaps that is why Shelly sees them as close friends.

The Cooler carries a style that paces the natural humor just enough where it is funny without being a comedy, while also keeping the drama in check enough to really keep you caring at key moments. This film is handled impeccably well by Kramer and even more defined by a bevy of excellent performances. Good story and very rarely slow to even the most impatient viewer. The Cooler is a very good film.

William H. Macy plays Bernie Lootz and as you'll read in other reviews here, Bernie is a guy who is so unlucky that a Casino has hired him to let his bad luck rub off on the other players in the Casino.

What impressed me about Macy's portrayal of Bernie is that he is so completely used to his position as one of life's doormats that he exudes a kind of confidence in this role. In the brilliant opening of the film we see Bernie strolling through the Casino with a kind of casual self-assurance that you might expect to see from an actor playing James Bond as they say "shaken, not stirred". Bernie walks casually by a table where a player is beginning to get hot. Without even looking down Bernie reaches out and glides his fingers along the edge of the table as he walks by. Off-camera we can hear that his bad-luck imparting has worked. As unlucky as Bernie is, he at least recognizes that he is good at his job and that he performs a valuable service to the Casino.

Unlucky in life and unlucky in love, Bernie secretly pines after Casino waitress Natalie, played by Maria Bello. When Natalie begins to take an interest in Bernie things get exponentially more complicated for Bernie.

Alec Baldwin is Shelly Kaplow, the manager of the Casino, and he remembers the good old days before Vegas became like Disney World: back when gamblers gambled and drank, showgirls strutted around naked, and the Mob would rough you up when you owed them money. Shelly is the Casino equivalent of Baldwin's real-estate mogul in Glen Garry Glen Ross.

How far will Shelly go to keep things the "old way"? How much pressure will he put on Bernie when "The Cooler" starts getting luckier - and ineffective as a cooler?

This movie is fun and inventive and has great acting and dialogue. There are sex scenes that are steamy and nude so keep in mind who you watch this with. It's just barely a cut below the best casino-mobster movies. I recommend it.

I just finished watching this movie. Finally something that's different. It's about a guy (William Macy) who is so unlucky that his job is to bring bad luck to gamblers in a gambling casino that is run by a mean Alec Baldwin. His luck "cools" off the table and brings down any good luck at the gambling table so he is called a "cooler." This guy (Macy) is so unlucky that he literally only has to stand near the table for the lucky gamblers luck to stop short. Things change for Macy when he meets one of the pretty cocktail waitresses (Bella). The movie could sound corny and silly but that's not so at all and the story is refreshingly different from other movies out lately. This brief write up alone is not the whole story, there are other stories going on all at once which combine to make this a winner. Also if you get and watch the DVD version's special features section (after you watch the movie only) then the costume, set designers and others discuss the subliminal messages in the clothes and the set, etc. That was interesting as well.

Last but not at all least the acting was pretty terrific. Macy, Baldwin and Bella were all great! I really love Bill Macy and Alec Baldwin's acting has just taken off in the past 5 years or so. Neither one of them let me down. I really didn't expect to like this film as much as I did. I had bought an unlimited viewing Blockbuster card and have been seeing so many movies lately that were supposed to be good but were instead boring or disappointing. This one was neither. Actually though I really would give it 4 stars because only a superbly made film get 5 stars from me. For instance, the original Matrix, The Titanic, the first Star Wars and more recently The Last Samarai was a 5, but if I only gave this 4 stars then the film might be deemed too average; giving 5 stars gets it the extra attention.
There are surprises and tension throughout this picture and it's not as predictable as you will think. Buy or rent this film.

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3.0 out of 5 stars MUDDLED, BUT WORTHWHILE
The Cooler is a dark tale of luck and free will. It is loaded with brilliant performances. Yet it falls well short of its potential. Read more

Published on July 16 2004 by NotATameLion

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Las Vegas flick
The actors did such a great job in this movie. I've always been a William H. Macy fan, but the job he did in The Cooler blew me away. Read more

Published on July 15 2004

3.0 out of 5 stars just okay
This was a decent movie. It was about a man, played by William H. Macy, who works as a cooler at a casino. Read more

Published on July 4 2004 by Heather Morris

2.0 out of 5 stars Had Potential..... But Overall Dissappointing.
I bought this DVD based on reccomendations from friends and some of the strong reviews I read here at Amazon. Read more

Published on July 1 2004 by Dr. William VanHofstran

3.0 out of 5 stars Bad Luck Bernie
In "The Cooler", William Macy plays Bernie, a luckless man whose job is to "cool" off streaky gamblers at an old school casino. Read more

Published on Jun 30 2004 by fra7299

4.0 out of 5 stars Very cool and entertaining
The Cooler exists just beyond the reach of what we know as reality. The film presents a world where luck is tangible; some people are lucky and others are not. Read more

Published on Jun 30 2004 by Wesley Mullins

1.0 out of 5 stars one of the most overrated films of 2003...
This was a pretty funny movie, but i'm sure anyone who knows the premise - it isn't supposed to be. I found myself laughing during the dramatic scenes, and cringing during the... Read more

Published on Jun 28 2004 by Craig Russell

4.0 out of 5 stars Jackpot
Get lucky, see this movie. Good acting and writing. Cringe and laugh, and wonder why this movie didn't get a bigger play before dvd.

Published on Jun 26 2004 by John Bowes

4.0 out of 5 stars Steals the Show
The Cooler is a movie similar to "Casino", it shows the gritty side of the business that the public is not aware of. Read more

Published on Jun 21 2004 by coopertex

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Fun!
The Cooler is an entertaining, enjoyable flick with good acting,pretty good writing, and a neat plot that moves along nicely and keeps you hooked 'till the very end. Read more

Published on Jun 19 2004 by adriana

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