| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | The Cooler (2003) |
| Director | Wayne Kramer |
| Writer | Wayne Kramer, Frank Hannah |
| Lead Actor | William H. Macy |
| Cast | William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin, Maria Bello, Shawn Hatosy, Ron Livingston, Paul Sorvino |
| Genre | Drama, Romance |
| Release Date | November 26, 2003 (USA) |
| Duration | 1 hour 41 minutes |
| Budget | Approx. $3 million |
| Language | English |
| IMDb Rating | 6.9/10 |
WATCH NOW
The Cooler is a fitfully involving mixture of warmed over David Mamet style dialogue and Frank Capra esque sentiment (talk about strange bedfellows!). Despite strong performances by leads William H. Macy, Maria Bello, and Alec Baldwin, this romantic drama about a perennial loser beating the odds in Las Vegas is predictable and unconvincing. Everything is telegraphed in Frank Hannah and Wayne Kramer’s obvious narrative, which is populated by stereotypes, rather than multi dimensional characters. While it’s nice to see Macy finally get a long overdue chance to headline a movie, The Cooleris a disappointment that fails to live up to its Sundance buzz.
The directorial debut of co-screenwriter Kramer, The Coolerbegins promisingly. As tourists and gamblers line the blackjack tables and slot machines of the Shangri-La casino, sad sack Bernie Lootz (Macy) limps through the crowd. In casino parlance, he is Shangri-La’s “cooler”: someone who can stop a gambler’s winning streak simply because he exudes bad luck.
A recovering gambling addict, Bernie works for Shangri-La’s ruthless manager Shelly Kaplow (Baldwin). Although he “kneecapped” Bernie several years ago for wracking up massive debts, Shelly actually cares for Bernie in his own perverse way. Now, with Bernie on the verge of paying off his debt, Shelly worries about losing his prized “cooler.” To keep Bernie in Vegas, Shelly pays beautiful Shangri-La cocktail waitress Natalie (Bello) to sleep with Lootz. What Shelly doesn’t count on is the two falling in love or that a happy Bernie is bad for business. Under pressure from Shangri-La’s owners to revitalize the casino, Shelly decides it’s time to put the kibosh on Bernie’s romantic winning streak.
Although Macy and Bello are engaging as the seemingly mismatched lovers, their relationship never rings true. It doesn’t help that Bello (Auto Focus)’s Natalie is little more than the proverbial hooker with a heart of gold. The sensual, husky-voiced Bello does what she can with this cardboard role, but the love story is insufficiently developed.
First-time director Kramer is much more skillful in depicting the tangled and highly volatile bond between Bernie and Shelly. An old school Vegas mobster who never lets his personal feelings for Bernie interfere with the bottom line, Shelly is the film’s most intriguing character. Baldwin (Glengarry Glen Ross) does a terrific job revealing the loneliness and desperation behind Shelly’s often brutal actions towards Bernie. As for Macy, the versatile character actor (Fargo) demonstrates that he’s more than up to the challenge of “carrying a movie,” according to showbiz lingo. A Mamet regular (State and Main, Oleanna) who’s also worked regularly with Paul Thomas Anderson, most notably in Magnolia, Macy is always good, even in schlock like Jurassic Park III and Mystery Men.
To watch more movies like The Cooler (2003) visit Fmovies.
Also watch