Rating: 
Summary: The Cooler
Review: The Cooler is a very interesting movie in that it goes back to the basic style the old Las Vegas movies used to be in the past. It's been awhile since we've seen a "casino" movie and The Cooler makes a valid attempt.William H. Macy plays Bernie Lootz, a man of incredible bad luck. He works at the Shangri-La Casino where he is trying to pay off a horrible debt he owes after his bad luck of gambling. He basically walks around the tables that are hot and "cools" them down by spreading his bad luck to any gambler. Alec Baldwin plays Shelly Kaplow, Bernie's stern boss who at times uses violence to remind people the luck always needs to be on his side. Maria Bellow plays Bernie's girlfriend Natalie. Most of the movie is Bernie counting his last few days there at the casino as he is ready to leave and move on with his life. Terriferic performances by William H. Macy and Alec Baldwin. Mr. Macy nails the character of Bernie so deeply and true that you can't help wonder if Mr. Macy has experienced a time of bad luck himself. Mr. Macy does such a good job in his role, that all it takes is for the viewer to look in his eyes and you can easily see a man who is tired, depressed, and has accepted the realization that his life is slowly going downhill and there is nothing he can do to stop it. Mr. Baldwin is genius as the angry boss who get's what he wants. His anger and fierceness is so real and perfect that you can feel his creepy presence everytime he is about to walk on screen. The only one I believe who had a good performance but not an outstanding one was Ms. Bellow. She was almost convincing as Bernie's girlfriend. She is a very talented actress and is definitely goregous which is necessary for her character, but her acting performance just doesn't stand out compared to the others. It feels as she is simply going through the emotions. It's a good performance...not a great one. Bernie's bad luck changes when he meets Maria. She introduces him into the world of happiness with her sexual desires. This is where the movie is definitely rated "R." The sex scenes are very graphic and real. It gives the movie more of an edge. Because of this new found hapiness she becomes in his life, his luck begins to change. When approaching to tables, instead of giving people bad luck, he presents good luck. Every thing that happens to him swings his way and provides him happiness. Everyone seems to think of this as a good thing till his boss Shelly steps in. He becomes frustrated with the fact people aren't losing money at his casino. This is most of the plot and despite how uninteresting it sounds, it keeps the audience watching. The violent scenes are indeed very graphic and painful to watch. There are so many good things with this movie, the acting, the script, the real violence, the casino style music, everything is top-notch, yet it is easily forgotten when walking out of the theater. As mentioned earlier, it tries to make like another casino movie, and it does succeed in most levels, but the difference here between this movie and the others, is the others have that over-whelming effect that stays with you even after you walk out of the theater. The plot is very interesting except for the sub-plots. The sub-plots provide interesting character development, which made the charatcers stand out even more, but most of the sub-plots seemed so rushed that one might see them as unimportant and almost pointless. The Cooler is a good film, but not a great one. I highly recommend this movie to be seen by anyone at least once. The first time around, it will keep you watching for the top-notch performances, the gruesome realism, the suprise ending (which I never saw coming), and the classy casino music. But the second time around, I fear it may be harder to stay focused and keep interested since nothing is suprising and new. There is nothing more or new to learn from the second viewing.
But still, The Cooler is a good movie that plays its cards well and tries to stay in the game as long as it can.
Rating: 
Summary: contrived and boring
Review: everything in the script led to people getting beat up. the characters had no brains at all and the violence was contrived. no meaty scary characters. boring, and the direction made me dizzy and gave me a headache. alec baldwin as best supporting actor? come on. what about sean astin getting snubbed? someone at lions gate sure has a lot of pull. the female lead tells alec's character everything and then she gets beat up. made me want to hit the scotch after seeing this garbage. cant remember any lead characters names as the whole mess is fogetable. macys best roll? please. fargo anyone? pleasantville, boogie nights are all much better roles and films. the only reason this movie got one star is for the MUSIC!
Rating:
Summary: so what's new??
Review: This is an attempt at an off-beat film noire movie, but it has serious failures. Perhaps the biggest is the long, soft-porn lovemaking scenes between Macy and his waitress girl...when will film directors notice that you do not have to show graphic sex in order to make a point...or to make a good film? In this movie, long after we get the point, the body parts writhe and sweat in close-up, as if this sort of thing has never been done or seen before. Come on!! There is another problem; the casino sleaze thing has been done before, and this film is unable to bring out anything new. The direction is efficient, the cast does a competent job but not an outstanding one. There is a successfully created air of decay and sleaze, and there are a few touching moments which somewhat redeem it from total one-star obscurity. But the premise is a bit thin and no amount of sweaty sex will promote this film to even a footnote in any history of the genre.
Rating:
Summary: Great actors trapped in an overly-obvious film
Review: Gosh, I love William Macy, and it's swell to see him in a lead role, though if the truth be told, this wasn't really that great of a film. Macy stars as a guy whose luck is so bad, so outright, impossibly terrible, that he's employed as a "cooler" at a Mob-run Las Vegas casino. He mopes his way up alongside a roulette table, and -- bang! -- the house wins. The concept of a cooler is obviously somewhat superstitious and old-fashioned, but it's just right for his hard-edged boss, Shelley Kaplow (played by Alec Baldwin), who is as old-school as Vegas casino bosses come. He still likes the chintzy old decor, the plush, musty booths, the hammy old crooners, and the occasional kneecapping of some client or friend who owes him money. Baldwin, in fact, delivers the one great performance in this film (Macy's done much, much better elsewhere...) and his controlled, menacing intensity is what makes this film work. It sure ain't the script, though, which is packed with cheap ironies, clumsily directed violence and painfully derivative "guy film," student-movie cliches. It really adds nothing new to the mix, from a psychotic, hair-triggered Joe Pesci-like mobster beating up some civilian schmo who disses him, to Macy's hotsy-totsy girlfriend, yet another stereotypical hooker with a heart of gold. Still, it's got William Macy, and though the lousy script takes the bloom off the rose by the end of the film, he's still a lot of fun to watch. I can't really say I'd recommend this film, but it was an okay rental.
Rating: 
Summary: A Smart Movie!
Review: When Lions Gate Logo appears at the opening of a film, it is a pretty sure bet that the following film will be a step above the usual Hollywood fare. This is very true for THE COOLER. Essentially an Indie-type movie, The Cooler (a strange sort of creature that brings bad luck to gambling tables as part of the casino operations) is a character study about people at lost ends in the most vapid, hollow recreational Valhalla in the US - Las Vegas. Director Wayne Kramer sets his story in an on-the-skids casino - Shangri-La 'the paradise where no one grows old and nothing ever changes' - and cinematographer Jim Whitaker collaborates with Kramer to capture one of the seediest, visually dingy and depressing views of Vegas ever to hit the screen. Everything about THE COOLER smacks of lost dreams and depression and Kramer has wisely placed Alec Baldwin as the Casino owner Shelly (in an absolutely first-rate, virtuoso performance) who is as evil and smarmy as they come, Lounge singer Paul Sorvino who is an aging has-been now addicted to drugs, a waitress who can be bought (Maria Bello) and the Cooler himself, William Macy, who is just about as low on the food chain as is possible to fall. How this all plays out - Macy and Bello struggling to get out from under Baldwin's brutality - makes for top notch story telling. The pacing is excellent and even for those of us who know nothing about gambling, much less like stories about it, this film has an aura of brilliance in the way the whole is gathered from the parts. A sleeper of a film, this is one of the better American small budget movies and I would urge you to give it a look!
Rating: 
Summary: Old School Las Vegas!
Review: This movie deserved more credit then it recieved. The acting was top notch and the story was well written and directed, though sometimes simple. William H. Macy at his best. It was also nice to see Alec Baldmin back in form. Alec Baldwin's acting was so good I thought he deserved the Oscar for best supporting actor. He portrays dark side of human nature and compassion as good as it will ever be on screen. The story unfolds to tell a realistic story with fantastic or supernatural elements. This fanciful presence works really well, and held my interest until the very end. The end is one of the best parts of this movie. It stays away from formulistic happy ending that can be predicted in the first 5 minutes. At the same time, the ending is defiantly not tried-way-to-hard to be avant-garde. Which I appreciate greatly sense all movies start some what decent, and it's the ending, to me, that makes them or breaks them many times. This DVD is a must-own for all movie buffs.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm Miffed
Review: I'm really surprised that so many people (audience and critics) thought this was a good movie, I thought it was SO far-fetched that it was totally laughable, I found myself rolling my eyes continually during this movie. For instance: every time Macy's character went to the bar to get coffee the waitress went to pour cream, but AMAZINGLY there was no cream in the creamer, this was the director's clever way of letting us know...guess what...he has bad luck today! (he's the Cooler!), and then one time she goes to pour him cream and BOOM, cream comes out, on this day we know he's got good luck. They must employ this little creamer thing about 4 or 5 times during this movie, I'm not even kidding. The ending (which I won't ruin) is just so friggin ridiculous I was just happy the movie was over. The acting was pretty good, not great. For all the kudos Alec Baldwin gets, he is simply doing his own impersonation of Bobby Deniro, (watch it again if you don't believe me). He does a good impression of Bobby D on SNL and he's essentially doing it here as well. I watched this movie wondering how all these actors actually got through their scenes without rolling.
Rating:
Summary: Oh, William Macy, you finally got your sex scene
Review: ...only I keep wanting to call Macy Jerry, after the character he immortalized in Fargo; to me, I look at him, and I say, Yup. Jerry.
Anyway, this is actually a really good movie about a guy who owes a casino owner a big favor (called Money), and as he can't pay, he's working it off by working as a Cooler in the casino: a guy whose mere downbeat appearance, demeanor, facial expressions, vibes, and physical presence have the ability to turn off a run of good luck. It's like a little black cloud hangs over Jerry, uh, Macy. Bad luck follows him.
Then, of course, he meets a girl, and his luck begins to change. The casino owner, excellently played with just the right edge of danger and malevolence by Alec Baldwin, notices, and there's hell to pay.
Everyone in this movie plays a slightly shabby, sleazy, off kilter, somewhat dishonest character, so sometimes it's hard to know where to place your loyalties, except of course you'll always come down on Macy's side, cuz he's such a sad and miserable character who just deserves maybe one break in his life.
I read somewhere that the raunchy sex scene between Macy and his girlfriend was nearly cut to get a different censor rating from Hollywood, but Macy insisted it stay in, saying he probably would never get another chance to play such a scene. He deserves it.
Nuke some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy this off-beat movie.
Rating:
Summary: another rip-off movie
Review: I liked it the first time I saw it...when it was called Hard Eight.
Rating:
Summary: William H. Macy is a great actor. I loved this film.
Review: I tend to like films about Las Vegas. I also like mobster movies. Well, this 2003 film has it all. But most of all it has an unforgettable character, played by William H. Macy. William H. Macy is actually 53 years old but looks a lot older. There are lines on his face that give him character and I certainly hope he never joins the Botox crowd. In this film he's cast as a Las Vegas loser, a poor soul with such bad luck that Alec Baldwin, the Casino boss keeps him around just to bring bad luck to people on a winning streak. This is of course ridiculous, but somehow this film made me feel that it was real. It's also ridiculous how much William H. Macy admires the casino boss and considers him a friend. His kneecap had been broken years before by this same casino boss who then paid to have surgery for him and gave him a job. But after years of being a loser, Macy now wants out. This same casino boss pays a cocktail waitress to have an affair with Macy so that he will stay with the casino. As you can guess - they fall in love. And, even though he's much older than her and she's a babe, they have some sizzling romantic scenes that not only seem authentic, but also burn up the screen. Naturally, Macy's luck begins to turn and the casino suffers. The plot thickens as Macy's long lost son returns with a pregnant wife, two despicable characters that are out to take Macy for all he's worth. Then there's a violent scene with Baldwin, which gave me the chills. The film was fascinating and I couldn't stop watching. No, it doesn't seem plausible. And Alec Baldwin's performance left a lot to be desired. The story was unrealistic and at times, silly. But what can I say? I loved it!
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