The Cooler

Rating:
Summary: Quite amazing
Review: This movie really stole the show...William Macy has always been the loser guy in just about every movie he's ever played...Fargo and Boogie Nights are the two that come to mind when I think of him...but he's kind of like Phillip Seymour Hoffman in that you realize how much of a loser he is but yet you want to root for him anyways.

In this movie, he gets to play the shmuck that he always does, where he's the guy that walks up to a table where someone is "hot" and gets to cool them down. Yet with six days left on his six year sentence (for a gambling debt), his luck suddenly turns and his presence makes people more lucky. This is because of the beautiful Nattalie, who comes into his life quite by accident but makes all the difference for both of them.

This movie made me laugh and cry and the characters were cast right on. The only one I had a problem with was Ron Livingston...he's never been an as*hole before in any movie and really didn't seem to fit the bill....

See it. Love it. Hate it at moments. Cry at it....laugh at it...it'll all happen.

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious, touching, dramatic, outstanding!
Review: It would be hard to classify "The Cooler" into just one genre. Initially, I pegged it for a comedy, which it most certainly delivered. However, beyond being a great laugh at times, it is also a solid drama, a love story, and even a mob movie! By the way, it doesn't hurt that the acting is nothing short of splendid, especially from William H. Macy and even Alec Baldwin.

Macy plays a cooler, one who roams through a casino making gambler's hot streaks disappear (to literally cool them). The beauty of his job is its simplicity; all he has to do is be himself. He has been plagued by strokes of bad luck throughout his life, ranging from failed marriages to the ever-present empty container of coffee creamer at the bar in the casino. It is mildly amusing to see his performance a sap who just can't seem to make it. Then, Maria Bello comes into his life and seems to change his luck.

The crux of the drama revolves around Alec Baldwin, a mobster who owns and runs the casino 'old school.' He's trying to be pushed aside by the mafia for a younger guy (played well by Ron Livingston) and the new vim of Vegas, the family scene. Baldwin tries to show him the old ways and how they will always work, but Livingston is determined and Macy is caught in the middle. It creates some spectacular dialogue, great backgrounds for all the characters, lovely cinematography, and a great movie overall.

I know most feel Baldwin's talent has declined in recent years. For those, I would say you need to pick up this movie. He has all the talent and believability of an Oscar caliber performer. I believe he truly invigorated his career with this movie. Macy I've always believed to be a great actor and Bello makes her case for an award with her performance as well. For those of you with kids or those who want to avoid both coarse language, full nudity, and sexual situations, I would have to advise you to give this one a pass, but if that doesn't bug you (or you have no intention of showing this to your children) then you must check it out! (Just a disclaimer).

Overall, a funny, dramatic, romantic, touching story about an unlucky guy who stumbles upon a stroke of good fortune. Definintely worth the watch and a great and uplifting movie!

Rating:
Summary: A great movie for grown-ups.
Review: I loved "The Cooler".
It's a dark fable about a guy who literally drains people from their luck. He saps their good fortune. As played by William H. Macy, who film after film confirms his stature as one of our best living actors, Bernie is a limping "Sad Sack' kind of guy, who never gets a break. His mere presence at a table, however, instantly stops a high roller's streak. By strolling through the slots, the amount of coin-tinkling drops.
His unusual ability is used to the benefit of the casino owner, masterfully played by Alec Baldwin. In this Oscar-nominated role, Baldwin is note-perfect as a man who hates the family-friendly Vegas, and exists solely for his casino, the last bastion of the adult, decadent yet somehow classy, Rat Pack-era Vegas.
Maria Bello is a waitress, who becomes the light in Macy's life. Since he's happy, his ability to suck others dry of Lady Luck disappears, and makes him now useless to Baldwin.
The drama ratchets up with the addition of peripheral characters, including people who "upgrade" the casino to one of those despised resorts, people from Macy's past, and various denizens of the casino itself.
There's many nude scenes in the film, but I never once thought them to be gratuitous...heck, more are of Macy than of Bello...and they're all either sexy, funny or moving.
The ending, revealed in other reviews, I found perfectly satisfying.
The acting, screenplay and direction are all top-notch, never once losing it's indie cred yet looking fabulous nonetheless.
If you're looking for something good and grown-up, you can't lose here.

Rating:
Summary: Fortune was a woman
Review: This is one of the few films about Las Vegas and the gambling life that quite explicitly hammers home a central lesson: that the success of the "house" relies completely on the bad luck of its patrons. William Macy's designated role in life is to act as a "cooler," a position which itself is anachronistic, scarcely believed by the more rational, MBA generation of casino owners seeking to redesign Baldwin's paradise. As a Cooler, it's Macy's job to ensure that people lose. For this, he is seen as having a special gift; place Macy next to any gambler on a roll and watch the luck turn; suddenly, it is the casino, fittingly named, Shangri-La, that draws the luck. But nothing quite stays the same in Shanri-La, and here the real world intrudes on the mythical city. Macy falls in love with Maria Bello, and with that his luck changes. This is a violent, dark film. But the violence is not gratuitous, and it finds powerful redemptive footing in the underlying love affair between Macy and Bello. In fact, not a frame of this film is wasted. An elegant film, a powerful ensemble -- this film is a bright jewel.

Rating:
Summary: Lucky, lucky
Review: The Cooler is a great film with terrific performances by William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin, and Maria Bello. It's a smart script that captures the seediness rather than the flash of Vegas. A good character piece, Baldwin really steals the show in his well-deserved Oscar-nominated role.

Rating:
Summary: Cooler than Most
Review: The more I like a movie, the less I usually write about it.
The Cooler is an example of a film I like and still have a lot to say about. William H. Macy plays Bernie Lootz, a guy so unlucky in life and love that his bad luck rubs off on everything and everyone around him. Working to pay off debts to Alec Baldwin's Shelly Kaplow at a Casino in Las Vegas, Bernie is employed as a "Cooler" because his mere presence at a thriving player's table, forfeits their luck instantly. But what happens if Bernie's luck in love changed after meeting Natalie (Maria Bello)?

That's the basic premise here, and it makes for very enjoyable viewing. William H. Macy was born to play this role, but only because we viewers were spoiled with his role of a dim-witted car salesman in FARGO. It's not like this is all Macy is capable of. But in The Cooler, we'll gladly go along for the ride one more time. Macy is a delight to see in this film, evolving from a loser to a winner over the span of 100 minutes. Alec Baldwin too, is a class act. It's been a while since I've seen him in anything worth writing home about. Maria Bello, who I liked in the excellent AUTO FOCUS, is dynamite in this. She is one of few actresses, who can really look different depending on the mood her character is in. In other words, she can look old, tired, fragile, absolutely beautiful, or oh-so wonderfully sweet all in the same minute. Others only see beauty, but I think there are more layers to peel with good actors, and Bello has this unique diverseness in her 'looks'.

One of the film's aspects I really struggled with, and tempted me to lower my rating to 3 stars, is the violence in certain scenes. The film isn't loaded with it, but when it appears, it's ugly, and made me flinch. There are some similarities between this film and that of Tony Scott's (Tarantino penned) True Romance. I don't want to reveal too much, because it's worth you deciding for yourself; so just ask yourself at the end, was the violence essential to the actual story, that is, the love story?

Bonus features include two fairly interesting commentaries. One is with director Wayne Kramer, a co-writer, and the film's DP, and the other is with Kramer and composer Mark Isham. You can also view the film with just the score, which I didn't do personally, because the music was a bit too cheesy for my taste. More features include some lacklustre Storyboard Comparisons and an excellent Anatomy Of A Scene featurette, which is always a treat as it usually combines seeing the actors with their guard down in between takes, as well as additional footage or insight into the film making process.

For me, I really feel The Cooler worked so well, because all the elements came together. Good story, good directing, good acting, good lighting, fitting score. But in my mind, the violent content was a bit over-the-top. I mean, the American MPAA still makes a big deal about nudity and sex scenes in movies (such as the ones in this film), but when someone's face gets bashed in, no one bats an eyelid. Violence: Good. Intimacy and making love: Bad. The Cooler: Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Return of the Smuggler
Review: Smuggler is a common term among cinephiles, often referring to the filmmakers of the 40's and 50's who, under the thumb of oppressive studio heads, were forced to smuggle the messages of their films. Maybe the most famous of these, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," on the surface seemed little more than just a cheap B movie, but in actuality was an allegory referring to McCarthyism and it's intent to turn freethinking Americans into drones.

Now what, you may wonder, does this have to do with "The Cooler," and I'll tell you. See, this too is a smuggler's film, at least in my mind. Yeah, yeah, I know it's an independent, and yes, the studio system has collapsed. But the once-feared studio heads have now been replaced by the equally dreaded test audiences. Which means, in effect, modern filmmakers have been made to smuggle the messages of their films from the very people who are paying to see them.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a particularly deep film, or even one with any kind of profound message, just a compromised one. And what I mean by this is, I got the sense (and I could be wrong here), that co-writer/director Wayne Kramer felt obliged to deliver a standard Hollywood "happy ending," for whatever reason. Maybe he knew that he'd never find a distributor without one? But that's beside the point, the point is that if this was his intent, he dropped enough hints for the trained filmgoer to pick up on them.

Now I'm trying to avoid spoilers here, but they just can't be avoided, so consider yourself warned before reading the rest of this paragraph. At the end of the film Bernie (Bill Macy), and Natalie (Maria Bello), are stopped by a hitman who, before he can dispatch the seemingly doomed lovers, meets a ridiculously far-fetched fate. Now, given the nature of this film, my first assumption was that this was simply a touch of irony. But something always bothered me about it. Maybe it was the lighting, the way it took a turn towards the surreal after being almost exclusively naturalistic up until that point? Whatever it was, it just felt out of place and tacked on. Then, it hit me. Couldn't it be that just maybe it's supposed to feel that way, because it's an out of body experience for the characters (quite literally)? Maybe that beam of light at the climax of the film really meant something, and the continuation from there takes place in some sort of alternate universe, or afterlife? Maybe this movie was supposed to conclude with the demise of it's two protagonists, but, knowing that audiences couldn't stomach it, the director compromised his vision for our benefit?

Whatever the case may be, and whatever your take on it is, one thing that's for certain is that this one of the best acted films of the year, with Alec Baldwin returning to prime form (remember his show-stopping five minute cameo in "Glengarry Glen Ross"?), and William H. Macy proving once again that he can be more than just a supporting player. And in a year that was once again dominated by CGI, it's nice to be reminded of the simple pleasures that cinema can still afford us when first-rate actors come together and elevate what would ordinarily be just an average film to near greatness.

Rating:
Summary: You have to play the game to be lucky at love
Review: Bill Macy has made a career out of playing losers and actually wanted to put such roles behind him, but Wayne Kramer and Frank Hannah's script for "The Cooler" made that hard to do. Bernie Lootz is the title character and he is employed by Shelly Kaplow (Alec Baldwin) as a "cooler." Shelly runs the Shangri-La, the last "old school" (read "mob connected") casino in Las Vegas, and a cooler is the guy who brings an end to winning streaks. Bernie does this by just being himself; if he touches the roulette wheel, brushes your shoulder, or sits at your table, your luck turns bad. This particular talent is very useful to Shelly and now Bernie is just days away from paying off his debt to the casino and leaving Las Vegas behind for a place where there are clocks on the way and you can actually tell day from night. Needless to say, Shelly is not thrilled with this idea, and since Bernie's limp is a memento from their "negotiations."

But Bernie has other concerns because he has made a surprising and magical connection with Natalie Belisario (Maria Bello) and actually has something to smile about for the first time in his life. Meanwhile Shelly is distracted because a group of "investors" have brought in Larry Sokolov (Ron Livingston), a hot shot from the Harvard Business School, who represents the new Las Vegas of subliminal persuasion and other modern innovations to persuade customers to lose large amount of money. Shelly hates the new way and insists that the perfection of Shagrai-La should remain untouched. However, he has a new problem, because Natalie is making Bernie happy and suddenly people are winning a lot of money at the casino. This, it does not need to be pointed out, is not good for business and steps must be taken.

What makes "The Cooler" stand out is that both parts of the Bernie and Shelly relationship have stories that can stand on their own. Trying to define their relationship is tricky because it is so multi-faceted that it is hard to get through everything to get to the bottom line. In fact, it is hard for Bernie and Shelly to reach that point themselves, and fate (or Lady Luck) has to help them along. Baldwin was nominated for a Supporting Actor Oscar and Macy's performance is just as good (if Bernie was not clearly a leading role, he could have been nominated in the same category as well). Together they make one of the more interesting odd couples we have seen on the screen in recent years and "The Cooler" is one of the better off beat films of 2003 that will not disappoint Macy's legion of fans.

Rating:
Summary: A decent character-driven film, leaves room for improvement
Review: The Cooler was a must-see film for me, considering that it takes place in Sin City and stars one of the most talented working actors out there in William H. Macy. The opening provides us with some nice shots of prominent casino hotels in Vegas, and eventually introduces us to the location in which most of the film takes place - the Golden Shangri-La, which is in the older part of the city. Unlike many films in recent years that have used Vegas as a backdrop, this is more of an understated, character-driven film with a relatively small budget (by Hollywood standards).

Macy plays Bernie, a character that couldn't possibly be more down on his luck. The misfortune that he has experienced in his life translated to his hiring as a cooler at the casino - one whose mere presence at a hot table will turn the table cold and help the casino to make money off of overzealous gamblers. He has often flirted with the thought of leaving town and starting a new life, but the corrupt, intimidating casino owner Shelly Kaplow (played by the Oscar-nominated Alec Baldwin) will stop at nothing to keep him there. Enter cocktail waitress Natalie (Maria Bello), brought in to coax Bernie into staying - but along the way the unexpected happens: They actually wind up falling head over heels for each other! Not surprisingly given his reputation, Shelly becomes irate when he finds out, and certainly isn't going to make life easier for them when they announce their plans to leave the casino.

This is a film recommend for anyone that wants a look at the seedy underbelly of Vegas, as opposed to the shows and films that portray the city as nothing but a haven of glitz and glamour 24/7 (a la the NBC series Las Vegas) - for every success story you'll find more than your share of shattered dreams. As far as the film is concerned, I felt the dialogue could have been improved somewhat, the subplots could have been more clearly defined, and they could have made parts of the film more plausible (what happens at the end of the film will make some cynical viewers roll their eyes), but the performances are strong, the main plot will hold your interest and heck, if you like any other movies set in Vegas, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

In summary: The Cooler's fine acting and storytelling make it worth your time if you're a fan of the actors or if you like the film's plot. I wouldn't go as far as saying it was among the very best of 2003, but it's a nice change from all the bombastic big-budget would-be Hollywood blockbusters that are typically released during the summer and holiday seasons.

Rating:
Summary: A small film with surprising depth thanks to great acting.
Review: I was looking forward to this film because William H. Macy stars. He's one of my favorite actors. He doesn't disappoint here.
I've always liked movies that were more about characters than plots. Much has been made about the graphic sex scenes in this film. Most films show too much during intimate moments. In this case, as graphic as the scene(s) are, they have a poignancy as well, a humanness. Those scenes enhance the movie rather than simply show some skin. You begin to care about the characters.
All three leads, Macy, Maria Bello and Alec Baldwin are excellent. I won't get into the plot specifics here..you can read other reviews for that. This movie was a wonderful surprise. I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. You can't ask for more than that.