The Cooler
Cast
William H. Macy .... Bernie Lootz
Alec Baldwin .... Shelly Kaplow
Maria Bello .... Natalie Belisario
Shawn Hatosy .... Mikey
Ron Livingston .... Larry Sokolov
Directed by
Wayne Kramer
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie
Rater #2
8/10. The Cooler was one of many recent movies edited down from an NC-17
rating to a more commercial R rating. While many of those show signs
of editing and choppiness, this movie works just fine the way it is,
and although much of the content is rather extreme, a lot of it is
nothing new. Sure, some is brutal, and some is edgy, but that never
gets in the way of the central message. The message is hidden
underneath great performances and a story that never loses where
it's going. The Cooler is a sheep in wolf's clothing. It has a
spectacular cast but in reality it's just a small movie, that'll
slip under the cracks, hopefully into Oscar's room.
William H. Macy, with whom you can never go wrong, plays Bernie, the
unluckiest guy in Vegas. He's working under Shelly (Alec Baldwin),
the owner of the fictional Shangrai-La casino, as a cooler, someone
who goes over to hot tables to cool their luck. His luck changes
when he meets cocktail waitress Natalie (Maria Bello), which doesn't
fare well with his relationship with Shelly. In addition, Bernie's
son Mikey (Shawn Hatosy) and his pregnant wife (Estella Warren) come
for money. What is Bernie to do?
What made this really appeal to me was how it went past the
stereotypes and showed the average person in Vegas. It's not all of
the glitz that the movies have made us believe, but everyone that we
see briefly and not think one thought of actually have lives. Even
the bigwigs at the top of the ladder have conflicting feelings and
difficult decisions. It's by no means a big movie, in fact, the only
real "action" besides a few brief scenes of brutality occurs at the
end, and even that's not much. Many of the people are just regular
people, so you feel with them, and want them to win.
The story is very original. The idea of a cooler is fascinating, and
I don't think anybody knows if casinos actually have them. If
they're an invention of director/co-writer Wayne Kramer's mind, I
have to congratulate him for coming up with such an original
premise. Even if it wasn't, the story overall is very intriguing.
The concept of Macy falling in love with someone like Bello is
almost completely laughable, except for the fact that they make the
love believable. It's not your Woody Allen love story. A man falling
in love with someone half his age is unbelievable, but the love
that's shown between the two in the movie is authentic.
Macy, the greatest actor ever to grace the screens of Hollywood,
puts in a subtle performance, but yet again showing level of
intensity that he showed in Fargo. He makes Bernie a character of
many different levels, not something everyone could do. Baldwin puts
in a performance that could have been hammier, something that that
role required, but he seemed to be lacking something. All of his
awards are not deserved. Bello did, though. She, like Macy did, put
in a multilayered performance, though obviously not as subtle.
The Cooler is a small movie that packs a big wallop. Hopefully the
big awards will notice that.
Rated R for strong sexuality, violence, language and some drug use. (edited version).
Running time: 101 minutes
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