The Cooler (2003) Movie Info
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | The Cooler (2003) |
| Director | Wayne Kramer |
| Screenplay Writer | Wayne Kramer, Frank Hannah |
| Based on Novel by | — (Original screenplay) |
| Lead Actors | William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Alec Baldwin |
| Cast | William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Alec Baldwin, Ron Livingston, Paul Sorvino, Estella Warren, Shawn Hatosy |
| Genre | Crime, Drama, Romance |
| Release Date | November 26, 2003 (United States) |
| Duration | 1h 41m (101 minutes) |
| Budget | ~$4 million |
| Language | English |
| Country | United States |
| Box Office (Worldwide) | ~$10.5 million |
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Summary
The Cooler is a love story about the changing fortunes of this down at heels loser who has made a career out of spreading his virulent bad luck on the floor of Las Vegas’ aging Shangri La casino. When Bernie falls for a gorgeous cocktail waitress his bad luck is thrown into reverse.
Review
Man, William H Macy can act like a six-headed acting machine. I know his sort of nervous energy doesn’t play well for some people but if you stick him and the brute force that is Alec Baldwin With A Decent Script in the same room, magic just seems to happen. The plot is simple enough: Macy plays a “Cooler,” someone who brings bad luck to people and is employed by a casino to end someone’s winning run.
This works wonderfully until he falls in love and starts bringing good luck to everyone on the floor. Baldwin is the casino boss, who’s being pressured to change the place into one of the Disney Monstrosities that plague the city and suddenly starts losing money because of Macy’s change. There’s some brutal bits of violence in this flick, which sort of underscores the emotional change that Macy’s character, a lifelong loser, has by serving as a counterpoint.
Enjoyable, and it features Maria Bello, who was hot on ER. She’s hotter in this. I saw this at a preview screening where there was also free scotch provided by Glenfidditch. Be glad I remember as much of this flick as I do.
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