The Cooler Review
by Laura Clifford (laura AT reelingreviews DOT com)November 25th, 2003
THE COOLER
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Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy, "Seabiscuit") has a talent. His loser status is so indelibly a part of his character that his mere presence sours the luck of those beside him. This gift is highly prized by his old friend Shelly (Alec Baldwin, "The Cat in the Hat"), who is worried that Bernie is just one week away from working off a six year debt in his Golden Shangri-La casino as "The Cooler."
Cowriter (with Frank Hannah)/director Wayne Kramer's fable about luck doesn't stand up to heavier hitters like "Intacto" and "Girl on the Bridge," but the sweet romance at its core and a fine supporting turn by Alec Baldwin make this one worth a gamble.
Bernie limps among the gambling tables, worn down by an environment that has no clocks or night or day. His luck's so bad that when he gets a cup of coffee from bartender buddy Doris (Ellen Greene, "Little Shop of Horrors") it's a ritual between them to see if the creamer just happens to be empty (it always is). Bernie's insistent that he's leaving Las Vegas at the end of his tenure, but his luck makes a drastic turnaround when Shelly hires a beautiful young waitress, Natalie (Maria Bello, "Auto Focus"), who talks her way into Bernie's bed, then his heart.
Shelly, meanwhile, is facing more problems that make keeping his cooler ever more important. Owner Nicky 'Fingers' Bonnatto (Arthur J. Nascarella, "In the Cut") has arrived with hotshot Harvard grad Larry Sokolov (Ron Livingston, HBO's "Sex and the City") with plans for making over the vintage casino into a glitzy entertainment complex and replacing its entertainment, crooner Buddy (Paul Sorvino, "Goodfellas"), with Vegas' answer to Harry Connick Jr., Johnny Cappella ('NSync's Joey Fatone, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"). The arrival of Bernie's estranged son Mikey (Shawn Hatosy, "A Guy Thing") and Mikey's pregnant girlfriend Charlene (Estella Warren, "The Planet of the Apes") puts into motion the best and worst of Bernie and Shelly, changing their lives forever.
"The Cooler" places too many bets and fails to make a killing. Bernie's luck is nicely turned around by Natalie's introduction, which, thanks to the two actors, is believable even before an important plot point is unveiled. Equally well handled is Shelly's downfall, paralleled by Buddy's fate (Sorvino's speech about old lions is prescient for both). As Bernie's hope resurfaces, Macy's downtrodden body language and droopy features are replaced by confidence and a sunny disposition. Baldwin's Shelly, meanwhile, gradually goes over to a darker place, his friendliness replaced with ruthlessness. The old ways of pre-family Las Vegas include the brutality of original mob rule. The introduction of Bernie's no good son with a girlfriend who goes into labor whenever its convenient gives the film two too many riffs that trail off, going nowhere.
Bello is a major plus as the sometime astrologer (Lady Luck looks to the stars) who takes a shining to an unlikely man. Macy's face just melts and his eyes shine when he looks at her and Bello reflects that love right back. They're a naturally sexy couple, gleeful aping the sex noises of the couple next door. Baldwin's (who also did good work costarring with Hatosy in "Outside Providence") performance becomes more complex in retrospect. He's a sad man who thinks he has it all and is desperate to keep it. He ends up with the resignation Bernie began with.
Production design by Tony Corbett gives the film the generally shabby air of an outdated Vegas. Bernie lives in a drab motel/apartment combination that still house the bowls of the cat that's run away. Reno's Flamingo casino, slated for renovation, stands in for the Golden Shangri-La. Mark Isham's jazzy score is a nice throwback to rat pack days.
"The Cooler" is a nice little film that suffers from too many subplots. Instead of dealing a full house, Kramer and Hannah went for 52-pickup, but some of those cards are Aces.
B-
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