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Thursday, 08 July 2004 |
  Are there really people with such infectious bad luck they are hired by casinos to reduce winnings? I don't think so, but it's an interesting premise for a movie. It is also a perfect fit for actor William H. Macy. Maybe a little too perfect.
Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy) has such bad luck, he is referred to as the greatest "Cooler" in the industry by his loudmouth, Mafia style boss Shelly (Alec Baldwin) at the small Vegas casino he manages. As a "Cooler" it is Bernie's job to change the good fortunes of the hottest gamblers in the place. His effectiveness is astounding. The opening scene shows him merely passing his hand along a roulette wheel, destroying the bets of all the players. The sounds of upset gamblers can be heard from all directions as he moves through the casino. He makes slot machines malfunction as he walks down the aisle. I wonder if the repair bills that causes are less than the payouts he saves. Bernie even causes the bar to constantly run out of cream whenever he orders a cup of coffee. That one little dispenser of cream always seems to be the only supply in the entire casino.
To put it lightly, Bernie is a complete schmuck. He's kind hearted (read, a spineless pushover) in a pitiful sort of way, but in the end there is very little there. So it is only reasonable that when he does a small favor for the attractive, and quite a bit younger cocktail waitress Natalie (Maria Bello) she will begin to fall in love with him. His small act of kindness, as always happens, quickly leads to an awkward, but much needed act of sexual gratification. Throw in the calm, but sleazy new guy on the block manager Larry Sokolov (Ron Livingston) to make problems for the abusive Shelly, Bernie's estranged son and his pregnant girlfriend (Shawn Hatosy & Estella Warren) a junkie washed-up singer (Paul Sorvino) and his young punk would-be replacement (Joey Fatone) and you end up with a movie stuffed full of so many bad Mafia conventions it just screams "first time film maker trying to make a splash."
The Cooler is actually Wayne Kramer's third film, but since the first 2 are virtually nonexistant it might as well be his first. I was actually surprised it wasn't his first, since there were so many moments when I said to myself "this has to be this guy's first movie" I lost count. I have nothing at all against first time film makers. In the best cases it is obvious because of the freshness of the result, but in this case, it just leads to many "bold" moments that were actually pretty meaningless. What is the point of a lingering shot of Bello and Macy lying face up, naked, on a bed with Bello holding Macy's genitals? It's not nearly as intriguing as it sounds. I never could have imagined I would find a scene with a naked Maria Bello so uninteresting.
The story progresses through a series of "surprising" twists, which are not all that surprising and reaches the exact same ending that would be pretty obvious from the beginning if you bothered to think about it a bit. Macy admirably plays the role he was born to play, for about the tenth time. To see him do similar roles, only better, in much finer movies, I suggest Pleasantville on the light side, or Magnolia on the dark side. Maria Bello also basically repeats another of her roles from a much more entertaining film Payback, which is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. Paul Sorvino, who is usually up to better things, is probably here because he gets to sing. Ron Livingston is great as the tempered, corporate influenced manager to be. Basically, virtually every character is a mockery of much better films.
Starring: William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin, Maria Bello, Shawn Hatosy, Estella Warren, Ron Livingston.
Director: Wayne Kramer
Studio: Lion's Gate Pictures
Rated: R
Running Time: 103 minutes
Release: 2003
Reviewer: John Rice |
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