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THE COOLER Send This Review to a Friend
William H. Macy, a prolific, interesting offbeat actor, makes the most of a role that gives him a special opportunity to show his skill. In "The Cooler," somewhat of a cross between Las Vegas realism and a romantic fable, he even gets to play some hot sex scenes with actress Maria Bello. For good measure, Alec Baldwin also has a meaty role as a tough-as-nails casino operator who is bent on protecting his turf. The casting combination helps make "The Cooler" an unusually entertaining film that invites us to root for the core couple fighting the odds of life.
Macy plays Bernie Lootz, a loser so unlucky that Shelly Kaplow (Baldwin) keeps him at the Shangril-La casino as a "cooler," someone whose bad luck is so contagious that he merely need walk up to a table to cool off gambler's a hot winning streak. He is working off a debt to Shelly and is days away from it being paid off. Bernie still limps from the broken knee Shelly inflicted with a bat because of the debt. Nice guy, Shelly. It is a mark of Bernie's low self-esteem that he's grateful to Shelly for having snapped him out of his mess.
The gimmick in the story, scripted by Frank Hannah and Wayne Kramer and directed by Kramer in his feature debut, is that Bernie's luck changes after he becomes involved with Natalie Belisario (Bello), a cocktail waitress being assigned by Shelly to keep tabs on Bernie. She is impressed by Bernie's decency and honesty in contrast to the men she has known in her shady life, and he is newly enthusiastic and filled with confidence as a result of the sparks that fly between them. But he can no longer be a cooler. He is suddenly hot. How will these lovers break free from all that binds them to Shelly?
Meanwhile, Shelly is under pressure from representatives of the mob controlling the casino to turn it into the glitzy, bottom-line sort of modern place that he despises. The sub-plot gives Baldwin a chance to add dimension to Shelly as a person of some principles. There's a further complication when Bernie's estranged son Mikey (Sean Hatosy) turns up with his girlfriend Charlene (Estella Warren) as a couple of scam artists. As difficulties escalate, always lurking is the milieu of violence that threatens to be deadly to anyone who crosses Shelly or his mob foes.
Bernie and Natalie need to break out of their trap, and the excitement builds as to what will happen and whether the film will end happily or disastrously. "The Cooler," good
looking as well as impressively acted, is diverting entertainment despite preposterous plot maneuvers that one can palm off as fitting a romantic fable. Bello creates a great impression in her role, and together, she and Macy make a delightfully unlikely pair of lovers. A Lions Gate Films release.
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