The Cooler (2003)

In an old school Las Vegas casino, its top gambling jinx breaks his curse when he falls in love, much to his boss' consternation.

Director:

Wayne Kramer

Writers:

Frank Hannah, Wayne Kramer

Stars:

William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Alec Baldwin

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William H. Macy	...	Bernie Lootz
Alec Baldwin	...	Shelly Kaplow
Maria Bello	...	Natalie Belisario
Shawn Hatosy	...	Mikey
Ron Livingston	...	Larry Sokolov
Paul Sorvino	...	Buddy Stafford
Estella Warren	...	Charlene
Arthur J. Nascarella	...	Nicky Fingers Bonnatto
Joey Fatone	...	Johnny Cappella
M.C. Gainey	...	Highway Officer (as MC Gainey)
Ellen Greene	...	Doris
Don Scribner	...	Lou
Tony Longo	...	Tony
Richard Israel	...	Marty Goldfarb
Timothy Landfield	...	The Player

Storyline

The unluckiest man in Vegas - a guy whose bad luck is contagious - is used by the last of the old time mob run casinos to kill high rollers' action. That is, until he falls in love with a cocktail waitress and gets "lady luck," which throws the situation into reverse. Things turn nasty when the casino director tries to break up the romance.

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Plot Keywords:

casino | girl in panties | public nudity | leg spreading | female pubic hair | 

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Taglines:

When your life depends on losing... the last thing you need is lady luck.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexuality, violence, language and some drug use

Did You Know?

Trivia

The casinos demolished in the closing credits are: the Aladdin, the Sands, the Landmark, and the Dunes. The Dunes was bought and demolished in a giant pyrotechnic display begun by Steve Wynn when he fired a mock cannon from Treasure Island; in part he did it to insult The Dunes' former owners; the property became the Bellagio; Wynn has since sold all of his Mirage Resorts properties to MGM Grand and bought the Desert Inn, which he demolished to build Wynn Las Vegas. The Sands was where the Rat Pack held The Summit, a series of shows they did for fun while filming the original Ocean's 11 (1960), an epoch that helped to define the Las Vegas that Shelly Kaplow mourns in The Cooler; The Venetian now stands on the Sands' lot. The Aladdin was rebuilt, but has performed poorly due to its similarity to all the other megacasinos, overbuilding in Vegas, and the slower economy. The Landmark's demolition can be seen in Mars Attacks! (1996); the property was used to expand parking for the Las Vegas Convention Center.

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Goofs

In the closing scene, Bernie Lootz pulls open his tie once before getting out of the car, and then after he gets back in again.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Casino employee: Where's Bernie, they're killing us. Yeah, we need him right away.

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Crazy Credits

Maria Bello's face is reflected on the side of the "Lady Luck" hotel.

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Alternate Versions

The film was cut by the MPAA to achieve an R rating.

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Connections

Featured in Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Elijah Wood/Estella Warren/Liz Phair (2003)

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Soundtracks

Candy
Written by Rebecca Kyler Downs & Brian Swartz
Performed by Rebecca Kyler Downs
Courtesy of The Kyler Company, by arrangement with Position Soundtrack Services

User Reviews

Las Vegas-Or the City in a Parallel Universe

"The Cooler" has really divided viewers. Some, definitely not all, are taken with William H. Macy's first-ever sexy role where he shows his buns (and a bit more) as Bernie the Cooler, a key employee at the Shangri-la, a Las Vegas casino a bit shopworn and out of touch with the latest and hottest on the Strip. A cooler is a guy who shows up by the side of a punter on a long winning streak and, somehow, extinguishes his luck merely by hanging around the table and acting like a klutz.

Maria Bello is a cocktail waitress, Natalie, relegated to the low end of the casino where elderly day trippers bet small amounts. Feeling sorry for her, and perhaps a bit attracted, Bernie gets her transferred to the big spender zone where, presumably, tips are better. One thing leads to another and - wow - Macy is, according to a few of my female friends, a heck of a lot sexier than, say, a wannabe babe magnet like Brad Pitt.

Running the casino is Shelley, Alec Baldwin. Shelley has a problem: the casino's investors (a euphemism) want to tear down the place and build a new, modern joint that will pack in the younger high rollers. A sentimentalist at heart, as well as a gangster, Shelley wants Shangri-la - which does turn a profit as he points out to the guys demanding change - to stick it out as the last classy, old style casino. This is the stuff of eyeball to eyeball confrontation.

Natalie is the catalyst for a change in Bernie's luck - and lust. From an initially awkward conjoining, the two fall deeply in love and find they're in synch in the sack. So she's no longer a catalyst, she's the Significant Other.

Bernie has some family issues with his lackluster son and Natalie has to deal with problems with Shelley that would merit a lawsuit about a hostile workplace . Shelley - poor guy - really needs a dedicated cooler, Bernie is the best and he knows, he thinks, how to insure renewed employee dedication.

No Nevada gaming authority or cops here - this casino seems to be in a parallel universe where the honchos make their own rules independent of even the semblance of regulation. There can't really be a Shangri-la like this place in Las Vegas (I'm sort of sure).

Macy delivers a terrific performance as a schlepp who finds he has the heart of if not a lion at least a fierce tabby. Bello handles the shifting moods of her character very well-she's a good actress. And very pretty. Baldwin turns in a predictably dependable job as a tired mobster/businessman who holds true to values rejected by the new generation of Organized Crime wiz kids (one persistent pest sent to remake the casino is dismissed as a "Harvard turd").

All in all, a good movie especially because it showcases Macy in an unexpected role where he demonstrates the depth of his enormous acting ability.

WARNING: Very explicit sexuality and some in-your-face brutality. Not for kids.

7/10.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Cooler

Filming Locations:

Landmark Hotel - Convention Center Drive and Paradise Road, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$128,973, 30 November 2003

Gross USA:

$8,291,572

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,464,788

Company Credits

Production Co:

ContentFilm, Pierce/Williams Entertainment, Furst Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1