|
|
. |
| |
|
|
 |
 |
| |
The
unluckiest man in Vegas (William H. Macy) - 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 (Maria Bello)
and gets "lady luck," which throws the situation into reverse. Things turn
nasty when the casino director (Alec Baldwin) tries to break up the
romance.
The Cooler is Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy), and 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
(Maria Bello) his bad luck is thrown into reverse.
"The Cooler" may
sound as if it's a dark sitcom, with broad characters and an easy payoff. But
the movie, directed by first-timer Wayne Kramer and written by him with Frank
Hannah, has a strange way of being broad and twisted at the same time, so that
while we surf the surface of the story, unexpected developments are stirring
beneath. There's more to the movie than at first it seems, and what happens to
Bernie, Natalie and Shelly has a rough but poignant justice.
This is one
of Alec Baldwin's best performances, as a character who contains vast
contradictions. He can be kind and brutal simultaneously; affection and cruelty
are handmaidens. |
 |
| |
The story's strength
is all in the telling; no synopsis will prepare you for the emotional charge
that's eventually delivered. And it's unusual to find a screenplay that gives
weight to parallel stories; Shelly isn't simply an element in Bernie's life,
but is a free-standing character with a dilemma of his own.
There is a
crucial scene that takes place on the roof of the casino, and while it is
happening, I want you to watch the eyes of the two bodyguards who are standing
in the background. They're minor characters, and I don't have any idea what the
director told them to do, but what their eyes reflect feels like pain and
uneasiness, and it seems absolutely real. Not many movies have foregrounds that
can inspire backgrounds like that. |
| |
THE COOLER is a
perceptive look both at the gaming industry done Mafia style and the
undercurrent of sleaze that most visitors to the Disneyland-style hotel
casino's of Vegas probably never notice. The film contains brief scenes of
violence not for the overly squeamish, and sex scenes not for the overly
prudish. But by the movie's conclusion and its quirky twist of fortune,
American audiences, which generally favor the underdog, have in Lootz a new and
unlikely hero.
ILots of good performances. Noir and everything - 8/10
|
|
|
|
| Director |
Wayne
Kramer |
William H. Macy |
Bernie
Lootz |
| Writing |
Frank
Hannah |
Alec
Baldwin |
Shelly
Kaplow |
| Cinematography |
Jim
Whitaker |
Maria
Bello |
Natalie
Belisario |
| |
|
Paul
Sorvino |
Buddy
Stafford |
| |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Main Menu
