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The Cooler

  • 20032003
  • RR
  • 1h 41m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
34K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
The Cooler (2003)
Home Video Trailer from Lionsgate
Play trailer2:27
2 Videos
99+ Photos
  • Drama
  • Romance
In an old school Las Vegas casino, its top gambling jinx breaks his curse when he falls in love, much to his boss' consternation.In an old school Las Vegas casino, its top gambling jinx breaks his curse when he falls in love, much to his boss' consternation.In an old school Las Vegas casino, its top gambling jinx breaks his curse when he falls in love, much to his boss' consternation.
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
34K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Wayne Kramer
  • Writers
    • Frank Hannah
    • Wayne Kramer
  • Stars
    • William H. Macy
    • Maria Bello
    • Alec Baldwin
Top credits
  • Director
    • Wayne Kramer
  • Writers
    • Frank Hannah
    • Wayne Kramer
  • Stars
    • William H. Macy
    • Maria Bello
    • Alec Baldwin
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 227User reviews
    • 76Critic reviews
    • 69Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 9 wins & 26 nominations total

    Videos2

    The Cooler
    Trailer 2:27
    The Cooler
    The Cooler
    Trailer 2:28
    The Cooler

    Photos107

    Alec Baldwin and Ron Livingston in The Cooler (2003)
    William H. Macy in The Cooler (2003)
    Alec Baldwin, William H. Macy, and Maria Bello in The Cooler (2003)
    Maria Bello in The Cooler (2003)
    Alec Baldwin and William H. Macy in The Cooler (2003)
    Brett Morrison with Estella Warren on the set of "The Cooler"
    Brett Morrison with Alec Baldwin on the set of "The Cooler"
    Alec Baldwin at an event for The Cooler (2003)
    Kaige Chen at an event for The Cooler (2003)
    Christian Slater at an event for The Cooler (2003)
    Dawn Hudson at an event for The Cooler (2003)
    Eli Roth at an event for The Cooler (2003)

    Top cast

    Edit
    William H. Macy
    William H. Macy
    • Bernie Lootzas Bernie Lootz
    Maria Bello
    Maria Bello
    • Natalie Belisarioas Natalie Belisario
    Alec Baldwin
    Alec Baldwin
    • Shelly Kaplowas Shelly Kaplow
    Shawn Hatosy
    Shawn Hatosy
    • Mikeyas Mikey
    Ron Livingston
    Ron Livingston
    • Larry Sokolovas Larry Sokolov
    Paul Sorvino
    Paul Sorvino
    • Buddy Staffordas Buddy Stafford
    Estella Warren
    Estella Warren
    • Charleneas Charlene
    Arthur J. Nascarella
    Arthur J. Nascarella
    • Nicky Fingers Bonnattoas Nicky Fingers Bonnatto
    Joey Fatone
    Joey Fatone
    • Johnny Cappellaas Johnny Cappella
    M.C. Gainey
    M.C. Gainey
    • Highway Officeras Highway Officer
    • (as MC Gainey)
    Ellen Greene
    Ellen Greene
    • Dorisas Doris
    Don Scribner
    Don Scribner
    • Louas Lou
    Tony Longo
    Tony Longo
    • Tonyas Tony
    Richard Israel
    Richard Israel
    • Marty Goldfarbas Marty Goldfarb
    Timothy Landfield
    Timothy Landfield
    • The Playeras The Player
    T.J. Gioia
    • Bulldogas Bulldog
    Jewel Shepard
    • Hookeras Hooker
    Gordon Michaels
    Gordon Michaels
    • Mr. Pinkertonas Mr. Pinkerton
    • Director
      • Wayne Kramer
    • Writers
      • Frank Hannah
      • Wayne Kramer
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      According to the director's commentary, William H. Macy was given three suits to wear during the film. During scenes where his character Bernie was hapless and unlucky, he wore a suit that was two sizes too big for him. During scenes where his luck was starting to turn around, he wore a suit that was one size too big for him. After he falls in love and is extremely lucky, he wears a perfectly tailored suit. Also, as Bernie's luck improves, the lighting surrounding him gets brighter, and his shirt and tie go from dark and subdued to bright and colorful.
    • Goofs
      When Bernie plays craps, he is shown placing two stacks of chips side-by-side on the pass line. This is incorrect - a player's entire bet must be placed in one vertical stack. AFTER a point is established, a player make "take the odds" by placing a second stack of chips BEHIND the original pass line bet. A second stack of chips on the pass line next to the player's bet would be assumed by the crew to be a toke - a bet for the dealers.
    • Quotes

      Shelly Kaplow: [about the Vegas strip] What? You mean that Disneyland mookfest out there? Huh? Come on, you know what that is? Huh? That's a fucking violation is what that is. Something that used to be beautiful, used to have class, like a gorgeous high-priced hooker with an exclusive clientele. Then along comes that Steve Wynn cocksucker and knocks her up and puts her in a fucking family way. Now she's nothing but a cheap, fat whore hiding behind too much fucking make-up. I look at her and see all her fucking stretch marks, it makes me want to cry - because I remember the way she used to be.

    • Crazy credits
      Maria Bello's face is reflected on the side of the "Lady Luck" hotel.
    • Alternate versions
      The film was cut by the MPAA to achieve an R rating.
    • Connections
      Featured in Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Alec Baldwin/Vanessa Marcil/Rancid (2003)
    • 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 reviews227

    Review
    Top review
    A good little low-key film whose weaknesses in the writing are covered up by great delivery from all involved
    Bernie Lootz is a 'cooler' – a man whose very presence on a casino floor turns peoples' luck to cr*p and stops any winning streak dead in its tracks.

    As such he is a very valuable asset to casino boss Shelly Kaplow, himself having enough problems of his own trying to stop his old school casino being revamped to the point of losing it's sense of class. However, with Bernie looking to leave, Shelly is eager to make him stay – not helped by waitress Natalie falling in love with Bernie and turning his jinx into universal good fortune. With the casino dropping a million plus in one day, Shelly takes action to protect what is his.

    As with many viewers I suspect, I was attracted to this film by the cast and the fact that it received a few nods from the Oscars (despite being showy enough to win). The plot is based on the old casino idea of coolers being those who bring bad luck to the tables but it very much needs you to buy into the idea of luck to really enjoy this fable of lady luck – unless you get into it, it'll feel rather forced and silly at times. However the film helped me to overcome this by being very lowkey and downbeat – very much like Bernie himself the film is dog eared and lovable, not a great thing but one that is easy to get into. The film uses Las Vegas really well and it is the Las Vegas I believe in – downbeat, cruel and plastic, it is much better than the fun, breezy and slick Vegas that we are sold in CSI or in Oceans 11. The mix of romance, comedy and violence works very well – at points it was very touching, at others quite funny and then others unrelentingly brutal and downbeat. It isn't perfect of course and the writing is where the problems lie; the story did rely on the audience buying into it and at times the dialogue comes very close to corn (but just misses). The only time I felt really let down by it was the ending, which, although fitting with the spirit of the film, missed a great chance to be dark, depressing and beautiful all at the same time.

    Despite the odd weakness in the material, these are almost totally covered by a superb collection of performances. Macy may be aware of typecasting but so what if he keeps getting roles like this, probably one of his best performances since Fargo. He is typically the little man who we cannot help but root for and Macy does well never to let Bernie become pathetic to the point that he loses the audience. Bello also does pretty well and even convincingly falls for Bernie even though the film offers her very little opportunity to show a real development of love there. She is pretty but not to the point where she is an unconvincing waitress and her dashed hopes are well worn by her. However the one performance that dominated the film was Baldwin who does very well in delivering a role that could easily have become caricature. At turns he is amusing, brutal, friendly and tragic and Baldwin does almost all of these with minor touches – at one point I was impressed by how well he controlled his face (eyes in particular) to convince me that here was a man who was totally lost. A great performance and one that definitely deserved his Oscar nod. Support is just as good from several well known faces; Sorvino is given little more than a cameo but the one scene he shares with Baldwin is fantastic and, unlike some of his other roles, I never saw Paulie once – his Buddy was too tragic for that ghost to linger here. Hatosy is OK even if his part of the story is not as good as the others and Nascarella will be a well known face to many due to many roles in films for Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese and a few other big films.

    Overall this is not a perfect film and it needs you to really buy into its fantasy world to really enjoy it but it works well and turned out to be an enjoyable, low key and atmospheric little love story that was never brilliant at any one thing but managed to be touching, brutal, funny and, ultimately, quite satisfying even if my darker side wanted an ending with more punch.
    helpful•49
    17
    • bob the moo
    • Jul 19, 2004

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 16, 2004 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Невдаха
    • Filming locations
      • Landmark Hotel - Convention Center Drive and Paradise Road, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
    • Production companies
      • ContentFilm
      • Pierce/Williams Entertainment
      • Furst Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $3,200,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $8,291,572
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $128,973
      • Nov 30, 2003
    • Gross worldwide
      • $10,464,788
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 41 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

    Related news

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