The Cooler
Release date: 2003-11-26
Votes: 378
Genres: Romance, Drama
Bernie works at a Las Vegas casino, where he uses his innate ability to bring about misfortune in those around him to jinx gamblers into losing. His imposing boss, Shelly Kaplow, is happy with the arrangement. But Bernie finds unexpected happiness when he begins dating attractive waitress Natalie Belisario.
Reviews
CinemaSerf
“Bernie” (William H. Macy) is the casino equivalent of “Eeyore”. He sits beside the gamblers and makes sure that his doom and gloom philosophy wears off on them and they lose cash. No, it doesn’t sound very scientific but his boss “Shelley” (Alec Baldwin) believes in it and as they cleared $32 millions there last year, well maybe he is right. This technique is one of a few, though, that are causing the gangster owners to begin to consider if maybe there needs to be changes and so now would not be a good time for “Bernie” to move on. Suddenly, he encounters “Natalie” (Maria Bello) to whom he immediately takes a shine and you can only imagine his shock when she reciprocates. Quickly, they begin to fall for each other but isn’t all of this just a little too convenient? Just to add to the confusion, son “Mikey” (Shawn Hatosy) shows up with his expectant girlfriend and clumsily has a go at fleecing the tables! With these storylines gradually knitting together we have to wonder if any of them have any chance of finding happiness or fulfilment. Macy is perfectly cast for this, with his innate hangdog expression and his conveying of a plausible sense of amazement when he manages to hook up with “Natalie”. The rest of it, though, is a bit predictable and the latter half increasingly peters out as nobody quite seems to know how they want this to end. When it does, there’s something straight out of Buster Keaton mixed with a dose of Martin Scorsese that I though a bit daft. It’s watchable enough, but Baldwin exudes all the menace of a meringue and I found it just a bit disappointing.
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