Opening

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The Cooler (2003)

tomatometer

90

Average Rating: 7.2/10
Critic Reviews: 39
Fresh: 35 | Rotten: 4

A small movie elevated by superb performances.

audience

67

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 18,697

My Rating

Movie Info

Writer/director Wayne Kramer offers a glimpse into the aging Las Vegas casino world with the romantic drama The Cooler. Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy) is extremely unlucky at gambling, and he owes the Shangri-La casino over 100,000 dollars. He is so unlucky that he is hired as a "cooler," someone to gamble next to high rollers and give them some of his bad luck to stop them from winning. This arrangement works out for awhile, until Bernie has almost paid off his debt and meets cocktail waitress

R,

Drama, Romance

Frank Hannah, Wayne Kramer

Apr 27, 2004

$8.2M

Lions Gate Films - Official Site External Icon

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All Critics (178) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (134) | Rotten (40) | DVD (27)

In reconstructing Macy's equal-opportunity loser persona as a romantic winner, The Cooler forgets what made its star so winning in the first place.

January 16, 2004 Full Review Source: Toronto Star
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A B-movie in the best sense: Unpretentious. Raffish. Just trashy enough to be six kinds of fun without making you hate yourself in the morning.

January 16, 2004 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentinel
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Kramer has gotten strong performances from his cast (Baldwin is particularly good as the strangely likable, but still horrible, casino owner).

January 16, 2004 Full Review Source: Miami Herald
Miami Herald
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A movie without a compass, switching pace and direction as haphazardly as a caffeinated SUV driver on a cellphone.

January 16, 2004 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail
Globe and Mail
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It's pretty winning for a long way, reminding us that everything in life is a kind of gamble, and if you don't play, you'll never win.

January 15, 2004 Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Had The Cooler stuck to its dark guns and not turned into a treacly, love-conquers-all fairy tale, this movie might have gone somewhere.

December 19, 2003
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

"The Cooler" is a complex 'small' movie that packs a big punch.

May 11, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com
ColeSmithey.com

What elevates this Vegas-set drama above the routine is the high-caliber acting of William H. Macy, Maria Bello, and especially Alex Baldwin, who received a well-deserved Oscar nomination.

December 28, 2008 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com
EmanuelLevy.Com

Avoid this film. It will eat your soul and vomit black bile in your face.

June 21, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Scouts
Film Scouts

Alec Baldwin se encarga de que Shelly sea por lejos el personaje más interesante de esta historia (...)

September 19, 2005 Full Review Source: Uruguay Total
Uruguay Total

A pointless, money-depleting waste of time to be avoided at all costs.

May 3, 2005 Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness
Lessons of Darkness

A curious mix of thug violence, romance, and whimsy.

October 14, 2004 Full Review

Audience Reviews for The Cooler

In some ways, the film can be seen as a fairy tale. The protagonist is weak but at the end becomes something beyond human with the help of his muse. Beautifully shot and captures the spirit of Vegas after dark very well!
May 8, 2012
paul o.
paul oh

Super Reviewer

From co-writer/director Wayne Kramer (but not the guy from the MC5) comes this stylish, charming, and underrated little gem of a movie about a professional loser. Bernie Lootz has perpetual bad luck, so he makes his living at a Vegas casino as a cooler- the guy they send in to end a gambler's hot streak. Bernie is great at his job, but his life (and his luck) begin to change when he meets and subsequently falls in love with Natalie, an utterly gorgeous waitress co-worker. This wouldn't be so bad if this change didn't also have an effect on Shelly Kaplow, the last of the old time gangster casino owners who is trying like hell to escape the Disneyfication of Vegas and keep things from changing.

Filled with a great jazzy score from Mark Isham, a new twist on an old plot, decent writing, and terrific acting from a first rate cast, this is an exceptional romantic dramedy. Well, mostly drama, since the bulk of the humor is rather dark and melancholy. Indeed, there are actually some really dark moments throughout, but it's nothing as downbeat as Leaving Las Vegas.

Macy is perfect as Bernie, and his weary facial expressions and impish mannerisms really nail the type of guy Bernie is. In many ways, this character is comparable to Macy's other perfect character Jerry from Fargo. MAria Bello is quite excellent as Natalie, and this film really helped her career take off. Turning in one of his last truly menacing dramatic performances is Alec Baldwin in an Oscar nominated turn as Shelly, the no-nonsense ruthless casino boss. Ron Livingston also is good in a supporting role as an Ivy League young gun trying to put Shelly out ot pasture.

This is some really great stuff. It's sometiems rather uneven with the mix of wry romance with the dark underside of Vegas poking through, but in the end it all comes full circle and ends as it should, though you do need to be cool with Deus Ex Machina type stuff in order to accept the climax. Give this one a shot. It's a shame it's not as revered as it nees to be.
January 7, 2012
cosmo313
Chris Weber

Super Reviewer

    1. Shelly Kaplow: This is not a movie. It's my FUCKING LIFE!
    – Submitted by Melanie D (3 months ago)

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