The Cooler

Three stars

Directed by Wayne Kramer. Screenplay by Kramer and Frank Hannah. Released by Lions Gate Films. Rated R (for strong sexuality, violence, language and some drug use). Running time: 101 minutes.


The cast

Bernie Lootz William H. Macy
Natalie Belisario Maria Bello
Shelly Kaplow Alec Baldwin
Mikey Shawn Hatosy
Larry Sokolov Ron Livingston
Buddy Stafford Paul Sorvino

by Michael Drakulich

Bernie Lootz is not the typical noir hero you might see in a Billy Wilder, Charles Vidor or Robert Aldrich film.

He works at an old-fashioned Vegas casino and his sole responsibility is to cool down anyone's hot streak. It is his one gift while he is exceedingly awkward at just about everything else.

Having such a character as the protagonist/hero in "The Cooler" might seem almost as awkward as anything Bernie does outside his job. But it still works in a more contemporary context than film noir traditionally allows.

William H. Macy plays Bernie as a man resigned to his fate as a loser. He is close to ending his indenture to Shelly (Alec Baldwin), owner of the Golden Shangri-La casino, but not with any sense of anticipation for what awaits him, only relief for getting away from the business.

The bad luck that follows Bernie like his own personal storm cloud and the ease with which he is able to transfer it makes him an ideal choice as a cooler. With a slight touch of a roulette table, or sitting in on a hand at Blackjack, Bernie can instantly halt a winning streak.

There’s no magic to it. He does it by being himself, he says.

Bernie doesn’t do his job willingly. He was pressed into service as part payment for a gambling debt to Shelly. The other part is the limp from the beating Shelly gave him. In an almost pathetic rationalization, he is thankful to Shelly for taking a baseball bat to his knee because it had since rid him of his gambling habit.

But his gloomy outlook changes when he meets Natalie (Maria Bello), a new waitress at the casino and the film’s femme fatale.

She is potentially his undoing, as he loses his ability to cool once they begin a relationship.

Here, as in film noir, the ultimate struggle for the girl ensues.

Bernie fights Shelly over Natalie since she becomes the key to his new found happiness.

Making Natalie disappear is Shelly’s key to securing his investment in Bernie. She has convinced Bernie there is more than just cooling despite his near gratitude to Shelly.

While everything works on a superficial, plot-driven level with Bernie and Natalie, there is a broader theme at work that adds depth not frequently found in this genre.

Where casino owners make their living through control, Shelly begins to lose it.

He faces the probability of losing Bernie, who is in charge of controlling win-nings, and resorts to near desperate measures keep him.

Simultaneously, Shelly’s investors bring in new guy Larry Sokolov (Ron Livingston) to modernize the casino in line with the rest of Vegas. In a quirky conflict between modernism and tradition, Shelly clings to his "old-school" management methods, which include mob-style beatings of cheaters.

As Shelly’s empire begins to collapse around him, we wonder just who the more pitiful character is.

Film aficionados will appreciate this film’s adherence to and occasional willingness to break with noir convention.

There is no murder to solve, but there are lives to be saved.

Natalie is central to the intrigue, but her interests are not ultimately sacrificed to a culture dominated by men. She begins as a device but she is allowed to develop and even given the opportunity for the fulfillment of her goals, not just survival.

The film’s weakness though is its willingness to explain too much. Characters tend to spell everything out, though the images tell quite enough.

This may have just been a slight mistake from rookie director Wayne Kramer. But he’s done a good enough job here to warrant eager antici-pation for his future work.
*
Michael Drakulich is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. He may be reached at (708) 802-8841 or via e-mail at mdrakulich@starnewspapers.com