Wayne Kramer's "The Cooler" stars William H. Macy as Bernie, a perpetually down on his luck sad-face who lives in a rundown Las Vegas motel and works for Casino boss Shelly Kaplow, played by a scenery chewing Alec Baldwin. Bernie's job? He's a cooler, a poor schmuck whose luck is so bad he causes people at gambling tables to immediately lose their own luck. In other words, Bernie literally "cools" tables down, promptly killing hot winning streaks.The film's first half plays like a 1940's film noir, complete with likable losers, barflys, lonely waitresses, small time crooks, con-men and flea-bitten gamblers desperate to "get out of town". The film's second half, however, makes a rather odd shift, and begins to believe wholeheartedly in Bernie's metaphysical powers. From here on the film becomes a seedy fairy tale, Bernie's "luck" aligned to his libido, his sex drive, his wounded masculinity, which begins to repair itself when he falls in love with Natalie Belisario (Maria Bellow), a cocktail waitress. As Bernie's ego is rebuilt, casino boss Shelly Kaplow's is eroded, dice rolls, fate and lady luck conspiring to rob Kaplow of his phallus even as they pump Bernie's full of blood. Kramer then makes the film's casinos and hotels as much a character as Kaplow and Bernie; the shape and fate of this Vegas architecture seems to change as they do. The film closes with documentary footage of casinos being demolished, the buildings neutered as Bernie leaves town.A character-driven picture, the film is somewhat refreshing in cinema's current climate. Kramer lets his actors carry the show, shoots unconventionally "genuine" and "warm" sex scenes, knows how to use and play with convention, and keeps the interplay between his cast members fresh. His characters may all be raging archetypes – the limping loser, the down on her luck showgirl, the mob boss, the fading star – but they're well sketched. Macy in particular is very likable, with his sad eyes and forlorn face; a live action version of Tex Avery's Droopy Dog. He's made a career out of playing losers, but here we get to see him smile. To win the loot, the girl and live happily ever after. The film embraces its fairy tale aspects. It's a Disney movie for the Scorsese crowd."The Cooler's" cinematographer was James Whitaker, who treats us to a palette of dark reds, neon lights and muted shadows. Bernie's associated with vomit inducing greens and nauseating colours, until his luck changes, his clothes tighten and his spine straightens. The film's jazzy, mournful score recalls classic noirs; Miles Davis on a rainy day, or Bogart after a case of STDs. Many will find "The Cooler's" metaphysics annoying, but gambling, and Vegas itself, is a metaphysical game; the gambling man tinkers with chance and pretence. He is bold and timid at the same time, hoping to inform the unformed future. But the film doesn't necessarily imply that Bernie literally "influences the future", be this a negative or positive influence, only that everyone believes that he does. Gambling itself is largely influenced by blind faith, and near superstitious belief.8.5/10 – Worth one viewing.

As Golden Age perceptions uneasily change hands with New Money in today's Las Vegas, a casino owner with nostalgic leanings towards the city's heyday finds himself caught up short by the new corporate blood; worse, his favorite "cooler" (or, gambler's jinx) has fallen in love with a cocktail waitress, which has turned his luck around. Despite a snazzy design, some fine acting, and an apparent love for film noir, "The Cooler" doesn't seem to have anything new up its sleeve. The broads are still tough, the mobsters are still busting kneecaps in back alleys, and the sad sacks and wiseacres are still hanging around, hoping to get lucky. The ubiquitous Alec Baldwin does well with a complicated character (the casino boss with a soft spot who still has to play the heavy), but there's too much of him--and when Baldwin gets a head of steam going, rattling off at the mouth with fill-in-the-blank profanities, he's not showing us anything fresh or exciting. Ditto Paul Sorvino as the drug-addicted lounge lizard past his prime, or Ron Livingston as a smug Harvard stooge who wants to take over. William H. Macy has some terrific moments as the self-proclaimed loser who gets a new lease on life via working girl Maria Bello (a second generation Sharon Stone), but I'm not sure how convincing that finale is. The movie's point seems to be "Casinos don't appreciate it when a gambler wins", yet the bittersweet finish belies this, probably for the sake of the box-office. ** from ****

The performances by William H. Macey, Maria Bello & Alec Baldwin are the main reasons to watch this film. If you like seeing some good acting or are a fan of these three, there is no doubt plenty of good reasons for you to look at this. If you like happy endings, that is another reason to watch it.My main problem here is the script which a couple of younger screen writers collaborated on. We have a movie set in modern Las Vegas, yet the way the casino here is being run is more like Bugsey Segal's era & that makes no sense. They try to develop the young guy trying to convince the Casino Boss(Balwin) that he is a dinosaur of the Segal era. The trouble is, even the young guy isn't presented as being any brighter, especially at the end when he takes over because other than planning to put up a new modern casino to replace the aging one, he appears clueless about how to change the business either.Macey is the Cooler, a guy who by just walking around the casino brings people bad luck. In the opening sequence he does this & in what is a most comic moment you see everybody lose their money & then a huge line at the Casino ATM of them trying to desperately get more money to lose. Mario Bello is excellent as the vamp Balwin hires to try & make Macey stick around as he is threatening to leave the job. As with the mob mentality, no one is supposed to leave the family business.That is the problem here. In modern Las Vegas, business is not done this way anymore. Your asked to buy into nostalgia here that does not compute. The phony pregnancy of Macey's son's girlfriend has a shocking scene in the latter part of the film. The thing is the phony baby is tipped off early in the first sequence when the son & girlfriend use the scam of her in labor to beat a restaurant bill. When dad talks to them in the alley after the eatery sequence, it was obvious to me they pulled that old scam to beat the bill which means she is not pregnant.I like the performances by Macey & Bello in the sex scenes. The thing is they are the usual over-hyped fantasy sex everyone thinks is the normal. Hollywood & X rated films have created an abnormal sexual fantasy that only Superman & Supergirl could actually do. This film does it again. One of these days, someone will do a story that reflects sexual reality which would shock & awe a lot of viewers of this stuff, but don't look for that anytime soon.

This film is typical of what is coming out of Hollywood these days. All it amounts to is sex, violence, drugs. The script has neither a compelling story or an interesting interaction between any of the characters. Plus the plot is based on total rubbish about a"cooler". No one can bring or take away luck from a person gambling in a casino and the movie's main character is supposed to be able to do that Yeah, right and the Tooth Fairy is for real. What makes this film utterly laughable is the happy ending. All that was missing was a sparkling rendition of "Happy Days Are Here Again" in the sound track! Don't spend a minute watching this rot.