- Actors: William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Alec Baldwin, Shawn Hatosy, Ron Livingston
- Directors: Wayne Kramer
- Writers: Wayne Kramer, Frank Hannah
- Producers: Alessandro Camon, Andrew Busey, Brett Morrison, Bryan Furst, Chris Miller
- Format: Anamorphic, Colour, DVD-Video, NTSC
- Language English
- Subtitles: English, Spanish
- Region: Region 1 (US and Canada DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.85:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: R (Restricted) (US MPAA rating. See details.)
- Studio: Lions Gate
- DVD Release Date: 27 April 2004
- Run Time: 101 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B0001EFV7C
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 137,182 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I didn't really expect to enjoy this film when I started to watch it , but "The Cooler" turned out to be one of the best movies I've seen this year. William Macy plays Bernie Lootz , a "cooler" in a Las Vegas casino (a person who brings winning streaks to an end- a "scud" in my dialect), employed by manager Shelly (Alec Baldwin). The script is excellent and the acting performances by Macy,Baldwin and Maria Bello are top class -Macy's and Baldwin's of Oscar quality.
The main element of the story is Macy's romance with Bello's character Natalie and how this transforms Macy and his professional and personal relationship with Baldwin. The other element is the pressurising of Baldwin by his bosses to make major changes to his casino ,his management style and the introduction of a new university educated young assistant to implement these changes.This has the effect of destabilising and transforming Baldwin also.
The story is gripping and the unlikley Macy/Bello relationship is amazingly credible with perfect chemistry between them.Even the nude scenes were remarkably natural.
"The Cooler" is a thoroughly entertaining movie, strong on characterisation and superbly acted. A very 21st Century romance.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The Cooler tells the story of Bernie (William H Macy), a Cooler whose job it is to bring bad luck to the tables of a Las Vegas casino. However, when he falls in love with a beautiful waitress (Maria Bello), his newfound happiness brings about good luck, for him and the nearby players. As a result, Casino owner Shelly (Alec Baldwin) loses out big time and manoeuvres matters to ensure Bernie's good luck doesn't last for long.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie. It got great reviews and was apparently loved by critics, but this usually leads to disappointment at the realisation that the movie is over-hyped (much like Fight Club and American Beauty). However, The Cooler isn't one of those movies. For a start, it's very un-Hollywood in nature - it is at times brutally violent and the sex scenes, the first one in particular, are far from erotic. In fact, if you ignore the whole concept of a guy being blessed/cursed with good/bad luck, this is a very "real" movie. Of course the whole "luck" concept does at times force you to suspend your disbelief, particularly at the end, but that all adds to the charm of the movie.
The cast are nothing short of superb. William H Macy once again portrays a loser type, and you can't help but rejoice when the hopeless guy falls in love. Alec Baldwin also takes the role of "the bad guy" and not only makes you hate him for the things he does, but on occasion allows you to see the humanity in his character. Caught in between these two actors of course is Maria Bello who oozes sexiness and holds her own besides the two stellar actors.
All in all, this was a very enjoyable film, one in which you didn't know whether Bernie and his lady luck would make it out alive, or suffer the consequences of trying to beat the Vegas-men.
I'd recommend this film to anyone, if they can live with the sex and violence that is.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie. It got great reviews and was apparently loved by critics, but this usually leads to disappointment at the realisation that the movie is over-hyped (much like Fight Club and American Beauty). However, The Cooler isn't one of those movies. For a start, it's very un-Hollywood in nature - it is at times brutally violent and the sex scenes, the first one in particular, are far from erotic. In fact, if you ignore the whole concept of a guy being blessed/cursed with good/bad luck, this is a very "real" movie. Of course the whole "luck" concept does at times force you to suspend your disbelief, particularly at the end, but that all adds to the charm of the movie.
The cast are nothing short of superb. William H Macy once again portrays a loser type, and you can't help but rejoice when the hopeless guy falls in love. Alec Baldwin also takes the role of "the bad guy" and not only makes you hate him for the things he does, but on occasion allows you to see the humanity in his character. Caught in between these two actors of course is Maria Bello who oozes sexiness and holds her own besides the two stellar actors.
All in all, this was a very enjoyable film, one in which you didn't know whether Bernie and his lady luck would make it out alive, or suffer the consequences of trying to beat the Vegas-men.
I'd recommend this film to anyone, if they can live with the sex and violence that is.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This was an unexpectedly sweet, endearing film. a sweet love story, really.
william macy's character is a chronic loser, forever reliable jinx, who sabotages a hot gaming table the second he steps up to it. And that's his job, and he does it well, too well for boss alec baldwin, playing an old school casino boss who doesnt want to 'evolve' into a modernised steve wynn type, likes his casino old vegas, hard nosed, scummy style, where cheats still get beaten within an inch of their lives in the back.
but macy's luck changes when he stumbles across a new cocktail waitress who works alongside him and things dont go quite as the boss planned.
it is the perfect story of a lovable loser, played impeccably by william macy and the very unlikely romance between him and this waitress, whose character, messed up broken blonde, is reminiscent of elisabeth shue in leaving las vegas.
but its not an entirely downer film like the aforementioned. without wishing to give the game away, the ending is not tragic, nor is it a nauseating, formulaic happy ending that wrecks a film - u want these guys to make it, they are the ultimate underdogs whose love for one another flips his bad luck into good, who make a very bold break to escape the wrath of their soul destroying casino life and vicious boss, toward moving onto a normal, happy life together, against all odds, literally.
a must see, particularly if you've ever felt owned by your own boss.
william macy's character is a chronic loser, forever reliable jinx, who sabotages a hot gaming table the second he steps up to it. And that's his job, and he does it well, too well for boss alec baldwin, playing an old school casino boss who doesnt want to 'evolve' into a modernised steve wynn type, likes his casino old vegas, hard nosed, scummy style, where cheats still get beaten within an inch of their lives in the back.
but macy's luck changes when he stumbles across a new cocktail waitress who works alongside him and things dont go quite as the boss planned.
it is the perfect story of a lovable loser, played impeccably by william macy and the very unlikely romance between him and this waitress, whose character, messed up broken blonde, is reminiscent of elisabeth shue in leaving las vegas.
but its not an entirely downer film like the aforementioned. without wishing to give the game away, the ending is not tragic, nor is it a nauseating, formulaic happy ending that wrecks a film - u want these guys to make it, they are the ultimate underdogs whose love for one another flips his bad luck into good, who make a very bold break to escape the wrath of their soul destroying casino life and vicious boss, toward moving onto a normal, happy life together, against all odds, literally.
a must see, particularly if you've ever felt owned by your own boss.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Amazon - check your facts
Yes, I did purchase THE COOLER.
What you have clearly overlooked is the fact that I queried with Amazon if this dvd title had subtitles. Read more
What you have clearly overlooked is the fact that I queried with Amazon if this dvd title had subtitles. Read more
Published 10 months ago by P. J. Hack
cool stuff
a very good film, no special effects, no computer animation, just honest acting, a rare thing to find these days
Published 14 months ago by Jason Fortune
Cool !
Sweet film without all the stunts and CGI. Instead they spent the money on developing a decent scipt that unfolds well and gives you a few suprizes
Published 16 months ago by A. Ray
Ok plot - great acting.
This is a very engrossing little film that really benfits from the exemplary acting and direction of all involved. Read more
Published 16 months ago by I. Stuart
Reccommended by Amazon
This was reccommended by amazon for me to watch and thank god i did. Im a thirty odd year old man who loves action horror and violence movies but this movie hit me right in the... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Paul T
not cool at all
Another film spoilt by the hollywood touch , why in films do average men get to sleep with vogue front cover models half their age ? Read more
Published on 18 Sep 2007 by Mark Wharton
Outstanding Performances in an All Around Good Movie
Shelly Kaplow is an old fashioned casino owner in this brilliant Wayne Kramer film. Shelly is played perfectly by a once lost actor Alex Baldwin, whose previous failures as a... Read more
Published on 16 July 2007 by K. Driscoll
Cooling Las Vegas..!!
A great film. The opening sequence is one of the best I have seen and gives great images of Las Vegas - reminds me of when I was there last..!! Read more
Published on 25 July 2006 by N. G. Jnr
A very cool film.
I had not heard much about The cooler, but did remember it getting good reviews upon its cinema release,so I thought I'd rent it as I'm a big fan on Maria Bello as... Read more
Published on 23 Jan 2006 by DVD Fan
Be prepared to suspend disbelief
In the most important sense this is a "premise" movie, the premise being that Bernie Lootz (William H. Read more
Published on 16 Jan 2006 by Dennis Littrell
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