The Cooler (2003)
Country: US
Technical: DeLuxe/Super 35 102m
Director: Wayne Kramer
Cast: William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Alec Baldwin, Paul Sorvino
Synopsis:
A Las Vegas casino employs a 'cooler', a man whose luck is so bad it affects the good fortune of those whose gaming table he visits. When for the first time in years he finds love in his life, the jinx disappears. Meanwhile the employer is fighting an attempt by his underworld chums to jettison just those elements of old time casino-running of which the cooler is emblematic (the unorthodox, the sentimental, etc.).
Review:
A whimsical premise sits uneasily amid all the sleaze and violence that is shown, not for the first time, to lie behind the Vegas façade. Baldwin's is the plum role, as a thug manager no doubt nostalgic for the days of Bugsy Siegel and the Rat Pack, who is unprincipled enough to cripple his best friend and O/D another, but nevertheless lets show a couple of chinks in the armour when it comes to rubbing out his erstwhile partner and the latter's cocktail waitress lover. It's a monumental performance, reminiscent of Danny Aiello's similar stand in Dinner Rush, and it saves the film from a number of directorial faux pas.
Country: US
Technical: DeLuxe/Super 35 102m
Director: Wayne Kramer
Cast: William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Alec Baldwin, Paul Sorvino
Synopsis:
A Las Vegas casino employs a 'cooler', a man whose luck is so bad it affects the good fortune of those whose gaming table he visits. When for the first time in years he finds love in his life, the jinx disappears. Meanwhile the employer is fighting an attempt by his underworld chums to jettison just those elements of old time casino-running of which the cooler is emblematic (the unorthodox, the sentimental, etc.).
Review:
A whimsical premise sits uneasily amid all the sleaze and violence that is shown, not for the first time, to lie behind the Vegas façade. Baldwin's is the plum role, as a thug manager no doubt nostalgic for the days of Bugsy Siegel and the Rat Pack, who is unprincipled enough to cripple his best friend and O/D another, but nevertheless lets show a couple of chinks in the armour when it comes to rubbing out his erstwhile partner and the latter's cocktail waitress lover. It's a monumental performance, reminiscent of Danny Aiello's similar stand in Dinner Rush, and it saves the film from a number of directorial faux pas.
Country: US
Technical: DeLuxe/Super 35 102m
Director: Wayne Kramer
Cast: William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Alec Baldwin, Paul Sorvino
Synopsis:
A Las Vegas casino employs a 'cooler', a man whose luck is so bad it affects the good fortune of those whose gaming table he visits. When for the first time in years he finds love in his life, the jinx disappears. Meanwhile the employer is fighting an attempt by his underworld chums to jettison just those elements of old time casino-running of which the cooler is emblematic (the unorthodox, the sentimental, etc.).
Review:
A whimsical premise sits uneasily amid all the sleaze and violence that is shown, not for the first time, to lie behind the Vegas façade. Baldwin's is the plum role, as a thug manager no doubt nostalgic for the days of Bugsy Siegel and the Rat Pack, who is unprincipled enough to cripple his best friend and O/D another, but nevertheless lets show a couple of chinks in the armour when it comes to rubbing out his erstwhile partner and the latter's cocktail waitress lover. It's a monumental performance, reminiscent of Danny Aiello's similar stand in Dinner Rush, and it saves the film from a number of directorial faux pas.