A movie starring William H. Macy, Maria Bello, and Alec Baldwin. Released 2004 and nominated for 2 Golden Globes and an Academy Award Nomination for Mr. Baldwin. In my opinion, this movie left something, I'm not even sure what, to be desired.
Set in Vegas, Macy plays the lead as 'a cooler' at one of the last old school casinos in town. The Cooler's job is to turn winners into losers. Macy's character is so down and has such bad luck he can turn the hottest player into the most unlucky poor soul in a heartbeat, just by being near them.
Baldwin, the casino manager, runs it using the older techniques, complete with beating up cheaters and manipulating employees.
Bello, who becomes a romantic love interest of Mr. Unlucky, is not what she seems. The drama only gets higher and deeper as the movie goes.
A twist here, a turn there and vuela...what do we have? A twisty turny movie...duh!
The acting? Pretty good. The story? Ehh, it was ok but it was a 'just another movie' kind of a plot. The directing? I liked it actually. I liked it.
In summation. A bit too much skin for my liking, but an ok film. Not going on my recommendation list and I'm not going to go buy it, but an ok film.
The Cooler's Website
Archived 09/28/04
