The Cooler (new movie)
 

Caught a sneak preview of The Cooler last night, starring William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin and Maria Bello. It was a really great flick and if you're into well-acted dramas (like many of the others that Macy and Baldwin have been in), I think you'll like it.

The Cooler is a movie all about luck. Macy plays a character named Bernie, who works for Shelly (Baldwin) at the Shangri-La casino in Las Vegas. Bernie is a "cooler-" someone who has such terrible luck that all he needs to do is walk by a casino table and he spreads that bad luck on to players. He's almost infallible. During his last week at the Shangri-La, he meets Natalie (Bello), a cocktail waitress at the casino. He falls in love. And his luck begins to change.

I won't go into any more than that, as there were lots of twists and turns that really surprised me. The plot has its moments that seemed a bit unrealistic to me (just based on the principles of extreme luck in either direction), but this is a real acting movie, where it's really all about the performances. William H. Macy is touching as a man who has let a self-fulfilling prophesy get the best of him. Macy has always been good at playing vulnerable types. He follows in that tradition here, but we also get to see him agonizing with himself over some major decisions and we get to witness, from the very start, how he falls in love.

Alec Baldwin is best in supporting roles, in my opinion. This role reminded me, at times, of his work in Glengarry Glen Ross. In the movie, his casino is one of the only ones that has not modernized to take advantage of current culture, and a team of younger people (led by Ron Livingston from Office Space, holding his own quite well against Baldwin) have been brought in to convince Shelly that he needs to renovate and stop living in the past. Shelly is faced with many internal conflicts stemming from his inability to see past the business end of things. He is truly a scary character in this movie, and also quite sad. A fantastic performance.

Maria Bello also did a very convincing job. I haven't seen her in anything else. She is much younger than William H. Macy, and at first, it's a little jarring (as it is to the characters in the movie) to see someone so beautiful with someone like Macy. However, soon there's no question about how much she loves him and what she will do to be with him.

The movie has its humor, and there are a few nude scenes with Bello (yay!) and Macy (boo!). I read that the movie actually had to do some re-editing to duck an NC-17 rating. I saw the scene where presumably they were threatened with the rating, and as always, it really wasn't a big deal at all.

The movie doesn't hit NY and LA officially until November 26th, and won't be in all theaters until December 19th, so most likely this post will get lost in the shuffle. Just keep it in mind if you're looking for a drama (with sprinkles of comedy) that features some excellent acting.

Here's the Official Website for more info and trailers and such.

I saw this movie after a one-hour Q&A with Maria Bello. Most of my thoughts on the Q&A aren't really about the movie, but they're in my journal if you'd like to read them.

Wow, after seeing the trailer and reading this reveiw(A rather lengthly one I might add!), I really want to see this movie. If its as good as you say it is, u'm sure I wont be dissapointed by it.

Thanks!

I'll remember it when it hits the street thanks to your having brought it to my attention here.

appreciated!

Yea, I saw a trailer a while back and have wanted to see it. Macy's characters are always great. Especially films (as you said) where we plays someone vulnerable.

Can't wait to see it

This sounds like a definite must see. I've always liked Macy.

Veritas en Lux!
Jimmy The Hutt

I was looking through the pictures of Maria Bello on IMDB and there were a ton of pictures with her and Carrie Anne Moss. Does anybody know if they are an item?

BTW The Cooler looks like a really cool film.

If it's got Macy in it, I'll defintely check it out.

Anybody here see him in "Door-To-Door"?

On the same site, it says she has a boyfriend and they have a child together.

From the pics, it looks like they were just at a few independent movie functions at the same time.

I love that if two women are seen together, there's a good possibility that they're lesbians. Wishful thinking, Bonesaw? :)

Jon Livingston is in it?? Wow, it just got added to "The List". Thanks...

I think you mean Ron Livingston, right? From Office Space? Honestly, I think I'll see him in anything. :)

DOH. Yes, that is exactly who I meant, heh...

They could be in Bound 2 :p

Macy's the man. I try to see all his work.

Macy is a great actor, One of my favorite. He can bring any character to life. I've been reading about it for a long time waiting for it to come to DVD since I know the theaters here will never get it. Usually I'm not a fan of Alec Baldwin but he seems to fit his role looks pretty good in this movie.

Just rented the DVD the other night. Excellent movie!

it seems a lot like a comedic Intacto. Anyone seen both and care to comment?

...hmmm, it's not a comedy.

I liked it. Quite a bit. But a lot of people complain about movies like this simply because they're slow-paced. Alec Baldwin is great in it also.

I thought Intacto was far more involving and intelligent, but also very slow paced. I liked it myself, but wouldn't reccomend it to too many people I know.

I thought this movie was good, mainly because I'm into the whole poker scene and anything related to casions is interesting to me, but i have to agree with others out there - this movie was a bit slow paced. I even fell asleep and had to finish it the next day....but not too bad in the end, I liked how it ended and it definitely wasn't one of the worst movie I've seen....

This has piqued my interest. Cant wait to see.

Netflix is bringing it on Monday so I'm happy.