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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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The Cooler The Cooler features a trio of fine actors. William H. Macy is a lovable loser named Bernie who works in a Vegas casino. His job is as a cooler. If a patron is on a hot streak, all Bernie has to do is walk past, and the gambler's luck changes. Bernie hasn't had much luck himself, and he's resigned to his fate. That is, until a pretty cocktail waitress named Natalie (Maria Bello) walks into his life. Then suddenly everything changes, and it's not just Bernie's job as a cooler that's in jeopardy. The most interesting performance in the movie belongs to Alec Baldwin, as an old-time casino manager named Shelly, who's also Bernie's boss and best friend. Baldwin has always been a fantastic storyteller (his appearance on a talk show is worth programming Tivo for), and he has several monologues in The Cooler that are just priceless. His character believes in the old ways. You don't report a cheater to the gaming commission, you take him out back and take a whack at his legs. You don't hire some former Backstreet Boy to sing in your lounge, you stick with the old Rat Pack imitator even if he is washed up. And you definitely don't remodel the joint just so you can put in a few more boutique shops. But time is marching on, and Shelly is seeming more and more out of touch. The Cooler has a number of nice moments, but it also has some explicit violence and sex that come out of nowhere. It's odd, as the movie is likely to appeal to exactly the kind of people--older audiences--who will be put off by the introduction of knee-cappings and full-frontal nudity. The film also never gets past a superficial exploration of the idea of Lady Luck. In contrast to last winter's Intacto, a fantastic Spanish film featuring Max von Sydow, The Cooler seems lamely superficial. And when the movie ends with various shots of old Vegas landmarks collapsing, I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to laugh ironically or wipe a tear away. Unfortunately, I did neither. J. Robert Parks 1/17/2004
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