Lucky in Love

Las Vegas, Nevada, the other city that never sleeps, was built on hopes and dreams. A gambling mecca set in the middle of nowhere, it draws millions of tourists to the steamy desert with hopes of striking it rich on one roll of the dice, a winning hand at 21, or a spin of the roulette wheel.

More often than not however it is the place of lost dreams. No shortage of those same tourists leave with a lighter wallet than when they arrived. Fortunes are lost, marriages destroyed, gambling addictions worsened. The odds are always in favor of the house and yet they still come.

The grim reality of Las Vegas is the backdrop for a new romantic comedy-drama The Cooler, in which the main characters all seem to have come to terms with the bad hand they’ve been dealt, yet also appear resistant to efforts to change their luck.

Veteran character actor William H. Macy plays Bernie Lootz, an habitual loser at life itself so down on his luck he has been employed by a casino to share his bad karma with any winning patrons. He’s a “cooler” who by his mere presence can turn a hot hand ice cold.

He got the job because he owes money to Shelly (Alec Baldwin) the mobbed-up manager of an aging casino that is barely profitable. While the glitzy corporate-owned casino-hotels on the strip are all catering to families and tourists less interested in gambling, the Golden Shangri La is a dinosaur and everyone but Shelly seems to know it.

When Bernie is just days away from paying off his debt and blowing town, Natalie (Maria Bello), a cocktail waitress and fellow survivor, comes into his life and turns it inside out. Unlucky in love and gambling, to his complete surprise Bernie has someone who actually finds him charming. (Go figure a movie about a loser named Bernie!) Suddenly his life has meaning and purpose. His cat comes back, his plants start growing again and his suits fit a little better.

But Bernie’s good luck is bad luck for Shelly, because the cooler no longer has a chilling effect on the gamblers. And because Shelly is now getting pressure to make major changes from a new college-educated VP (Ron Livingston), Shelly passes his discomfort downward by attempting to break up the relationship.

This is the kind of quirky little picture in which Macy really shines. Previous turns as the lovable loser in Fargo and Boogie Nights no doubt helped shape writer-director Wayne Kramer’s casting decision. His hang dog baggy faced expression just always makes him believable in these types of roles.

The acting throughout this picture is exemplary and often rises above the material they have to work with. Baldwin’s casino boss is a character we have seen before but his portrayal is framed by the changing market pressures he’s confronted with. Paul Sorvino has a small, yet poignant role as an aging lounge singer and NSync’s Joey Fatone is amusing as his up-and-coming replacement.

The sense that everyone in this town is trapped in one way or another seems to permeate the movie. They all came wanting to make it then somehow got stuck there just scraping by. It is a bittersweet story with a conclusion that is two parts improbable and one part formulaic, but in the end fitting.

Posted by bernie at December 29, 2003 11:23 PM