The Cooler Movie – The Most Improbable Love Story
Infamous for glitz, flashy lights, and gambling, Sin City is not a romantic destination. But this did not stop director and co-writer, Wayne Kramer, to tell a captivating story. The Cooler movie is about a man with bad luck who despite all odds finds love in a hopeless place. This improbable love story is brought to life by the brilliant performance of William H. Macy, Maria Bello, and Alec Baldwin.
The Cooler Review – the Plot
In this part of The Cooler review, we will tell you about the movie plot. The story takes place in the one and only Sin City – Las Vegas. We follow the unluckiest man alive, Bernie Lootz, who is played by the iconic William H. Macy. His ability to jinx lucky gamblers and ruin their winning roll has secured him a job as a ‘cooler’ at an old-school casino called the Shangri-La.
There, Bernie meets Natalie (Maria Bello), a cocktail waitress, who does not seem to notice him. Despite that, the unlucky chap has fallen for her. Then, we have Alec Baldwin’s character, Shelly, who is the casino manager – a though fellow that still lives in the long past Golden Days of Vegas.
Everything changes when the owners decide to hire a consultant, Lary (Ron Livingston), whose job is to outline new policies to bring more money. This, of course, does sit well with Shelly’s old-school view on how to run the business. On top of that, Bernie decides to take a week off and leave town.
Shortly after the cooler shares his plans with his boss, Bernie saves Natalie from an abusive customer. Against all odds, the two of them start dating and fall in love with each other. Surprisingly, all it took to break Bernie’s bad luck was a true love kiss. However, this meant that he could no longer cool-off hot tables which intervened with Shelly’s plans.
Bernie tells Natalie that he wants to leave Las Vegas in the coming week, but she is unwilling to follow him. Now that the happiness is broken, the bad luck returns, and Bernie goes back to business as usual. After an unsuccessful try to cool off a hot table, Shelly calls Bernie and Natalie at his office.
Then, Shelly reveals that he hired Natalie to keep Bernie in town, and not to make him lucky. The casino manager tries to meddle more into their relationship by pushing the waitress to leave Vegas. However, her love for Shelly is real and at the end they both leave town for good. According to The Guardian the actors’ performances saved the movie.
The Cooler Movie Cast, Ratings, and More
Wayne Kramer directed The Cooler and co-wrote it with Frank Hannah. This Oscar-nominated production has an estimated budget of $3,200,000, which is practically nothing compared to the $100 million spent on another 2003 movie, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Despite that, the indie film scored over $10 million in the cumulative worldwide gross box office.
The main character, Bernie Loots, is played by the one and only William H. Macy. His beloved, Natalie is brought to life by Maria Bello, and we see Alec Baldwin as the old-school casino manager, Shelly. Critics noted time and time again that the success of this movie was a result of the performance of The Cooler movie cast.
| Name: | The Cooler |
| Release Date: | 2003 |
| Genres: | Drama, Romance |
| Worldwide Box Office: | $10,464,788 |
| Director: | Wayne Kramer |
| Writers: | Frank Hannah, Wayne Kramer |
| Stars: | William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Alec Baldwin |
| Runtime: | 102 minutes |
Rolling Stone even went as far as writing that one of Mr Macy’s best performances was as Bernie. That is not to say that Alec Baldwin’s award-winning acting skills were not noticed by critics. There is more; this movie is well received by the wide audience as well. Let’s take a look at what people said about The Cooler.
We have turned to the two most popular movie online databases, IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes for more details. The Cooler movie was rated by over 32k people on IMDb and it received a score of 6.9 out of 10. Also, this indie film got a positive review by approved Tomatometer critics on Rotten Tomatoes and it is ‘certifiably fresh’.
The Gambling Games in The Cooler Movie
Since this is an independent movie, the focus is on the personal relationships between the characters. But because the action is taking place in Vegas, gambling is inevitable. Without a doubt, Bernie playing craps at the Shangri-La casino is the most memorable gambling moment of The Cooler movie.
Undeniably, craps is a popular casino game which can be often found at American land-based casinos. Nowadays, you can play this and any other casino game at some of the top casino sites in the USA. However, you might be surprised that craps is not as common as blackjack or roulette at online operators.
Watch The Cooler Movie Online
With so many on-demand streaming platforms, we rarely buy any DVDs. This is why we went the extra mile and found out for you, which streaming platforms offer The Cooler movie online. All that is left for you to do is to make the popcorn, sit down, dim the lights, and relax.
| Netflix: | Yes |
| Disney+: | No |
| Amazon Prime Video: | Yes |
| Apple TV+: | No |
| Now TV: | Yes |
| HBO GO: | Yes |
| Hulu: | Yes |
The Cooler Movie Awards and Nominations
The Cooler won four movie awards in total. To our surprise, Macy’s brilliant performance as Bernie was not rewarded. However, Maria Bello won best supporting actress with for playing Natalie in this film. Moreover, the role of the tough casino manager brought Baldwin three awards for best-supporting actor. On top of that, the film received many award nominations. Here, you can see all the awards that The Cooler movie has won:
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor | Alec Baldwin |
| Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | Maria Bello |
| Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor | Alec Baldwin |
| Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor | Alec Baldwin |
This film received 8 award nominations in total, including an Oscar one. It is no surprise that Alec Baldwin received four nominations, considering that this is one of his most iconic performances. In addition to the above-mentioned, the actor got nominated for supporting actor in the Golden Globe Awards, the Academy Awards, the Satellite Awards, and the Screen Actors Guild Award. Maria Bello was also nominated in the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Golden Globe Awards.
Of course, we would not be able to enjoy this indie gem if it were not for the writers, so it is no wonder that Frank Hannah and Wayne Kramer got nominated for best original screenplay at the Satellite Awards. Also, William H. Macy was the nominee for Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. Having said all that, The Cooler can easily be considered as one of the top gambling movies with a romantic twist.
Interesting Facts About the Movie
Hollywood has always been great at making us believe that what we see is authentic by using creative filming techniques and realistic props. But sometimes even the best team leaves signs behind that this is all just a movie. That is why, we thought it would be fun to list some interesting facts about The Cooler which you can share with your friends during trivia night.
For starters, the idea that Las Vegas casinos hire individuals with bad luck to cool off a hot table is entirely fictional. This is not to say that there are not industry tricks that weigh the scales in the advantage of the house, but this is a whole different topic of discussion.
Moving forward, we must note that there is a lot of cursing in this movie. A particular F-word was said 101 times during the 101-minute-long film, basically once every 60 seconds. Another interesting piece of trivia is that the whole movie was shot over three weeks in Reno, Nevada. What is more, The Cooler is the only film that features an Oscar-nominated performance by Alec Baldwin.
Let’s circle back to more interesting facts about The Cooler. Macy’s character only wore three suits during the whole movie. The director used different clothing size and colour as well as lighting to show the audience how Bernie’s luck was changing. Oh, and we could not help but notice a rookie mistake at the beginning of the movie – the croupier puts the win market on double zero while the ball is still in motion.
Final Thoughts About the Movie
All in all, this is a great movie that focuses on the love and work-life of what seems to be an ordinary man living in Sin City. Obviously, there is gambling involved; it is Vegas after all. Truth be told, the film has a few interesting and unexpected twists, but what really sold us was Baldwin’s award-winning performance. We think that if you like drama and romance movies, then you will enjoy watching The Cooler movie online.
Frequently Asked Questions
Hopefully, The Cooler movie review has answered all your queries about the film. While some of you might be already making the popcorn, we know that others might not be sure yet. In that case, we think it might help you decide if you read the most common questions about the film.
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