Review of The Cooler (2003) by Natalie M — 03 Mar 2010
Lady Luck falls for a crippled Nervous Nelly from across a craps table. Okay, not what we're accustomed to when it comes to more traditional Vegas/Casino tales, but effective nonetheless. William H.
Macy's Bernie Lootz is almost as pathetic as his Jerry Lundegaard from Fargo...except you're rooting for Bernie all the way in this one! Maria Bello is delicious as always and Alec Baldwin supplies a charismatic concoction of traditional cool and ape-shit bad-assness with such vigor, that we keep searching for the soul within Shelly Kaplow, despite his extreme viciousness.
The film is not without it's flaws (a silly tail-end gag just comes off as being juvenile and uneeded), however, "The Cooler" is a sweet, underdog in Vegas song that's got lots of charm and a decent amount of bite as well.
This review of The Cooler (2003) was written by Natalie M on 03 Mar 2010.
The Cooler has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
