The Cooler
Directed by	Wayne Kramer
Produced by	Sean Furst Michael A. Pierce
Written by	Frank Hannah Wayne Kramer
Starring	William H. Macy Alec Baldwin Maria Bello Shawn Hatosy Ron Livingston
Music by	Mark Isham
Cinematography	James Whitaker
Edited by	Arthur Coburn
Production company	Furst Films Pierce-Williams Entertainment Dog Pond Films ContentFilm Gryphon Films VisionBox
Distributed by	Lionsgate
November 26, 2003 (United States: limited)
101 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$4 million
Box office	$10 million

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The Cooler is a 2003 American romantic drama film directed by Wayne Kramer. The original screenplay was written by Kramer and Frank Hannah. In old-school gambling parlance, a casino 'cooler' is an unlucky individual, usually a casino employee, whose mere presence at the gambling tables usually results in a streak of bad luck for the other players.

Plot[edit]

Unlucky Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy) works at the Shangri-La casino as a 'cooler' - a man with professionally bad luck designed to stop people from winning. A cocktail waitress, Natalie (Maria Bello), takes no notice of Bernie, who is smitten with her. The casino manager, Shelly (Alec Baldwin) prides himself on running a 'classically' Vegas casino and resents the new places that attract a lower clientele. The owners, however, hire an advisor named Larry (Ron Livingston) to help bring in more money with techniques contrary to Shelly's outdated policies. Bernie informs Shelly that he's leaving town in a week.

After an encounter during which Bernie rescues Natalie from an aggressive customer, she appears to take an interest in him. They begin dating, but Bernie is apprehensive due to his bad luck. He reveals that he used to be a gambling addict in huge debt to several casinos. Shelly 'saved' him by breaking his kneecap and paying off his debt in exchange for Bernie's work as a cooler for 6 years, which ends at the end of the week. Bernie and Natalie run into his estranged son Mikey and his pregnant wife Charlotte who are scamming a diner by faking labor. Bernie tells Mikey to stop by sometime.

Bernie is happy with his relationship and his 'cooling' abilities fade, much to Shelly's chagrin. Legal new jersey poker sites. Mikey and Charlotte come by and Bernie gives them $3000, but Natalie is skeptical of Charlotte's behavior. When Bernie reveals to Natalie he intends to leave Vegas, she says she won't go with him, and Bernie is upset. Now unhappy, his luck turns again and he begins cooling effectively. When he intentionally fails to cool a hot table which is being cheated by Mikey, Shelly takes Mikey and Charlotte upstairs and begins beating them. Bernie promises to pay the $150,000 Mikey was up, but Shelly breaks Mikey's knee and reveals Charlotte's pregnancy was fake anyway. Though distraught, that night, Natalie and Bernie confess their love for one another and Bernie again becomes a good luck charm.

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Shelly calls Natalie to his office and reminds her that he hired her to date Bernie so he wouldn't leave Vegas, not to fall in love with him, which has made him both happy and lucky. He forces her to leave town abruptly, which hurts Bernie and ruins his luck. She does truly love Bernie, though, and returns, restoring Bernie's luck. Shelly goes to Bernie's motel room and begins packing for Natalie and hits her, cutting her face. After a tense exchange wherein she claims Bernie is the closest thing Shelly has to a friend and he doesn't want him to leave, he simply leaves her there. When Bernie comes home, she reveals Shelly hired her to pretend to like him, but she actually fell for him.

Banking on his good luck brought on by Natalie's devotion, Bernie confronts Shelly and calls him a coward with nothing in his life but the casino. Shelly lets him go on the condition he pay back the $150,000, which Bernie tries to win at craps. Bernie leaves and he and Natalie drive away from Vegas. He pulls over and reveals that he won a lot of money, but a cop approaches and readies to kill them. Shelly gets in his car and finds his partner waiting for him. On Larry's behalf, he whacks Shelly, presumably for letting Bernie go with his winnings. A drunk driver hits and kills the cop, presumably sent to whack Bernie, and Natalie and Bernie drive off.

Cast[edit]

William H. Macy as Bernard 'Bernie' Lootz
Alec Baldwin as Sheldon 'Shelly' Kaplow
Maria Bello as Natalie Belisario
Shawn Hatosy as Michael 'Mikey' Lootz
Ron Livingston as Larry Sokolov
Paul Sorvino as Buddy Stafford
Estella Warren as Charlotte
Arthur J. Nascarella as Nicky 'Fingers' Bonnatto
Joey Fatone as Johnny Cappella
Ellen Greene as Doris
MC Gainey as Highway Patrol Officer
Michelle Lopez as the Red Headed Craps Player 'cooled' by Bernie
Timothy Landfield as The Player

Production[edit]

The film premiere was at the Sundance Film Festival. The Cooler was shown at the Cannes Film Festival, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Deauville Film Festival, among others, before going into limited release in the United States. During that limited release, The Cooler was primarily shown in Reno, Nevada. The Cooler was mainly filmed in Reno at the Golden Phoenix Reno in Reno. The Golden Phoenix Hotel Casino is now a completed condominium project called The Montage.

In an episode of the Sundance Channel series Anatomy of a Scene, director Wayne Kramer and members of his cast and crew discussed various aspects of The Cooler. In order to show Bernie's evolution from loser to winner, costume designer Kristin M. Burke dressed him in suits and clothes that progressively became better fits. Early in the film, the character resembles a boy dressed in his father's oversized clothing. By the end, Bernie is not only wearing the right size suit, but he has accessorized it with a brightly colored shirt and tie that represent his sunnier disposition. Lighting schemes designed by cinematographer Jim Whitaker also contributed to documenting Bernie's progression. In early scenes, his face is kept in the shadows, but later he is filmed in a spotlight and backlit to make him stand out from everything behind him.

The Golden Phoenix Reno, which was already scheduled for a total condominium refurbishment, was used as the interior of the Shangri-La.

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