The Cooler
The Cooler is a 2003 American crime drama film directed by Wayne Kramer, from a screenplay by Frank Hannah and Kramer. The film stars William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Shawn Hatosy, Ron Livingston, Estella Warren, Paul Sorvino, and Alec Baldwin. It follows a casino "cooler" whose mere presence at the gambling tables usually results in a streak of bad luck for the other players.
Plot
In Las Vegas, unlucky Bernie Lootz works at the Shangri-La casino as a "cooler" - a man with near professionally bad luck, his presence at a casino designed to stop people from winning. A cocktail waitress, Natalie, takes no real notice of Bernie, who is smitten with her. The casino manager and partner, Shelly, prides himself on running a "classically" Las Vegas casino, and resents the new establishments that attract a lower clientele. The owners, however, hire an advisor named Larry to help bring in more money with techniques contrary to Shelly's outdated policies. Bernie informs Shelly that he is leaving town in a week.
More details
| author | Wayne Kramer |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | Las Vegas Valley |
| director | Wayne Kramer |
| editor | Arthur Coburn |
| events | gambling |
| genre | crime drama |
| keywords | bad luck beat break casino cocktail waitress crap cut drunk driver end estranged son gamble gambling addict gambling addiction las vegas motel room nothing pack pregnant wife run sleep wait win |
| musicBy | Mark Isham |
| nomination | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| producer | Michael A. Pierce Sean Furst |
| productionCompany | ContentFilm Dog Pond Productions Furst Films Gryphon Films Visionbox Pictures Zero Gravity Management |
| publisher | Lionsgate Films |
| theme | independent neo-noir romantic drama |