The Cooler (2003)

Like a long night at a Las Vegas casino, The Cooler is a lot of fun early in the evening, when the Rat Pack ambiance is novel, but gets bleary by 4 a.m. in the story. And like a lot of bettors and developing screenwriters, Wayne Kramer -- who cowrote the script with Frank Hannah and also makes his personable feature directorial debut -- believes in magical Lady Luck as a market force with more insistent conviction than the average lottery-ticket buyer. Still, Kramer's sexy, redolently seedy-looking indie is a swell, swingin', low-stakes card game.

And William H. Macy and Alec Baldwin make a couple of terrific headliners. Macy plays Bernie Lootz, whose name telegraphs his fate: Bernie's a sad sack whose loser vibe is so powerfully contagious that he's employed to''cool'' the luck of hot-streak players at the second-tier casino where he has run up a huge gambling debt. Baldwin is Shelly Kaplow, Bernie's employer and friend (never mind that he once kneecapped the yutz), in a great, beefy, ice-cube-rattling performance as a so-so-fella. Bernie's luck changes -- to Shelly's revenue-counting dismay -- when he falls in love with a cocktail waitress (Maria Bello); Macy's repertoire of lovable-lame roles expands when he gets graphically lucky in the sack. Then he becomes the Warmer.

You Might Also Like

• DVD Review The Cooler (Apr 27, 2004) | Jeff Labrecque
• Movie News Why Alec Baldwin could win an Oscar (Nov 26, 2003) | Tom Sinclair
• Movie Commentary Alec Baldwin is among this year's EW.com Award winners (Nov 26, 2003)
• Movie Commentary Who's up for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar (Nov 21, 2003)
• Movie Commentary Who's up for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar (Aug 15, 2003)
• Movie News The story behind ''Shortcut to Happiness'' (2002) | Erin E. Stevenson