The Cooler

[Edgy MD]

William H. Macy is Charlie, the unluckiest gambler ever, so a mob-run casino has him hired out to go from table to table jinxing people.

Alec Baldwin portays the casino manager, trying to keep his place old-school in the face of the Disneyfication of Vegas. Maria Bello is Natalie, the X-factor that may change Charlie's luck.

[soupcan]

Loved this movie, Macy, Baldwin & Bello were all great and the title was good too.

[Elster88]

I saw this movie about a year ago, didn't think there would be a response if I started a thread.

4 stars.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Rented this because of this thread.

Eh, it was OK. I never really bought the whole "cooler" concept ... but after the guy turned "lucky," why isn't gambling the very first thing he did? I liked what happened to the kid, anyhow.

[Vic Sage]

love this movie. Maybe Baldwin's best performance ever.

[Edgy MD]

Not a long list of competitors. Nor is it a big departure for Baldwin. Best of Baldwin's monotone thugs? Why not? Shelly was a complex malefactor.

Why does Dickshot's post read like it's from Norrin. I agreed with him, by the way. I'm shaking the screen going, "Go to the casino next door and break the bank there, you mook."

Anyone believe Joey Fatone's headlining act could turn around the attraction of the casino's theater?

[RealityChuck]

Nice performance by Macy and Baldwin.

The concept of "cooler" is silly, but it was fun to see Macy turn from schlub to big shot.

[Willets Point]

Is this a biopic about Alex Rodriguez?

[Guest sharpie]

Saw this on teevee last night 'cause it was too hot to sleep. Macy is the king of schlubby working stiff parts. The whole cooler concept didn't really work for me but the performances were good. Not great, not bad. Three star flick for me.

[Vic Sage]

l love the matter-of-factness with which the "cooler' notion is accepted. It's like a kind of literary magical realism, a universe where such things happen and are acceptable.

It works best as character study than as pure narrative. And Macy and Baldwin make compellinng, complex characters worth studying.

[Vic Sage]

Alec Baldwin - he has made an awful lot of awful movies, with 45 features in 20 years (some just voice overs), but not even including all of his TV stuff, too. Alec likes the paycheck.

Brooklyn Rules (2007) .... Caesar Manganaro
Suburban Girl (2007) .... Archie Knox
The Good Shepherd (2006) .... Sam Murach
Running with Scissors (2006) .... Norman Burroughs
The Departed (2006) .... Ellerby
Mini's First Time (2006) .... Martin
Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) .... Jack McCallister
Elizabethtown (2005) .... Phil DeVoss
The Aviator (2004) .... Juan Trippe
The Last Shot (2004) .... Joe Devine
The Devil and Daniel Webster (2004) .... Jabez Stone
Along Came Polly (2004) .... Stan Indursky
The Cat in the Hat (2003) .... Quinn
The Cooler (2003) .... Shelly Kaplow
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) (voice) .... Narrator
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) (voice) .... Capt. Gray Edwards
Cats & Dogs (2001) (voice) .... Butch
Pearl Harbor (2001) .... Lt. Col. James Doolittle
State and Main (2000) .... Bob Barrenger
Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000) .... Mr. Conductor
Outside Providence (1999) .... Old Man Dunphy
Scout's Honor (1999) .... Todd Fitter
The Confession (1999) .... Roy Bleakie
Mercury Rising (1998) .... Nicholas Kudrow
Thick as Thieves (1998) .... Mackin, 'The Thief'
The Edge (1997) .... Robert Green
Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) .... Bobby DeLaughter
Heaven's Prisoners (1996) .... Dave Robicheaux
The Juror (1996) .... Teacher
The Shadow (1994) .... Lamont Cranston / The Shadow
The Getaway (1994) .... Carter 'Doc' McCoy
Malice (1993) .... Dr. Jed Hill
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) .... Blake
Prelude to a Kiss (1992) .... Peter Hoskins
The Marrying Man (1991) .... Charley Pearl
Alice (1990) .... Ed
Miami Blues (1990) .... Frederick J. Frenger Jr.
The Hunt for Red October (1990) .... Jack Ryan
Great Balls of Fire! (1989) .... Jimmy Swaggart
Talk Radio (1988) .... Dan
Working Girl (1988) .... Mick Dugan
Married to the Mob (1988) .... 'Cucumber' Frank de Marco
Beetle Juice (1988) .... Adam
She's Having a Baby (1988) .... Davis McDonald
Forever Lulu (1987) .... Buck

[metirish]

I remember liking Outside Providence , calling your son "dildo" is a nice touch.

[Benjamin Grimm]

At what point would you say Alec Baldwin went from "leading man" type to character actor? (Or, do you not agree that that happened?)

I remember, around the time of "Malice" he seemed to be on or approaching the A-list.

But by the time of "Along Came Polly" he was more of a comic supporting character type.

I don't think I saw any of the films he made in the 11 years between those two, so I don't know if he made a gradual or sudden change.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Talk Radio (1988) .... Dan

Saw this on Teevee the other day for the first time in years and had forgotten Baldwin was in it. I love Bogosian's furious monlogues while the camera circles him.

You're LYING. You're a sexually repressed woman liviung in a DREAMWORLD.

[Willets Point]

Perhaps Alec Baldwin is challenging Rod Steiger for the most connected actor.

[soupcan]

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) .... Blake

This movie had a cast including Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey, Alan Arkin, and Ed Harris.

After watching it I remember thinking that with this one scene, Alec Baldwin stole it.

"Coffee is for closers..."

[Guest AG/DC]

Big deal. He can play unrepentant major league assholes.

He stole nothing.

[Centerfield]

I thought this movie was great.

Maria Bello = Top 5.

[soupcan]

AG/DC wrote: He stole nothing.

I respectfully disagree.

Centerfield wrote: Maria Bello = Top 5.

I wholeheartedly agree.

[Guest AG/DC]

Don't you think he was the same guy there that he was on the voice mail he left for his daughter, the same as the righteous would-be political zealot threatening to stone Henry Hyde to death on Conan O'Brien?

Look at this asshole in Malice. He loves the idea that he's getting paid to be the asshole, but, look closely, and it's clear he doesn't know what "cardio-thoracic" means.