Romance

Drama

The Cooler

Pierce/Williams Entertainment

ContentFilm

Lions Gate Films

United Kingdom

United States of America

English

William H. Macy

Alec Baldwin

Maria Bello

Shawn Hatosy

Ron Livingston

Paul Sorvino

Estella Warren

Arthur J. Nascarella

Joey Fatone

M.C. Gainey

Ellen Greene

Don Scribner

Tony Longo

Richard Israel

Timothy Landfield

T.J. Gioia

Jewel Shepard

Gordon Michaels

Doc Watson

Dan Lemieux

Larry Elliott

Joe Conti

Chris Platt

Norbert Ganska

Mitch Samboceti

Andrew Simbeck

Danny Grossen

Jeff Hill

Monet Beaman

Charlie Carr

Kanie Kastroll

Bryon Baker

John Kozeluh

Cherilyn Hayres

Jim McCarthy

Frank Hannah

Heather McHenry

Mónika Balla

John Schmidt

Joe Madden

Edward R. Pressman

Robert Gryphon

James Whitaker

Wayne Kramer

Alessandro Camon

Brett Morrison

Mark Isham

Arthur Coburn

Travis Zariwny

Howard London

John Sievert

Richard L. Fox

Heather Grierson

Steve Copley

Elliot Lewis Rosenblatt

Terry Hargis

Byron Wilson

Erin Fite

Brad North

Anita Louise Brown

Stephen R. Sheridan

Blake Busby

Carol Strong

Casey Mako

Jamie Maheu

Wendy Weidman

Eric A. Norris

Michael Adkisson

Bryan Furst

Amanda Mackey

Jon Taylor

Jeremy Oddo

Sig De Miguel

Scott A. Hecker

Molly Grundman-Gerbosi

Heidi Higginbotham

Cathy Sandrich Gelfond

Heather Cummings

Daniel Curet

Stephen Halbert

Tateum Kohut

Steven J. Vana

Javier M. Hernández

Anna Malkin

Derek Vaughn

Andrew Midgley

Diana Tauder

David Weisberg

Phillip Palousek

Michael A. Pierce

Sean Furst

Toby Corbett

Kristin M. Burke

Alice Baker

Rebecca Poulos

Jim Sheldon

Noon Orsatti

Robin Bonaccorsi

CinemaSerf

“Bernie” (William H. Macy) is the casino equivalent of “Eeyore”. He sits beside the gamblers and makes sure that his doom and gloom philosophy wears off on them and they lose cash. No, it doesn’t sound very scientific but his boss “Shelley” (Alec Baldwin) believes in it and as they cleared $32 millions there last year, well maybe he is right. This technique is one of a few, though, that are causing the gangster owners to begin to consider if maybe there needs to be changes and so now would not be a good time for “Bernie” to move on. Suddenly, he encounters “Natalie” (Maria Bello) to whom he immediately takes a shine and you can only imagine his shock when she reciprocates. Quickly, they begin to fall for each other but isn’t all of this just a little too convenient? Just to add to the confusion, son “Mikey” (Shawn Hatosy) shows up with his expectant girlfriend and clumsily has a go at fleecing the tables! With these storylines gradually knitting together we have to wonder if any of them have any chance of finding happiness or fulfilment. Macy is perfectly cast for this, with his innate hangdog expression and his conveying of a plausible sense of amazement when he manages to hook up with “Natalie”. The rest of it, though, is a bit predictable and the latter half increasingly peters out as nobody quite seems to know how they want this to end. When it does, there’s something straight out of Buster Keaton mixed with a dose of Martin Scorsese that I though a bit daft. It’s watchable enough, but Baldwin exudes all the menace of a meringue and I found it just a bit disappointing.

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William H. Macy

Alec Baldwin

Maria Bello

Shawn Hatosy

Ron Livingston

Paul Sorvino

Estella Warren

Arthur J. Nascarella

Joey Fatone

M.C. Gainey

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