Macy is a professional loser in 'The Cooler'

Friday, January 16, 2004

By Barry Paris, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Bad luck is both a commodity and an art form in the person of Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy), congenital gambler: He's the Mozart or Michelangelo of losers. His luck is so pathologically bad, it's contagious. Bernie's mere presence at a gaming table causes people to lose.

	'THE COOLER' Rating: R for language and violence. Starring: William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin, Maria Bello, Paul Sorvino. Director: Wayne Kramer.

This is a valuable skill to his boss, Shelly (Alec Baldwin), at the Shangri-La Casino, where Bernie is gainfully employed as a "cooler" -- the guy summoned by security-cam snoops to terminate any patron's hot streak that gets too hot for the cash-flow comfort of the house.

Bernie's personal life mirrors his professional distinction: His marriage was a bust, his son won't talk to him, he hasn't had a date since the Carter Administration. Even his cat ran away.

Enter Natalie (Maria Bello), a new cocktail waitress at Shangri-La, who sweeps Bernie off his crippled feet (Shelly previously maimed him for an unpaid gambling debt). Nice guy, that Shelly -- who can't afford to let him quit and live happily ever after with Natalie. You can check out of the Shangri-La, but evidently you can never leave. ...

"The Cooler" is a diabolically seriocomic tale -- more serio than comic -- co-written and directed by first-timer Wayne Kramer, whose fascination is with old-time Las Vegas, as represented by the Shangri-La: No indoor roller coasters or Siegfried & Roy here. Just no-frills tables for hardcore addicts, bolstered by Shelly's hardcore refusal to "update" the seedy facility. His Shangri-La -- like that of Capra's "Lost Horizon" -- is a place where nothing ever changes.

Nobody plays losers any better than William H. Macy, whose immortal Jerry Lundegaard in "Fargo" still resonates after eight years. But here, Macy plays a loser with a twist -- the twist being that, for the first time in many successful film roles, he is also the romantic lead. ("I don't even like to watch love scenes, let alone do them," the delightfully honest Macy confessed recently.) He is a sweet if unlikely lover in the film's tasteful sex sequences.

Baldwin as the edgy, dangerous, control freak Shelly is strangely likeable, while Paul Sorvino -- as pathetic as Baldwin is empathetic -- gives a fine supporting performance in the role of an over-the-hill nightclub crooner and heroin addict.

"The Cooler" was actually shot at the old Flamingo Casino in Reno, as opposed to Vegas -- a properly down-at-the-heel venue. Spending a couple hours there with Macy, you can understand his longing: "All I want to do is go somewhere where I can tell night from day -- somewhere with clocks on the wall."

The film's absurd, impossibly happy ending makes no sense, but you'll enjoy the process of getting there.

Barry Paris can be reached at 412-263-3859.

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