William H. Macy is The Cooler (2003)

Ever get that feeling like you bring bad luck to all the people around you? Has it ever gotten so extreme that you actually believe if you weren't there, this stuff wouldn't be happening to them? I know that's so irrational of a thing to think, but there are times I have wondered.

Which may be why I took such an intense fascination with The Cooler. I knew almost nothing about the movie when picking it up except that it had something to do with a casino. But for all else I knew, it was going to be about a styrofoam box full of ice and cans of soda.

William H. Macy is Bernie Lootz. He is the greatest cooler there ever was. His job, unbelievable as it might sound, is to stop by the tables where someone is on a winning streak. Then he just has to stand there and watch the winning streak come to a stop. His luck is so bad, it actually works. This is very much a delight to Shelly (Alec Baldwin) and yes, this "Shelly" is a guy who owns the casino and doesn't mind having Bernie around to save the casino from disastrously high payouts. Unfortunately, Bernie is on the last week of his six-year "career" working there to pay off a debt to Shelly.

But then things start to change. Bernie starts hanging out with Natalie (Maria Bello) and they fall in love. Bernie's luck starts changing, and with it, the luck of those around him. As he walks through the casino, the 7's line up, the blackjack dealers start busting and the roulette wheel goes all generous. Now Shelly's all p!ssed off.

Meanwhile, we have a few extraneous subplots involving Bernie's screwed-up son Johnny (Joey Fatone) and Shelly's reluctance to build a "bigger, better" casino that would pay for itself in three years.

The thing that most drew me into The Cooler was the whole magic of it all. Throughout the movie, you just have to accept that Bernie's change of luck results in a change of luck for those around him. It's not something that can be explained logically, it's just something you have to accept. And accept I did, because I love to believe that that's really the way it is, that merely having a positive attitude from the get-go can make things happen no matter how much logic defies it.

Bernie is a pretty typical role for Macy -- much like Jerry from Fargo but not quite as uh, strange. Macy's face is very photogenic, as this movie never ceases to remind us. While it's nothing new for Macy, he wears it well. As he sits alone in his bedroom listening to the primal screams of two horny lovers going at it next door, the look on his face is priceless. For anyone who might doubt his ability to play any other type of character besides the tortured introvert, check out Air Force One again. Or better yet, check out Door To Door in which he plays a salesman with cerebral palsy. Truly gripping.

I kept thinking Maria Bello was Naomi Watts. Must be a five-letter name thing. Granted, her character Natalie is a sad, humorless, walking talking cliche. But, and I don't know how else to say this, there are only so many things a person can be in this world. At least in terms of personality, perception, tendencies, attitudes, demeanor and all. Myers-Briggs narrowed it down to 16, which in itself is quite a lot. But there's a lot more than 16 movies coming out each year, cliches are pretty much unavoidable. I don't know how much more "complicated" you can make a person without making them Donnie Darko.

Alec Baldwin's Shelly faces the most complicated of situations involving the future of the Shangri-La (his casino) and the more "modern" types of entertainment they hope to impose on it, robbing its historical integrity. Within Shelly's subplots lie the most subtext, as one might compare his father-son relationship with Bernie's father-son relationship. Early in the movie, an interesting analogy is made about lions and how the leader gets replaced. The process of the Cooler getting "replaced", possibly by Shelly himself, it racks my brain just thinking about it.

A lot of people don't like the way the movie ended, which I can totally understand. But, freespirited naive goook that I am, I took it all hook, line and sinker. I find it fascinating that the movie never actually directly tells you whether a certain win occurs or not. And the whole idea of using a (can't say it) as a deus ex machina leaves you with the feeling that even Lady Luck herself is a devious being. I could've laughed all night.

There is abundant profanity and a pretty hefty heap of violence thrown in there. One of the more disturbing visuals involves a pregnant girl, but then you find out something that may or may not (depending on your beliefs) be even sicker than the notion of the violence itself. Baldwin spends an entire minute taunting Bernie and his son after this "discovery" is made, and maybe I'm a little sick myself but I thought he was pretty funny there. Half the time, I wasn't sure whether or not to root for him, which I love.

Several times, I recall thinking "Hey, that's a great shot." The cinematography here was mostly subtle with some shots that just scream "Make me into a JPEG!". I never would've expected it to keep going down as it approached Macy & Bello's private parts; that was quite an unexpected sight! But then, sometimes the room itself ('specially that GREEN room!) was the biggest attention-grabber.

I was this close to giving The Cooler five stars, but I don't find the "aftertaste" all that savory. I look back on it and it's "just another movie". So I suppose all my defending of cliches (by the adage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it") has to end somewhere. But for the time being, I like what I like and that's all that I like. And I liked The Cooler. Whoopee.