The Cooler mixes a stock mobster storyline—the low-level flunky trying desperately to dig his way out before it's too late—with an offbeat metaphysical twist … that the flunky's sole job is to shift his endless bad luck onto lucky gamblers in a seedy Las Vegas casino. Hence the term "cooler," as in "to cool off a hot streak" or whatever the correct gambling lingo is. Given the cast, which also includes Mario Bello as a cocktail waitress and Alec Baldwin as the old-school casino boss, it's a given the acting is top-notch. Several shots of William H. Macy's nearly-naked body reveal an almost excruciating vulnerability, and his struggle between a fatalistic self-image and the promise of something good with Bello make this a pretty interesting and unique film. Baldwin in particular proves yet again that he's somethin' else—he's a believable tough-guy with a deep, pretty much crippling sense of nostalgia. Not only does he steal the movie out from under Macy's sad-dog antics, he actually makes you feel sorry for him when he "has to" beat a man's knees to a bloody pulp. Paul Sorvino turns up in what at first seems like a throwaway role as an aging lounge singer, but has a single, riveting, heart-wrenching scene that explains the theme of the film and clearly establishes the tragedy of this fading world. The Cooler offers a different spin on the mob/gambling genre, and the love story between Macy and Bello is heartfelt and bittersweet. It's good work all around, perhaps hampered a bit by a location and supporting characters whom we've seen many times before. I'm mostly grateful that, at last, I can see Maria Bello clutching William H. Macy's balls in cinematic clarity, as opposed to the endless, obsessive watercolors I've done on the subject.
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