"Deserves to be seen for one of the most lyrically convincing sex scenes of the year, from the neck up as well as from the neck down, performed by Mr Macy and Ms Bello with genuinely engaging affection and amusement on a person-to-person level." Andrew Sarris NEW YORK OBSERVER "There's not a single performance that doesn't hit the mark, but still it's difficult to take your eyes off of the star trio of Macy, Bello and Baldwin..." James Sanford, KALAMAZOO GAZETTE "A terrific movie, with great performances and a sharp script." Robert Roten LARAMIE MOVIE SCOPE "William H. Macy and Maria Bello shine in a terrific -- and surprisingly sexy -- tale of a Vegas loser whose luck begins to turn." Stephanie Zacharek SALON.COM "From James Whitaker's seductive camerawork to Mark Isham's lush score, The Cooler places all the smart bets and hits the jackpot." Peter Travers ROLLING STONE

"Wayne Kramer ... could not have asked for a better clutch of players than William H. Macy, Maria Bello and Alec Baldwin to infuse his seedy stereotypes with individuality and vibrant, unpredictable inner life." Bob Strauss LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS "The acting is uniformly terrific, and the script is even better." Steve Rhodes STEVE RHODES' INTERNET REVIEWS "William H. Macy is the ultimate loser and Alec Baldwin is an old school casino boss in director Wayne Kramer's near-perfect feature debut." Jeff Otto IGN FILMFORCE "Small-scale moviemaking about small-scale lives. But it's big in all the right ways." Steven Rea PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER "if you’re want to check out three of the year’s best performances, you can’t go past it" Clint Morris MOVIEHOLE

At A Glance When I say, believe me folks, I mean 'believe me'. Believe me when I tell you that "The Cooler" really is one hell of a film. Believe me when I tell you that this is most probably William H Macy at his finest. Believe me when I tell you that Maria Bello , looking at times uncannily like Sharron Stone, is one dish of a woman. Believe me when I tell you that Alec Baldwin, who was nominated at the 2004 Academy Awards in the category for Best Supporting Actor, is such a hard nosed prick you'd like to break his kneecaps. Believe me when I tell you that, no, the soundtrack is not available and that's a crying bloody shame. It's a fine piece of scoring by Emmy Winner and three time Grammy Award nominee Mark Isham. And, I know this is going to be really hard to believe, but I'll tell you anyway. Believe it or not, it is true, "The Cooler" is the big feature directorial debut for Wayne Kramer who also co-wrote the script. No porky pies. It's all true. Hey, look, if you don't believe me, then ask those who went to special sneek previews and whose feedback has been, to put it mildly, overwhelmingly enthusiastic for "The Cooler". So, it's not just me saying it. Of course the good thing about "The Cooler" is that it has all the right elements. There's not a bad performance from any of the cast members. The lead actors all do exceptional work. The chemistry between William H Macy and Maria Bello is electric. What. You don't believe me? How about if I told you that some of Hollywoods leading ladies voted William H Macy "Sexiest Man Alive" in a special People Magazine poll. Stars such as Leelee Sobieski, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Britney Spears were asked about "which sizzling male stars make their temperatures rise." Here keeping company with such sexy hunks as Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt and Antonio Banderas we find "The Cooler, William H Macy. It's true. I'm telling you! But I guess what you really want to know is, the ins and outs, and believe me, when Macy and Bello hit the sack, you'll get an eye full. Oh me, oh my. Maria baby. There'll be some fidgetting amongst those males in the audience when they cop an eye full of Maria Bello rear. Guys, that white Teddy with only a g-string seperating those beautiful buttocks will have your pulse racing. I know. Believe me! It's steamy stuff alright. Forget that and let's discover what was behind the making of this fascinating, most impressionable film. Have you ever had a run of bad luck. A run when nothing goes right. After a while you start to feel like a loser, eh? Too right. Now I am not a gambler, but you know what? I do have my lucky numbers for the Keno [a lottery for the overseas readers]. And, I have been faithful to them. A steady, loving, monogomous affair with ten numbers. Ten numbers that have never come up all at the same time. Mind you, in one combination or another, over many draws, they have come up in some combination or another. But damn it. Never in the one I want. Ten all together and worth 1,000,000 bucks. So I guess you could call that a run of bad luck. If not, well, at least it gave you something to read. It took four years for Wayne Kramer and his fellow script writer Frank Hannah to come up with the finished product, "The Cooler". So where did the inspiration come from? Well here's the good stuff. First from Wayne Kramer. "There was a point in my life where I constantly felt that if something were to go wrong, it would go horribly wrong," says Kramer. "I'm the kind of guy whose luggage always got lost by the airline. When I was living in South Africa and was required to serve in the Army, twelve of us were sent to Angola and I was the only one who got malaria, and I got it twice." Now that is a losers tale. But what about Frank Hannah. Well it seems Frank likes Las Vegas. He is a regular visitor to the casino's and likes playing craps. It appears as though he really believes there are 'coolers' and as he puts it , "but probably not in the way we might imagine them." So what is his train of thought then? Hannah explains it this way. "Sometimes a bad turn can be precipitated by something simple, like the dice hitting a person's hand. There are a number of kooky things that can affect the rhythm of a crap table. The very concept of a 'hot streak' can play a big part in gambling. A dealer might be red hot on Friday night, but then give away the store on a Saturday. 'Coolers' can vary from day to day. There probably are ringers that have an ability to kill a table, but perhaps not as pronounced as Bernie Lootz. Bernie's an extreme example of what I think does happen in real life. It's what makes his character so unique." It seems that Kramer agrees. "Frank has told me stories about nights at the table where he'll be on a streak, when suddenly something changes. Someone new will show up at the table; the air pressure in the room will change; the whole mood changes, and Frank will start to lose. And he'll blame it all on this one guy." But in "The Cooler" there's a twist. I like to put it down to the "love changes everything" factor. Maria Bello agrees. "Frank and Wayne were able to create characters with complicated psyches and a story that was immediately recognizable to me thematically as the transforming power of love." But here's the crunch. Macy evidently was very nervous about doing the love scenes. "Before I went off to Reno to start shooting, I was stressing about the love scenes with Maria," Macy explained. "I find that I don't even like to watch love scenes, let alone do them. Luckily Maria was plucky as all hell and up for anything. We first 'dry teched' the scenes with our clothes on. That made me feel much better." So how did he overcome his fears? "For the first love scene Maria and I started with a rather large shot of scotch in the dressing room. Those scenes were hot and funny and touching and emotional. Later on in the shooting, any time we had trouble with a scene, we suggested that perhaps we should try it without our clothes." That sounds fair enough. Loves scenes aside, how did Macy feel about another role as a loser? "I've played a lot of losers in my career, so many in fact, that I had decided to put a moratorium on that type of role for myself. When I read "The Cooler", I thought, this takes the character of the loser to operatic heights! But I liked the idea that Bernie's fortunes are transformed through love, and I will always be drawn to, and am a sucker for, love stories." And so am I, William H Macy. And that folks is where I'll leave it. Just remember folks. It's set in a Casino. Bernies a loser. His boss Shelly is a solitary, hard nosed, old school, Casino operator. The mob are trying to move a new guy in and eaze Shelly out. It's a mixture of glitz, glamorous, sex, violence. But all this there rises a great love story. Believe me!. And just a quick parting note, after spending four years on the script and even though they signed Macy ["the one actor they wanted"], as luck would have it. It took another three years to get the film financed. Now that was bad luck. Cast & Crew Bytes "The Cooler" was directed by Wayne Kramer ["Crossing Over", "Second Wind" and "Foresight" ], written by Wayne Kramer and Frank Hannah ["Forget Domani"] produced by Sean Furst ["Owning Mahowny", "Blue Ridge" and "Conviction"] and Michael A Pierce ["In Enemy Hands"], cinematography by Jim Whitaker ["Let the Devil Wear Black", "Sluts & Losers" and "Never Never" ], edited by Arthur Coburn ["The Gift" "The Mask", "A Simple Plan", "Triumph Of The Spirit" and "Spider-Man"], costumes were designed by Kristin M Burke ["Midnight Tease", "Red Ribbon Blues" and "Race To Space"] original music composed by Emmy Award Winner Mark Isham ["Never Cry Wolf", "Made In Heaven", "Nell", "Blade", "The Rules Of Engagement", "Moonlight Mile" and "Twisted"] with production design by Toby Corbett ["Blue Steel", "Iron Maze", "Meteor Man" and "Best Men"].
"The Cooler" stars William H Macy ["Fargo", "Jurassic Park 3", "Mystery Men" and "Seabiscuit"], Alec Baldwin [who played Billy Allison Aldrich in the TV Series "The Doctors" (1980-2) and appeared in the feature films: "Pearl Harbor", "State & Main", "Married To The Mob" and "Mercury Rising"], Maria Bello ["ER", "Duets", "Coyote Ugly" and "Auto Focus"], Shawn Hatosy ["In And Out", "Down To You", "The Faculty" and "Joyriders"], Ron Livingston ["Band of Brothers", "Adaptation", "Swingers" and "The Low Life"], Estella Warren ["Planet Of The Apes", "Driven" and "Perfume"], Arthur J Nascarella ["Who Do I Gotta Kill", "Hand Gun", "A Gun For Jennifer", "On The Run" and "Bringing Out The Dead"], Joey Fatone ["My Big Fat Greek Wedding"], Richard Isreal ["Piranha", "Mission To Moscow" and "Police Academy"], M C Gainey ["Pennies From Heaven", "Fatal Beauty", "Con Air" and "Happy,Texas"], Don Scribner ["Moon In Scorpio", "Prime Target", Night Shade" and "The Black Rose"], Ellen Greene ["Little Shop Of Horrors", "Stepping Out", "Naked Gun 33 & 1/3" and "One Fine Day"] and Paul Sorvino ["The Firm", "Goodfellas", "Reds", "Money Talks", "Bulworth" and "Mambo Italiano"] as Buddy Stafford. The Story When someone's winning big time it's a worry. Especially if you're a Casino operator and you want to keep the profits in-house. That's when somebody like Bernie Lootz comes in handy. You see Bernie's a loser. Unlucky in love, unlucky in life and decidedly unlucky when it comes to gambling. His luck is so bad that even his cat has shot through. But that works fine for the house. They want all the odds in their favour. The house wants every cent it can get from the patrons. So when someone's having a winning streak, when someone's beating the odds, the odds are Bernie will turn up at your table and share his luck with you. His bad luck that is. Yes, there's nothing worse. It's a sure fired way to get some poor unsuspecting schmuck off their winning streak. But Bernie's had enough. He quitting. He's paid his debt to Shangri-La Casino Operater and best friend Shelly Kaplow. It's time to move on. Naturally Shelly doesn't want him to go, but what can he do. Break Bernie's other kneecap? Then something remarkable happens. Bernie meets cocktail waitress Natalie. The attraction is mutual. The two are soon lovers. Bernie can't believe his luck. He's in love with a beautiful blonde and she loves him. There's a new spring in his step. He feels positively fantastic. But that's not what Shelly wants. Everyones a winner when Bernie's in the room. With the mob's new boy, college educated Larry Sokolov looking over his shoulder this is the last thing he needs. He has to put a stop to the 'cooler' quick smart. When Shelly finds out what's behind Bernie's lucky streak, things get very nasty. Is Bernies run of good luck about to meet an abrupt end? The Verdict "This could be the find of the year for those cinema fans who love a little romance, a little sex, a little comedy and a film in which you almost will the underdog to come out trumps. It's bright, colorful, violent. But beneath the glitz and glamour lies a terrific love story. Macy, Baldwin and the sexy Maria Bello sparkle and shine in "The Cooler". Every cast member turns in a good one in "The Cooler". A most fascinating film to watch. Highly Recommended. The camera work is first class, the soundtrack rips and the characters are fascinating. "The Cooler" deserved more than one nomination at this years Academy Awards. Probably William H Macy's finest role to date." The Cast

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 TJ Gioia Jewel Shepard Gordon Michaels Doc Watson Dan Lemieux Larry Elliott Joe Conti Chris Platt

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Bernie Lootz Shelly Kaplow Natalie Belisario Mikey Larry Sokolov Buddy Stafford Charlene Nicky 'Fingers' Bonnatto Johnny Cappella Highway Officer Doris Lou Tony Marty Goldfarb The Player Bulldog Hooker Mr Pinkerton Morrie Suburbanite Floor Manager Pit Boss Dealer

The Crew Directed by Wayne Kramer Written by Frank Hannah & Wayne Kramer Produced by Sean Furst & Michael A Pierce Original Music by Mark Isham Cinematography by Jim Whitaker Film Editing by Arthur Coburn Production Design by Toby Corbett Set Decoration by Alice Baker Costume Design by Kristin M Burke Key Hair Stylist Daniel Curet Unit Production Manager Shauna Miller Post-Production Manager Chris Miller Run Time 102 minutes Rated MA15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2004 - Lions Gate Entertainment - All Rights Reserved Copyright © 2004 - The Movie Pages & Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved