The Cooler (2003) on Netflix
Bernie Lootz works as a cooler at a Las Vegas casino, where his bad luck stops gamblers from winning. He plans to leave town, smitten with waitress Natalie Belisario.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.9/1037,442 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes77%
Trailer
Plot summary
Bernie Lootz brings bad luck to everyone around him, which is exactly what the Shangri-La casino in Las Vegas pays him for. As the house cooler, his presence at the tables stops gamblers from winning, and the manager and partner, Shelly Kaplow, likes the arrangement. Shelly runs the place in an old-fashioned style and dislikes the newer casinos that draw a different clientele. The owners bring in an advisor named Larry, whose plans clash with Shelly's methods. Bernie tells Shelly he means to leave town in a week. Natalie, a cocktail waitress, has never paid him much attention, though he is taken with her. After Bernie rescues her from an aggressive customer, she begins to show an interest in him.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Cooler (2003)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The MPAA originally gave The Cooler an NC-17 rating over a brief glimpse of Maria Bello's pubic hair in a sex scene, so the scene was re-edited to secure an R rating for theatrical release.
- To visually track William H. Macy's character turning from a loser into a winner, costume designer Kristin M. Burke dressed him in progressively better-fitting suits, while cinematographer Jim Whitaker moved him from shadowy lighting early on to a backlit spotlight later in the film.
- Though set near Fremont Street in Las Vegas, the film was mainly shot at the Golden Phoenix in Reno over three weeks, using casino employees and Reno locals extensively; that casino is now a completed condominium project called The Montage, and the hotels demolished during the closing credits are the Aladdin, the Sands, the Landmark and the Dunes.
