Movies based in Las Vegas are usually full of Vegas clichés but “The Cooler” manages to corner almost every conceivable one.
From certain plots that are not so believable to the ones that are unnecessary, "The Cooler"´s story is much too convoluted than it needs to be and uneven at best. The co-writers, director Wayne Kramer and Frank Hannah should have given Bernie and Natalie´s love story a chance to evolve naturally without too much interference. While the story goes off in different directions, the main cast of characters too gets stretched every which way, giving them no room to grow but just enough time to react. Even so, "The Cooler" features great performances all around.
Macy puts in his usual stellar loser performance, making Bernie so pathetic that you just want to take him home and feed him, just like a lost puppy. As for Alec Baldwin, I can´t see why his performance here stand out from any of his other movies, at least not enough to earn him a prestigious Oscar nomination. Shelly is a vintage Baldwin character--tough, menacing and sweet, all at the same time. A relative newcomer, as compared to her other co-stars, sexy Maria Bello delivers a respectable performance as the strong and sensible Natalie. The evergreen Paul Sorvino makes an appearance as Shangri-La´s headline singer Buddy Stafford but his stay is unfortunately much too short to make any lasting impact. Also, it is interesting to note that N´Sync´s Joey Fatone makes a cameo as Johnny Capella, a popular singer in the same mold as Harry Connick Jr.
Video:
Nicely squeezed into its theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, "The Cooler" has the look of a Vegas movie. Most of the scenes take place indoors, which make artificial lighting an important factor in how the film looks. For example, Bernie gets a dour and sullen look at the start of the film but as things start to look up, his whole appearance changes to an almost luminous quality. As expected, being a recently produced movie, the video transfer is excellent with no hints of dirt or scratches. Vibrant Vegas colors and natural skin tones dominate the look of "The Cooler". Subtitle options include English for the hearing impaired and Spanish.
Audio:
The only audio option available on this DVD is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. "The Cooler" is a dialogue-heavy film and as such does not make full use of the surrounds nor does it need to. However, the Mark Isham-composed songs do sound much better in 5.1 audio. Expect to hear lots of classic Vegas standards.
Extras:
Several special features are included on this DVD. First, there are two audio commentaries--one by director Wayne Kramer, Frank Hannah (co-writer) and Jim Whitaker (Director of Photography) and the other featuring Wayne Kramer (again), together with song composer Mark Isham. On both commentaries, Kramer is the one who volunteers the most information and also the one who guides the conversation among the attendees.
Next, we have the isolated score by Mark Isham in Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. Although Isham´s songs are very tuneful and soothing, they are far in between and we have too many long periods of silence.
In the Sundance Channel´s "Anatomy of a Scene" featurette, we are shown the various components in the filmmaking process that must come together to make a scene work. Expect to hear thoughts about costume, set design, editing and acting.
Last but not least is a comparison between the storyboards and the final shots for the "Cooler" and the "Heater" scenes. You can toggle between both using your remote´s "Angle" button.
Packaging:
"The Cooler" does not come with an insert.
Entertainment Value:
If not for the writers trying to do too much in one script, "The Cooler" would have been a success. When you have great actors like Macy and Baldwin working on your film, it is just a matter of having a good script to go with the solid acting. Still, the premise of "The Cooler" in the context of how true love can conquer all, even the biggest loser in Vegas, is a great one. Too bad the mobsters, the ungrateful son, the struggling waitress and a pair of lounge singers have to play spoiler to what might have been. Better luck next time for director/writer Frank Kramer.
Macy puts in his usual stellar loser performance, making Bernie so pathetic that you just want to take him home and feed him, just like a lost puppy. As for Alec Baldwin, I can´t see why his performance here stand out from any of his other movies, at least not enough to earn him a prestigious Oscar nomination. Shelly is a vintage Baldwin character--tough, menacing and sweet, all at the same time. A relative newcomer, as compared to her other co-stars, sexy Maria Bello delivers a respectable performance as the strong and sensible Natalie. The evergreen Paul Sorvino makes an appearance as Shangri-La´s headline singer Buddy Stafford but his stay is unfortunately much too short to make any lasting impact. Also, it is interesting to note that N´Sync´s Joey Fatone makes a cameo as Johnny Capella, a popular singer in the same mold as Harry Connick Jr.
Video:
Nicely squeezed into its theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, "The Cooler" has the look of a Vegas movie. Most of the scenes take place indoors, which make artificial lighting an important factor in how the film looks. For example, Bernie gets a dour and sullen look at the start of the film but as things start to look up, his whole appearance changes to an almost luminous quality. As expected, being a recently produced movie, the video transfer is excellent with no hints of dirt or scratches. Vibrant Vegas colors and natural skin tones dominate the look of "The Cooler". Subtitle options include English for the hearing impaired and Spanish.
Audio:
The only audio option available on this DVD is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. "The Cooler" is a dialogue-heavy film and as such does not make full use of the surrounds nor does it need to. However, the Mark Isham-composed songs do sound much better in 5.1 audio. Expect to hear lots of classic Vegas standards.
Extras:
Several special features are included on this DVD. First, there are two audio commentaries--one by director Wayne Kramer, Frank Hannah (co-writer) and Jim Whitaker (Director of Photography) and the other featuring Wayne Kramer (again), together with song composer Mark Isham. On both commentaries, Kramer is the one who volunteers the most information and also the one who guides the conversation among the attendees.
Next, we have the isolated score by Mark Isham in Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. Although Isham´s songs are very tuneful and soothing, they are far in between and we have too many long periods of silence.
In the Sundance Channel´s "Anatomy of a Scene" featurette, we are shown the various components in the filmmaking process that must come together to make a scene work. Expect to hear thoughts about costume, set design, editing and acting.
Last but not least is a comparison between the storyboards and the final shots for the "Cooler" and the "Heater" scenes. You can toggle between both using your remote´s "Angle" button.
Packaging:
"The Cooler" does not come with an insert.
Entertainment Value:
If not for the writers trying to do too much in one script, "The Cooler" would have been a success. When you have great actors like Macy and Baldwin working on your film, it is just a matter of having a good script to go with the solid acting. Still, the premise of "The Cooler" in the context of how true love can conquer all, even the biggest loser in Vegas, is a great one. Too bad the mobsters, the ungrateful son, the struggling waitress and a pair of lounge singers have to play spoiler to what might have been. Better luck next time for director/writer Frank Kramer.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]12136[/release]