The Cooler
Lions Gate Films | Release Date: November 26, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Look for realism, and you'll find The Cooler disappointing. Look for a far-fetched yarn that's as unpredictable as a throw of the dice, though, and you'll find it engaging fun. Read full review
90
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Wayne Kramer's sexy and often humorous feature directorial debut surrounds its sweet center with the energy, flash and risk of the gambling capital. Sterling performances by William H. Macy and Maria Bello as the long-shot lovers and Alec Baldwin as a temperamental casino operator. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterDuane Byrge
A refreshing throwback to another era of moviemaking: This movie was poured from the bottle, not one of those bar regulator machines. It's got the kick, style and flavor of a straight-up story, before movies were watered down with the opinions of marketers, lawyers and committee heads. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Wayne Kramer, who co-wrote the scrappy script with Frank Hannah, makes a potent directing debut and strikes gold with the cast. Read full review
88
New York PostLou Lumenick
The best thing Baldwin has done in years, and a triumph of low-budget storytelling by a director to watch. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
The movie boasts one of those rare twist endings that strikes the right emotional chords, and it deserves credit for laying its bets on a sexy, sympathetic Macy. Sometimes long shots pay off. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
The Cooler is small-scale moviemaking about small-scale lives. But it's big in all the right ways. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The acting is on the money, the writing has substance, the direction knows when to evoke film noir and when (in a trick shot involving loaded dice) to get fancy. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
The highlights of The Cooler -- the portrait of Bernie-as-schlub, the ecstatic union of two losers, the depiction of shadowy old Vegas confronted with its sanitized corporate future -- are superb. You can easily live with the rest to get to them. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Director Wayne Kramer and co-writer Frank Hannah pull off a sleight-of-hand trick here, playing a gritty surface reality against dark Vegas mythology and getting away with it through a combination of shrewd, witty characterization and sure-footed storytelling skills. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
The heart of The Cooler is in the performances, and in the way Kramer shapes the interplay between the characters with the right amounts of ease and tension. Read full review
80
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Still, it's difficult to hold his whoppers against him. In creating characters of such spirit and life, and in imagining such a vibrant, imaginative homage to the transformative powers of love, Kramer, more than most, has earned the right to push his luck. Read full review
80
EmpireKim Newman
Macy hasn’t had a role this good since Fargo, and demonstrates again his mastery of the droopy-eyed, apologetically desperate, borderline bitter shrug. Read full review
75
PremiereAlex Kranz
Driving the plot, Baldwin gives an inexorable, career-marking performance. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The best part of the film, unsurprisingly, is William H. Macy's low-key portrayal of Bernie. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
A lot of fun early in the evening, when the Rat Pack ambiance is novel, but gets bleary by 4 a.m. in the story. Read full review
75
USA TodayMike Clark
Grabber sub-plots further boost a story that is basically made by its three leads. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Looks brilliant while you're watching it and stands revealed as counterfeit only in the strong light of day. What Baldwin does, though, is the stuff of supporting actor Oscars. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
Sly, sexy Las Vegas fable. Read full review
70
Film ThreatMerle Bertrand
Has the intangible and distinctive feel of a movie from a different era. Which just adds to this fine film's mystique, providing yet another reason why The Cooler hits the jackpot. Read full review
70
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Luckily this picture is rescued from cliché by the quality of the acting, and Mr. Kramer wisely gives the actors room to work. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
The romance that ensues between Macy and Bello (both of whom are terrific) is exactly the kind of mature, sexy adult relationship that people complain doesn’t exist in movies anymore. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Hokey and convoluted, but as a sticky-hearted fable of redemption, it's surprisingly seductive. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
Even in Las Vegas, which is possibly the most irrational place on earth, drama demands a bit of dramatic logic. Romantic fairy tales just don't play well on The Strip, despite its fake Eiffel Towers, bogus Italian palazzos and strike-it-rich fantasies. Read full review
70
Film ThreatRick Kisonak
For my money, the movie should have given us more of Macy the magical loser and less of Macy the stud muffin. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
A blast to watch if for nothing more than the performances. They hit the proverbial jackpot. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
When you realize The Cooler is not a comedy but a dark and violent love story, it's hard to reconcile its premise with its mood. The saving graces are the performances of William H. Macy as Bernie and Maria Bello. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
And although The Cooler doesn't do anything fresh with its Vegas milieu, the movie is refreshingly frank and astute when it comes to depicting sex. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Strong performances -- Baldwin's smoothly vicious Shelley is a revelation -- and Kramer's eye for the striking detail give the familiar material its own distinctive flavor. Read full review
60
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Had The Cooler stuck to its dark guns and not turned into a treacly, love-conquers-all fairy tale, this movie might have gone somewhere. In the end, you're only watching this with a sort of mercenary interest in the actors. Read full review
60
The New YorkerDavid Denby
The crud and petty desperation of The Cooler is enjoyable as atmosphere, and the movie is passionate. [12 January 2004, p. 86]
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It was also a miscalculation to make the film so sexually explicit. It doesn't particularly serve the story and, for all his gifts, Macy is just not the kind of actor most people want to see in a whirl of sweaty, naked sex. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
What's frustrating is that the movie should be so much better, or at least more entertaining. With Baldwin, Macy and Bello, director Kramer is holding three of a kind. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
It's a comedy, it's a romance, it's a gangster flick. The Cooler is all of that and much, much less. This is a movie without a compass, switching pace and direction as haphazardly as a caffeinated SUV driver on a cellphone. Read full review
40
Village VoiceMark Holcomb
First-timer Wayne Kramer brings pathos to Bernie and Shelly's fraught relationship, but his film never amounts to more than a cute idea stretched to poker-chip thinness. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Lost me early on with its show-offy shooting and editing, portentous metaphysical conceits about winners and losers, and exaggerated displays of evil, violence, and deceit. Read full review
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