everything you have heard about this movie is true.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

But maybe this disappointment has to do with expectations. For example, I though this movie would provide greater insight into the mind of a gambler and the way a casino operates, but it doesn't; on the contrary, it seems to be propelled by the outdated notion that all casino bosses are gangsters and killers. The trailer also makes it look relatively lighthearted, but it has some bursts of violence that are both disturbing and unnecessary. Stylistically, with one exception (the scene where Baldwin "x-rays" the hand of an unusually lucky guy), "The Cooler' plays like an R-rated TV movie. The basic idea is clever, but the plot doesn't do much with it: first Macy is unlucky, then he gets lucky, then unlucky again, then lucky, and so forth. Although Macy and Bello must be one of the most unlikely erotic pairings in recent memory, they are otherwise well-cast in their roles; Baldwin gives the film edge, and deserved his Oscar nomination and other awards for this role. ** out of 4.

Alec Baldwin and Maria Bello were RIGHTFULLY nominated for several awards, but unfortunately did not win many..What surprised me most was that William H.Macy was not even nominated for a single award, although I feel he has given an excellent performance in the tile role of "The Cooler"The movie has a good pace and is not dull for a minute.Excitement and anticipation are combined in the right proportion..The direction is smooth.. The movie should have done better at the box-office..Performances are truly worth watching.

The performances by William H. Macey, Maria Bello & Alec Baldwin are the main reasons to watch this film. If you like seeing some good acting or are a fan of these three, there is no doubt plenty of good reasons for you to look at this. If you like happy endings, that is another reason to watch it.My main problem here is the script which a couple of younger screen writers collaborated on. We have a movie set in modern Las Vegas, yet the way the casino here is being run is more like Bugsey Segal's era & that makes no sense. They try to develop the young guy trying to convince the Casino Boss(Balwin) that he is a dinosaur of the Segal era. The trouble is, even the young guy isn't presented as being any brighter, especially at the end when he takes over because other than planning to put up a new modern casino to replace the aging one, he appears clueless about how to change the business either.Macey is the Cooler, a guy who by just walking around the casino brings people bad luck. In the opening sequence he does this & in what is a most comic moment you see everybody lose their money & then a huge line at the Casino ATM of them trying to desperately get more money to lose. Mario Bello is excellent as the vamp Balwin hires to try & make Macey stick around as he is threatening to leave the job. As with the mob mentality, no one is supposed to leave the family business.That is the problem here. In modern Las Vegas, business is not done this way anymore. Your asked to buy into nostalgia here that does not compute. The phony pregnancy of Macey's son's girlfriend has a shocking scene in the latter part of the film. The thing is the phony baby is tipped off early in the first sequence when the son & girlfriend use the scam of her in labor to beat a restaurant bill. When dad talks to them in the alley after the eatery sequence, it was obvious to me they pulled that old scam to beat the bill which means she is not pregnant.I like the performances by Macey & Bello in the sex scenes. The thing is they are the usual over-hyped fantasy sex everyone thinks is the normal. Hollywood & X rated films have created an abnormal sexual fantasy that only Superman & Supergirl could actually do. This film does it again. One of these days, someone will do a story that reflects sexual reality which would shock & awe a lot of viewers of this stuff, but don't look for that anytime soon.

This movie has a great soundtrack and even better acting. Still, it probably falls in the love it or hate it category. Some might criticize the film for being too formulaic, or for the improbability of the plot line. I would wager a pretty tall stack of chips that those people also identify with the new Casino management, as opposed to Baldwin's character. I mean, come on, the whole film is primarily about luck, with some true love thrown in for good measure. Not exactly topics that lend themselves to the scientific method of analysis. To me, the whole thing just works. Even better, it is one of the most uplifting movies I have seen in years, in a dark, sleazy, corny, sort of way. Don't analyze it, just sit back and enjoy the ride. Who knows, you may be feeling lucky when the the credits roll.