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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

67
$9.99
75
24 City
66
Adoration
74
Afghan Star
48
Alien Trespass
56
American Violet
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
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Away We Go
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
62
Big Man Japan
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Big Shot-Caller, The
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Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55
Brothers Bloom, The
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
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Call of the Wild
63
Cheri
62
Cherry Blossoms
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Dead Snow
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Departures
18
Downloading Nancy
58
Easy Virtue
70
End of the Line, The
77
Every Little Step
64
Examined Life
80
Food, Inc.
38
Gigantic
56
Girl from Monaco, The
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
87
Gomorrah
89
Goodbye Solo
63
Great Buck Howard, The
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Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
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Home
82
Hunger
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Hurt Locker, The
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I Hate Valentine's Day
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71
Jerichow
58
Julia
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Lemon Tree
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Life is Hot in Cracktown
40
Limits of Control, The
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Little Ashes
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Lymelife
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Management
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Merry Gentleman, The
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Moon
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New York
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Not Forgotten
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Offshore
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O'Horten
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Outrage
40
Paris 36
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Pontypool
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Pressure Cooker
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Quiet Chaos
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Revanche
67
Rudo y Cursi
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Seraphine
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Sex Positive
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Shall We Kiss?
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Sin Nombre
59
Sleep Dealer
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Song of Sparrows, The
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Stoning of Soraya M., The
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Sugar
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Summer Hours
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Sunshine Cleaning
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Surveillance
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Tennessee
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Tetro
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Throw Down Your Heart
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Tokyo Sonata
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Tokyo!
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Tony Manero
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Treeless Mountain
88
Tulpan
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Two Lovers
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Tyson
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U2 3D
60
Under Our Skin
69
Unmistaken Child
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
22
What Goes Up
45
Whatever Works
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
91
Hurt Locker, The
89
Goodbye Solo
88
Tulpan
87
Gomorrah
86
Seraphine
84
Summer Hours
83
U2 3D
83
Revanche
83
Tyson
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
Hunger
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
Il Divo
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
Tokyo Sonata
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
O'Horten
77
Every Little Step
77
Sin Nombre
75
24 City
74
Treeless Mountain
74
Afghan Star
74
Two Lovers
74
Song of Sparrows, The
74
Lemon Tree
71
Pressure Cooker
71
Jerichow
70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
End of the Line, The
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
69
Unmistaken Child
67
$9.99
67
Rudo y Cursi
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
Sex Positive
65
Departures
64
Outrage
64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
Lymelife
63
Tokyo!
63
Cheri
63
Dead Snow
63
Tetro
63
Great Buck Howard, The
62
Cherry Blossoms
62
Big Man Japan
62
Not Forgotten
61
Sunshine Cleaning
60
Under Our Skin
59
Sleep Dealer
58
Julia
58
Easy Virtue
57
Away We Go
57
Merry Gentleman, The
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
56
Girl from Monaco, The
56
American Violet
55
Brothers Bloom, The
54
Is Anybody There?
54
Pontypool
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
52
Quiet Chaos
50
Management
48
Alien Trespass
45
Whatever Works
42
Little Ashes
42
Tennessee
40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Cooler, The
Lions Gate Films Inc.
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for strong sexuality, violence, language and some drug use
Starring
William H. Macy,
Alec Baldwin,
Maria Bello,
Shawn Hatosy,
Ron Livingston,
Paul Sorvino,
Estella Warren,
and
Joey Fatone
William H. Macy stars as the unluckiest guy in Vegas. (Lions Gate Films)
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
Drama
|
Romance
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Frank Hannah
Wayne Kramer
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Wayne Kramer
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: April 27, 2004
Video: April 27, 2004
Theatrical: November 26, 2003
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
103 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
Nominated, Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic), 2003 Sundance Music Festival

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Christian Science Monitor
David 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.

90
Variety
Todd 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.

90
The Hollywood Reporter
Duane 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.

88
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Wayne Kramer, who co-wrote the scrappy script with Frank Hannah, makes a potent directing debut and strikes gold with the cast.

88
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
The best thing Baldwin has done in years, and a triumph of low-budget storytelling by a director to watch.

88
Chicago Tribune
Mark 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.

88
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
The Cooler is small-scale moviemaking about small-scale lives. But it's big in all the right ways.

88
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger 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.

83
Portland Oregonian
Shawn 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.

80
Washington Post
Ann 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.

80
Empire
Kim Newman
Macy hasnt had a role this good since Fargo, and demonstrates again his mastery of the droopy-eyed, apologetically desperate, borderline bitter shrug.

80
Salon.com
Stephanie 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.

80
Los Angeles Times
Kevin 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.

75
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
The best part of the film, unsurprisingly, is William H. Macy's low-key portrayal of Bernie.

75
Premiere
Alex Kranz
Driving the plot, Baldwin gives an inexorable, career-marking performance.

75
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa 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.

75
Boston Globe
Ty 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.

75
San Francisco Chronicle
Carla Meyer
Sly, sexy Las Vegas fable.

75
USA Today
Mike Clark
Grabber sub-plots further boost a story that is basically made by its three leads.

70
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Nathan Rabin
Hokey and convoluted, but as a sticky-hearted fable of redemption, it's surprisingly seductive.

70
Dallas Observer
Bill 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.

70
Film Threat
Rick Kisonak
For my money, the movie should have given us more of Macy the magical loser and less of Macy the stud muffin.

70
LA Weekly
Scott 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 doesnt exist in movies anymore.

70
Film Threat
Merle 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.

70
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
Luckily this picture is rescued from cliché by the quality of the acting, and Mr. Kramer wisely gives the actors room to work.

67
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
A blast to watch if for nothing more than the performances. They hit the proverbial jackpot.

63
Miami Herald
Rene 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.

63
New York Daily News
Jack 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.

60
TV Guide
Ken 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.

60
The New Yorker
David Denby
The crud and petty desperation of The Cooler is enjoyable as atmosphere, and the movie is passionate. [12 January 2004, p. 86]
60
Washington Post
Desson 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.

60
Washington Post
Desson 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.

58
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William 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.

50
Baltimore Sun
Michael 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.

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.

40
Chicago Reader
Jonathan 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.

40
Village Voice
Mark 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.


The average user rating for this movie is 6.6 (out of 10) based on 29 User Votes
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