If you?re looking for a movie with new or at least real insights about Vegas, gambling, casinos or just life itself?this movie will profoundly disappoint. The script seems based more on the writer?s fantasy of what these things might be like, based in turn on other mediocre movies and television productions. The problem is compounded by a number of implausible premises?not the least of which is the basic concept of a ?cooler.? There are also many implausible plot twists?especially a scene at the end. I won?t give that away though, which would spoil your chance to experience some real indignation?the strongest emotion this film will evoke. On the upside, there are so many cliches strung together that before long they lose their sting and you just accept that you will inhabit a dumbed-down world for the next two hours. Even given that resignation, there is a lot here that is so derivative its still painful. For example, there is a scene in which a young gambler mocks an older gambler while shooing craps that is lifted straight out of Hard Eight. (In the former movie, however, the scene played out in a natural way that was actually poignant, whereas here the audience is ultimately indulged as the old man loses it and physically brutalizes his obnoxious antagonist.) As if to compensate for the underlying fantasy, the film is shot so harshly that we can see every ?real? flaw in the actors' faces. They even manage to make Maria Bellow look awful. There is one scene in which the sex is portrayed as so awkward that the audience is apparently supposed to conclude this movie must somehow be ?real.? At least the acting isn?t truly bad, although Bellow works so hard to make her uneducated, working class character seem believable that at times you feel the character may be retarded. Of course, Macy is great at playing losers, but we?ve seen that so many times before that at times you may forget which movie this is. Baldwin is actually great, once you get past the fact that the character he is playing couldn?t exist in this century. This is another fact not lost on film makers?, who attempt to compensate by inserting multiple references to the character and his methods as ?old school.? In the end, the attempts to manipulate the audience into accepting a wildly implausible story are worse that the story itself. … Expand

I can't believe that this movie got "generally favourable" reviews. This has got be one of the worst movies I've ever seen, save for the acting. Apparantly, Las Vegas has no law enforcement whatsoever, except for hitmen dressed like police who are available -- costume, siren, and all -- at extremely short notice, but take a ridiculously long time to pull the trigger. And why a character would threaten to kill you, beat up your girlfriend, and then beat up another guy for suggesting not to let someone walk away with lots of money is completely beyond me. And how come in this movie the older guys have no trouble kicking the younger people's asses? Something just doesn't make sense. The plot is SO slow, it seems like the movie has finished and nothing at all has happened. And there is no twist at the end; you could see it coming from the beginning which at the point seemed like days ago. This movie is so bad, and if you are reading this, I urge you: SEE SOMETHING ELSE! I hear Waterworld is good.… Expand

Awful film. While Leaving los vegas was revolutionary, this pursues the same situation, if not the same story, with little realism or panache. Alec Baldwin's actin is good, and won a few awards, but William Macy seems off-key in his attempt to portray lovable loser Bernie. The romance seems improbable to say the least, and the dialogue is both boring and entirely predictable- add to that the offense of a main character with seemingly supernatural unluckiness, and you have a near-disaster. If it weren't for the sex scenes- which were brave, if overly improbable again - I wouldn't've felt the slightest amount of thrill at this unhappy loser of a dvd. Good luck would be to avoid it.… Expand

Thank god for Scott's review. I thought I was gonna go crazy. What the hell is wrong with everyone? This has to be the WORST plot I've seen in the last decade. It doesn't make any sense. None of the action or re-actions makes any sense. The acting is pretty impressive, but how can you enjoy a movie with such weak plot? Awful story. Awful writing. Good acting, but nothing else.

The whimsy is undercut by the violence and the sex and while it got the whole aura of a dusty casino and dusty people down what was interesting about it? The "love" story was NOT believable to me at the "I'm willing to lose my life for him" level.