Search - The Cooler on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Nudity, Strong Sexual Content, Profanity, Substance Abuse Movie Release: 2003 DVD Release: 04/27/2004 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 42 mins Studio: Lions Gate Total Copies: 62 Genres: Drama, Romance, Romantic Drama

Writer/director Wayne Kramer offers a glimpse into the aging Las Vegas casino world with the romantic drama The Cooler. Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy) is extremely unlucky at gambling, and he owes the Shangri-La casino over 100,000 dollars. He is so unlucky that he is hired as a "cooler," someone to gamble next to high rollers and give them some of his bad luck to stop them from winning. This arrangement works out for awhile, until Bernie has almost paid off his debt and meets cocktail waitress Natalie Belisario (Maria Bello). The two start to fall in love and Bernie's luck begins to change. However, the old-fashioned mob boss Shelly Kaplow (Alec Baldwin) isn't going to let Bernie go so easily. Meanwhile, Larry Sokolov (Ron Livingston) arrives on the scene to help update the business management of the old mobster-run casino. Also starring Joey Fatone and Paul Sorvino as lounge singers. The Cooler was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize in the dramatic competition at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

William H. Macy - Bernie Lootz
Maria Bello - Natalie Belisario
Alec Baldwin - Shelly Kaplow
Shawn Hatosy - Mikey
Ron Livingston - Larry Sokolov

Wayne Kramer's debut feature, The Cooler, gets a strong DVD release with this disc from Lion's Gate Home Entertainment. The film is presented in a widescreen transfer that preserves the movie's original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The English soundtrack is rendered in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Surround. English and Spanish subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include a commentary track recorded by Kramer, co-writer Frank Hannah, and cinematographer Jim Whitaker. They have an interesting discussion about the difficulties faced by any first-time director. Kramer is adamantly thankful for all of the people who made the film with him. He is full of praise particularly for composer Mark Isham, so much so that there is a second commentary track featuring Kramer and Isham. A featurette that originally appeared on the Sundance Channel and storyboards fill out this solid disc. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide