Genre: Classic “Romantic Noir”
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Format: Super 35
Production Status: Completed
Running Time: 102 minutes
Year of Production: 2002
In this romantic gangster film noir, a casino “cooler,” who turns winners into losers, falls in love, destroying his contagious losing streak and enraging his mafia casino boss.
A black comedy about Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy), a man with such devastatingly bad luck that it’s infectious — just by bumping into a hot hand he can instantaneously turn it cold. And so he does by acting as a “cooler” at the gritty Shangri-la Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas, a job forced upon him by the slippery Shelly Kaplow (Alec Baldwin), the casino’s director of operations, in order to pay off an outstanding debt. Once the debt is repaid, Bernie wants nothing more than to put Vegas behind him, much to Shelly’s dismay, since he has become reliant on Bernie’s cooling abilities. In a devious attempt to lure him to stay, Shelly throws a gorgeous waitress named Natalie (Maria Bello) his way, but the plan backfires when Bernie and Natalie end up falling for each other and Bernie’s bad luck begins to turn.
Cast + Crew
Screenplay: Frank Hannah, Wayne Kramer
Director: Wayne Kramer
Producer: Sean Furst, Michael J Pierce
Executive Producer: Edward R. Pressman, Alessandro Camon
Cast: William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Alec Baldwin, Shawn Hatosy, Ron Livingston, Estella Warren, Paul Sorvino
Director of Photography: James Whitaker
Production Designer: Toby Corbett
Score: Mark Isham
Editor: Arthur Coburn
Costume Designer: Kristin M. Burke
Distributors
US Distributor: Lions Gate, released Nov. 26, 2003
Festivals
Sundance Film Festival, USA, 2003: In competition
IFP Los Angeles Film Festival, USA, 2003
Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Czech Republic, 2003
Fantasy Filmfest, München, Germany, 2003
Viennale, Austria, 2003
Toronto Film Festival, Canada, 2003
Deauville Film Festival, France, 2003: In competition
Golden Globe, USA, 2004: 2 nominations
Oscar Nomination, USA, 2004: Alec Baldwin for best supporting actor
Visit the official movie site
