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The Cooler' fails to satisfy
with its boring characters
William H. Macy stars
alongside Alec Baldwin
in a film that ends feeling
incomplete and tired
By Ryan Nyburg
Senior Pulse Reporter
Some films work like a Greek
tragedy, following characters through
their lives to an inevitable fate that
seems willed by the gods but was ac
tually brought upon the characters by
their own failings. "The Cooler" is a
tragedy of this kind, or at least it tries
to be. But it doesn't have the courage
to follow through with it and on only
a few points does it ring true. While
enjoyable, the lack of a consistent
tone leaves it flawed and purposeless.
ma today, as Bemie Lootz. Bemie is a
loser. The saddest aspects of his life are
that he is aware of it, and that is his
only real skill! His poor luck is infec
tious, spreading to those around him
like a dark cloud. He's employed by Las
Vegas-casino manager Shelly Kaplow
(Alec Baldwin) as a "cooler," spreading
his poor luck to the gamblers around
him, making them lose and in turn
making the casino profitable.
The problems start when Bemie
meets Natalie (Maria Bello). When
they fall in love, his luck begins to turn.
However, his good luck turns out to be
equally infectious and the casino pa
trons start winning in droves.
While this might all sound a bit ab
surd, it is to the film's credit that it never
makes you question the legitimacy of
Bemie's odd talent. Macy looks so run
down and pathetic that it is easy to be
lieve he could make you lose three
grand at blackjack just by standing next
to you. But neither Macy nor the screen
play ever makes Bemie interesting
REVIEW of the be*
The film
stars William
H. Macy, one
character ac
tors in cine
enough to occupy an entire movie. It
often feels like he's existing in the back
ground and is there only to be cheated,
abused or pitied.
The character who does make an
impression is Baldwin's casino man
ager. He makes Shelly the kind of
tough guy who might have gotten his
cues from watching "The Godfather"
but actually has the muscle to back it
up. Throughout the film he seems like
a throwback to the old Las Vegas, a
city built by gangsters and gamblers,
before it was spruced up for the
tourist trade and made to cater to va
cationing families.
In essence, this is the film's major
drawback. The central character seems
diminutive in what is a minor role
stretched to fill the entire movie,
while one of the supporting charac
ters exists with a purpose and a mean
ing. Shelly could fill a movie and
make it interesting; Bemie can't.
As for the rest of the cast, they are
functional without being interesting.
Bello's Natalie is a worthy love inter
est and not much else. At times, her
relationship with Bernie has flashes of
honesty that might have given the
film more weight had they been ex
plored in depth. But unfortunately,
Courtesy
_\ f / >
their relationship is taken as a given,
and her character is left underdevel
oped. Her past is mentioned but is
not believable, and her interest in as
trology feels more like a tacked on
quirk than a real character trait.
"The Cooler" is not without its
good points. Baldwin's performance
could match his best work. The music
and mood of the film all evoke a
longing for a better — though admit
tedly more violent — time in Las Ve
gas' history. It's a theme that is devel
oped to the point where there might
have been a satisfying payoff for it, but
that never happens.
The film's conclusion also doesn't
hit the right note, and while Baldwin's
character comes to an end that is fit
ting for him, Macy's and Bello's char
acters do not. Their fate does not feel
honest and seems tacked on to pro
vide a satisfying conclusion. But be
cause it isn't honest it fails, leaving the
film feeling incomplete. It seems like
a waste of some good elements.
"The Cooler" opens next Friday at
the Bijou Art Cinemas, located at 492
E. 13thAve.
Contact the senior Pulse reporter
at ryannyburg@dailyemerald.com.
PULS*: BRIEFS
Folk Festival applications
must be received by Feb. 27
Performance applications for the
34th Annual Willamette Valley Folk
Festival are now available at the UO
Cultural Forum, located on the
ground floor of the EMU.
Applications for the spring* festival
must include a musical sample or ap
propriate promotional materials for
other performers. All applications
must be received by Feb. 27.
Further questions can be directed
to Folk Festival Co-Coordinators
William Reischman and Ariel Zim
mer via e-mail at wreischm@glad
stone.uoregon.edu and arielzim
mer@hotmail.com, or by phone at
346-0635.
Applications will also be available
online at http://culturalforum.uore
gon.edu.
—Aaron Shakra
Oregon Quarterly features
new contest for students
The University magazine Oregon
Quarterly is offering an essay contest
for college students. The fifth
"Northwest Perspectives" essay con
test now features a category exclu
sively for students.
Oregon Quarterly editor Guy May
nard encourages student writers to
take advantage of the opportunity.
"The contest functions as a forum,
an outlet for writers and a way to find
people who might write for the mag
azine in the future," he said. "It also
promotes the fact that the magazine
addresses issues in the Northwest."
Student submissions must be non
fiction and include ideas that affect
the Northwest. Topics of past winners
in the general contest include a fa
ther/daughter relationship in North
west culture, the relationship of fire
fighters to fire and how forest fires
affect the region, and climbing a gla
cier as a metaphor for life changes.
The winner will receive $250 and
publication in the magazine, and the
second-place winner will receive a
$75 gift certificate to the University
Bookstore Winners of the general and
student contests will be featured at a
public reading in May. Portland-based
editor and essayist Brian Doyle will
judge the entries and teach a writing
workshop to the top five student fi
nalists and top ten general finalists
following the reading.
"The reading is a chance to cele
brate people who work at writing
without any near prospects of fame or
fortune," Maynard said.
The deadline for entries is Jan. 31.
For more detailed information about
submissions, visit Oregon Quarter
ly's Web site at http://www.uore
gon.edu/~oq/index.htm.
— Natasha Chilingerian
Monthly contest
offers prizes to amateur
photographers, poets
Nonprofessional photographers
and poets have the opportunity to en
ter monthly contests for a shot at pub
lication and cash prizes of up to
$ 10,000. The International Open Am
ateur Photography and International
Open Poetry Contests are open to all
recreational photographers and poets
in the United States.
Each month, a grand prize winner
is selected in both photography and
poetry categories for an award of
$1,000, and one photographer and
one poet are selected for $ 10,000 each
year. Forty first-place winners are
awarded $35 for the photography
contest, and 73 second-place winners
are awarded a gift package with a val
ue of $25.
Twenty-four first place poets are
also selected each month for a silver
medal worth $50, and 79 second
place winners get a bronze medal
worth $25.
Photographers can choose to enter
their pictures among the following
categories: people, travel, pets, chil
dren, sports, nature, action, humor,
portraiture or other.
The International Library of Pho
tography and The International Li
brary of Poetry, two organizations that
publish photography and poetry
books, sponsor the contest. All pho
tography entries are considered for
publication by The International Li
brary of Photography.
For more information, visit
http://www.picture.com for the pho
tography contest and http://www.po
etry.com for the poetry contest.
— Natasha Chilingerian