Bernie (William H Macy) is a respectful loser who works as 'the Cooler' at a Las Vegas casino run by Shelly (Alec Baldwin). Bernies job entails ruining the luck of anyone on a winning streak simply by sitting at their table. However, when Bernie meets a young waitress Natalie(Maria Bello)his life takes a turn for the better.
It is an engrossing experience watching the events unfold in this 'US independent' movie. The acting is superb by all the main three players with William H Macy doing what he does best playing the loser incredibly well. You really feel for him throughout the film as he is used by his conniving son, deceived by a tyrant of a boss and generally has a pitiful existence in a dingy motel room. You can see the utter desperation in his face throughout, with the only bright beacon of hope being Natalie, an extremely attractive lady. At first I could not believe that a girl like Natalie could ever fall for an older plain looking man like Bernie, but as the film went on it did not seem to matter. Maria Bello played her part very well and Alec Baldwin was on good form even though I dislike him as an actor.
The cinematography was ,along with the acting, one of the strong things about this picture, I noticed at the start of the film when Bernie was firmly fixed in his role as loser, the scenes were set much darker and gloomier but towards the end when Bernie is awakened from his passivity and worthlessness the light changes and the scenes are shot much brighter. Overall, the film techniques used were top notch, music, direction, editing all worked well to create a very stylish and modern film.
I really enjoyed this, it gives me hope for the future of North American 'independent film', really impressive, a touching, intriguing and well made film that I encourage everyone to watch.
It is an engrossing experience watching the events unfold in this 'US independent' movie. The acting is superb by all the main three players with William H Macy doing what he does best playing the loser incredibly well. You really feel for him throughout the film as he is used by his conniving son, deceived by a tyrant of a boss and generally has a pitiful existence in a dingy motel room. You can see the utter desperation in his face throughout, with the only bright beacon of hope being Natalie, an extremely attractive lady. At first I could not believe that a girl like Natalie could ever fall for an older plain looking man like Bernie, but as the film went on it did not seem to matter. Maria Bello played her part very well and Alec Baldwin was on good form even though I dislike him as an actor.
The cinematography was ,along with the acting, one of the strong things about this picture, I noticed at the start of the film when Bernie was firmly fixed in his role as loser, the scenes were set much darker and gloomier but towards the end when Bernie is awakened from his passivity and worthlessness the light changes and the scenes are shot much brighter. Overall, the film techniques used were top notch, music, direction, editing all worked well to create a very stylish and modern film.
I really enjoyed this, it gives me hope for the future of North American 'independent film', really impressive, a touching, intriguing and well made film that I encourage everyone to watch.