The rabid fear of the coolest guy is bigger than grand

 

The Cooler (2003)

To pay off an old gambling debt, Bernie Lootz (William H. Macey) works for Shelly Kaplow (Alec Baldwin), the old school head of the Shangri-La casino, as a “cooler,” a gambler so unlucky he causes everyone around him to lose.

After he pays off his debt, Bernie plans to leave Vegas.  To convince him to stay, Shelley pays cocktail waitress Natalie Belisario (Maria Bello) to pretend to fall in love with him, but things backfire when she develops genuine feelings for Bernie.

Baldwin is excellent as Shelley Kaplow, a slightly more reserved Tommy Devito. Both men believe violence is always the preferred solution to the problems of everyday life.

Ron Livingston has had a solid career, but seemed headed for more after Office Space (1999).

William H. Macey’s range is a limited. He’s great as a hapless everyman, but struggles with anything else.

Maria Bello is a fine character actress, but not leading lady material and the lack of chemistry between her and Macey makes the central romance difficult to believe.

A neo-noir love letter to Vegas before the corporate takeover of casinos, this melancholic film pales in comparison to Atlantic City (1980), which covers many of the same notes with Vegas’s spiritual sister.

 

 

Bigger than Life (1956)

When schoolteacher Ed Avery (James Mason) is prescribed the experimental drug cortisone, he experiences relief from his painful back, but suffers extreme side effects, including violent mood swings and a dangerous psychotic episode.

There’s something endearing about Mason’s exaggerated English mannerisms and pronunciation.  In every scene, he’s trying to remind the audience how English he is.

Nicholas Ray is most famous for directing the James Dean vehicle Rebel Without a Cause (1955), but this film is just as good.

It’s amusing to see a young Walter Matthau in a straight dramatic role, but he doesn’t do anything.

This is a great, sympathetic look at addiction, mental illness and the hidden dangers of “miracle cures.”

 

 

Ain’t Nature Grand! (1931)

In this Warner Brother’s short, Bosko is attacked by a mechanical mosquito while fishing.

Some of the familiar Looney Tunes wackiness is present here, but, at this point, Warner Brothers animation was mostly mimicking the output of other studios. This is very similar to the stuff Fleischer was doing, only not as funny.

 

 

Rabid Rider (2010)

It’s slightly unnerving to see familiar characters Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner rendered with computer generated animation and undergoing such a radical transformation.

At only three minutes, half the length of some of the classic shorts featuring the two beloved characters, this feels rushed.

It’s a pleasant blast of nostalgia, but doesn’t compare to the vibrancy of the earlier work by Chuck Jones and adds nothing new to the characters.

 

 

Primal Fear (1996)

Attorney Martin Vail (Richard Gere) defends Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton) from charges he murdered a prominent Catholic priest. The prosecutor, Janet Venable (Laura Linney) is a former lover of Vail’s.

It’s ostensibly a courtroom thriller, but when the murder takes place in the opening minutes and the surprise twist is so obvious you’ve figured out the movie within ten minutes, it’s hard to call the film thrilling.

Richard Gere is engaging, but, in a rare misstep, Linney is too reserved and stoic.  She doesn’t act so much as recite lines while staring at the camera.

Aaron Stampler is a showy role, but Norton ventures into caricature, and the payoff begs the question: if Stampler is such a genius, how did he wind up in this predicament?

The supporting cast is talented and includes John Mahoney (better known as Frasier’s dad), Alfre Woodard, Frances McDormand, Terry O’Quinn (better known as John Locke) and Andre Braugher (who I’ve loved since I first saw him as Detective Frank Pembleton), but, sadly, this plays like a special episode of Law and Order.

Catholic priest sex abuse is too easy a target and the film’s treatment of mental illness is pandering. When the psychological expert in the case is fooled into believing Stampler has multiple personality disorder, this film perpetuates the unfortunate stigma the insanity defense is a ruse used by master criminals.

The Usual Suspects (1995) did a lot of the same things, but did them infinitely better.

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