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This movie is a good example of what's happened to American independent film -- it doesn't exist anymore. "The Cooler"
is indie only in the sense that it's low-budget and features mid-level stars. It has a charming premise for a romantic comedy,
it's well cast and stylishly shot, but you won't find anything here you haven't seen before or can't find in more expensive
studio offerings. The great Bill Macy specializes in playing losers, but he doesn't play them as losers -- hence the pathos.
The cooler in this film knows he's a loser, so Macy has little to do but act adorable and apologetic. "The Cooler"
seems to have been made by people who, as a friend of mine once put it, "learned about the dark underside of life at
Book Soup" (a hip Hollywood bookstore.) It's a film ABOUT people who learn to take chances -- to risk everything when
it counts . . . a lesson the filmmakers have not themselves taken to heart.
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