Cooler/Doomer Sharp Turn/Unlucky Details Introduction - Romance Movies - Videos - Podcasts - Personal Multimedia - Hollywood Films

Bernie Lootz (played by William H. Macy) is first and foremost a genuine Las Vegas man, and secondly can be described as a textbook unlucky individual. Perhaps this isn't entirely accurate; calling him the unluckiest of the unlucky might be more fitting. Over the weekend, Ah Zhong took his son to tour the "Thousand Buddha Caves." Driven by curiosity, the son disappeared in the blink of an eye. Ah Niu anxiously searched high and low before finally finding the son behind a Maitreya Buddha statue. To scare the son, Ah Zhong said, "There are many ghosts here, don't run around recklessly." The son clapped his hands and laughed, "I'm not afraid of ghosts! You often scold grandma as an old ghost, mom as a dead ghost, uncle as a smoking ghost, aunt as a stingy ghost... I spend every day with ghosts, why should I be afraid?" From a failed marriage, to a son who should be close but instead clashes, to the beloved cat that got lost, everything Bernie touches seems to go awry. Bernie was once a terrible gambler whose unshakable bad habits led him into deep debt, including owing money to a friend, Shelly (played by Alec Baldwin), which he couldn't repay. When Bernie was destitute and cornered by creditors, Shelly generously paid off all his debts. There's no such thing as a free lunch, and Bernie probably knew this well. In exchange, Shelly arranged for Bernie to work around the clock at the Shangri-La Casino until all debts were repaid. Shelly wasn't so altruistic; he had identified Bernie's awful and highly contagious misfortune, aiming to transfer it to other casino guests so the casino could make more money. Pressured by circumstances, Bernie became the casino's designated unlucky person ("Cooler," or "cooling machine"). Everything unfolded as Shelly had anticipated: whenever Bernie stood near even the hottest gambling tables, guests who seemed destined to win would inexplicably lose. Winter had arrived for Las Vegas gamblers! However, fortune has its own caprices. Just as Bernie was about to pay off all his debts, a beautiful new cocktail waitress, Natalie (played by Maria Bello), entered Bernie's life, marking the arrival of spring for him. The budding romance ended Bernie's streak of bad luck, but how could Shelly tolerate any impact on the casino's business? He was determined to do everything in his power to split Bernie and Natalie up, keeping Bernie perpetually unlucky.