The Cooler (2003) * * *

 

Directed by:  Wayne Kramer

Starring:  William H. Macy, Maria Bello, Alec Baldwin, Ron Livingston, Paul Sorvino, Shawn Hatosy, Estella Warren, Joey Fatone

Bernie Lootz (Macy) is a "cooler" who works for the Shangri-La Casino in Las Vegas under the watchful eye of Sheldon Kaplow (Baldwin).  What is a cooler?  He's someone who canvasses the casino floor looking for tables or machines where gamblers are winning.  He then inconspicuously touches or brushes up against them and their luck changes for the worse.  The mind boggles as to how Sheldon can tell if Bernie's magic is working.  One night, the casino loses over $1 million and Sheldon asks Bernie what's wrong with him.  Coolers were apparently used by old-school casino moguls like Sheldon, and they must've worked once upon a time, but when new investors buy into Shangri-La and inform Sheldon that changes will be coming, Bernie's future as a cooler is no doubt in jeopardy.  The idea of Sheldon relying on superstition as a business plan is quite foolish in theory, but maybe it works better in practice.

Bernie and Sheldon go way back.  They were friends, until Bernie incurred a gambling debt and Sheldon hobbled him by breaking his kneecap.  Even after, Sheldon hires Bernie to be his cooler because anyone with Bernie's luck could surely be used to Sheldon's advantage.  However, waitress Natalie (Bello) enters Bernie's life and they fall in love, or at least Bernie falls hard for Natalie.  The nature of this relationship is at the center of The Cooler, while Sheldon panics when Bernie suddenly loses his edge and can no longer put the molloinks on unsuspecting gamblers.  Alec Baldwin was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance and it's notable for its ruthlessness and its cold gestures masquerading as mercy.  Just look how he handles the casino's smack-addicted headliner (Sorvino).  Sheldon is a monster with a heart of gold.  I don't quite buy Sheldon's changes in the final act, but this ranks among the best of Baldwin's screen performances.

Macy relies heavily on his charm as a sad sack.  His relationship with Sheldon is essentially indentured servitude, but Natalie could be his way out, if his and her luck holds out.  Complicating matters is the reappearance of Bernie's son Mikey (Hatosy) and his pregnant wife Charlene (Warren).  Bernie feels guilty about their estrangement, and Mikey plays right to it.  Bernie lives to be taken advantage of and even agrees to pay Mikey's debts well after it is established that Mikey and Charlene are con artists. Sheldon can't believe what a fool he is, and neither can we.

More is discovered about the true nature of Natalie, Bernie, and Sheldon's relationships to each other, and that part of The Cooler feels like formula, but the movie is at its best as we see the contrast between old and new in the casino world.  Sheldon invites Larry (Livingston), one of the new young investors in the Shangri-La, to witness how the casino protects its investments...old-school style.  There is a payoff to that which Sheldon realizes later, and all too late.  

The Hunt for Red October (1990) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  John McTiernan

Starring:  Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Tim Curry, Sam Neill, Fred Dalton Thompson, Peter Firth, Richard Jordan, Joss Ackland, James Earl Jones

The Hunt for Red October is the first Tom Clancy novel adapted to the big screen featuring CIA analyst Jack Ryan, who in later years would become a full-fledged action hero, but in this 1990 adventure he is in the center of the action, but mostly trying to convince the Americans that legendary Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius (Connery) is planning to defect after stealing Russia's latest technological marvel: a submarine undetectable by sonar. 

Ryan hinges his belief on a brief meeting he had with Ramius at a state dinner years before, plus years of studying the man and his maneuvers.  The Hunt for Red October's suspense draws on whether Ryan can convince his superiors that Ramius is not planning to start World War III.  It's quite a gamble, especially for those who believe Ryan solely on faith and without concrete evidence.  Ramius plays his intentions close to the vest.  He kills a KGB agent assigned to accompany him on the sub ("Where I'm going, you cannot follow") and only his XO Borodin and a few others aboard know his true motives.  The movie slowly reveals what we and Ryan suspect, but Ramius doesn't make it easy.  He is a revered captain so used to government scrutiny that he knows he has to play a silent game of chess and know his opponent's moves before they do.  Ramius soon has to outwit the American subs who are being ordered to blow him out of the water.

Of course, Connery plays the Lithuanian Ramius with a Scottish accent.  He's Sean Connery and you're not, so we forgive that premise.  Liam Neeson and Arnold Schwarzenegger do the same thing to the point that no explanations are needed as to why they have respective Irish and Austrian accents.  They just do, and we move on.  His aura of mystery is crucial to the success of The Hunt for Red October.  Meanwhile, Jack Ryan (Baldwin) is collected, analytical, and expends plenty of energy pleading his case.  He is allowed more emotion than Ramius because he's not operating a prototype nuclear submarine and perhaps hiding an agenda.  The Jack Ryan of the recent Jack Ryan: Ghost War is unrecognizable when compared with Baldwin's.  

The Hunt for Red October allows for suspense and intelligence.  It isn't simply mindless action.  In the waning years of the Cold War with tensions easing but both sides being cautious, the episode here could prove disastrous if Ryan isn't able to talk the Americans out of blowing Ramius and the Red October submarine out of the water.  If anything, The Hunt for Red October is a last gasp before the old Cold War ended and a new one began shortly after. 

Jack Ryan: Ghost War (2026) * 1/2

 

Directed by: Andrew Bernstein

Starring:  John Krasinski, Sienna Miller, Michael Kelly, Wendell Pierce, Max Beesley

I've seen the Jack Ryan movies The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and even Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.  They're all significantly better than Jack Ryan: Ghost War, which resembles every other boilerplate, cookie-cutter, made-for-streaming action movie we've seen in the past decade.  I never saw the Jack Ryan series on Amazon Prime and nothing about Jack Ryan: Ghost War make me want to circle back and watch the series.  Although to my relief, I didn't feel like I was lost in the plot because I never viewed the original show. 

Jack Ryan (Krasinski) is a former CIA analyst who, as the movie opens, is now working on Wall Street in the private sector when he is approached by his former boss Admiral Greer (Pierce) to act as a courier somewhere in Europe and retrieve top secret items from a spy.  Naturally, this doesn't go as planned, and Jack is dragged back in to a world of violence and CIA secrets in which Greer took part many moons ago, much to the horror of Jack, who doesn't seem to realize he works for that CIA.  Along for the ride is MI-6 agent Emma Marlow (Miller), who must go through three packs a day and it's refreshing when she isn't holding a cigarette or puffing on one.  Vaping is just as dangerous to your health, but I heard it's more aesthetically pleasing albeit not as cinematic.  

The movie is complete with a military-style rum-de-dum-dum score and digital readouts of where the action is taking place (i.e. CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia) scrolling across the bottom left corner of the screen complete with scroll sound effects.  It's not exactly revolutionary, and doesn't need to be, but Jack Ryan: Ghost War seems to be putting itself and us through the motions with as little depth as possible.  We've seen this all before, and done better. 

Pressure (2026) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Anthony Maras

Starring:  Andrew Scott, Brendan Fraser, Kerry Condon, Damien Lewis, Chris Messina

You wouldn't think a movie hinging on a weather forecast would be tense and thrilling, but in Pressure, the fate of D-Day and perhaps the difference between Allied victory and defeat hangs in the balance.  Pressure is taut filmmaking, with very little time for any outside subplots except for one, which is universally compelling.  

Pressure begins with Captain James Stagg (Scott) leaving his pregnant wife to report to General Dwight D. Eisenhower's (Fraser) headquarters in England three days before D-Day was to commence on Monday June 5.  The troops and planes are ready to be deployed for the largest seaborne invasion in history.  All Ike needs is to be assured that the weather will cooperate.  The no-nonsense Stagg, who ruffles feathers upon arrival, dismisses the optimistic forecast by Ike's normal forecaster Irving Krick (Messina).  Krick relies on historical data. (It was sunny back on June 5, 1925) but Stagg's research is more complex and detailed, although due to the meteorological technology of the time, the forecast is still an educated prediction, not a certainty, even 72 hours out.

The forecasting issue is tricky not just for logistical reasons, but for planning.  A delay would risk the Germans discovering the Allied attack plans.  Sending the troops into severe weather could jeopardize their lives and the entire mission.  General Bernard Montgomery (Lewis) wants to move forward regardless of the weather.  Ike is more cautious.  He is open to delaying, but not for very long.  Differences of opinion add to the stakes.  Add in the disastrous dress rehearsal known as Exercise Tiger which took place six weeks earlier and cost hundreds of lives, and we see no detail is too small or should be left to chance. 

I enjoyed the performances and the sense of time, place, and history that Pressure brings.  We know the outcome because D-Day began June 6, 1944, but we wonder if it had been delayed any further, what would world history be like?  What if the Germans were able to fortify their position better and France wasn't liberated?  The title Pressure doesn't simply refer to air pressure or barometric pressure, but the weight of the impact of D-Day.  Pressure understands just how big a difference one day can make while also paying proper tribute to those who gave their lives in the battle and to those behind the scenes whose job was to ensure those on the ground can do theirs. 

Passenger (2026) * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Andre Ovredal

Starring:  Jacob Scipio, Lou Llobell, Melissa Leo, Joseph Lopez

Like Obsession proves, a low-budget horror feature doesn't mean low-rent or dull.  Passenger, however, is in the latter category.  It is the tale of an evil spirit who terrorizes motorists on dark, lonely roads at night.  A young couple, Tyler and Maddie (Scipio and Llobell), light out for the open road in an RV after leaving New York behind.  At first, this idea seems romantic, but after a few weeks, Maddie confesses the "freedom" of such an adventure has its drawbacks, like having to shower in 24-hour gyms and not having much to do except drive and hang out in RV parks.

One dark, but not stormy, night, Tyler and Maddie encounter this spirit on the road.  Oh, and there is an epilogue involving two guys driving along the same stretch.  One has to urinate on the side of the road and returns to find the driver has disappeared.  Our unfriendly ghost has something to do with it.  This spirit terrorizes whichever poor souls it sets its sights on, and Tyler and Maddie spend the bulk of the movie trying to outrun it.  

Tyler and Maddie seem nice enough, but the movie itself is content not to be anything special.  It doesn't need to be, but there isn't much to care about.  Sure, we don't want the monster to win, but the stakes aren't high.  Not a lot about Passenger is fun or even scary.  These are two essentials in horror movies, and if you're missing both, you won't have anything to keep you interested. 

In the Grey (2026) * * *

 

Directed by:  Guy Ritchie

Starring:  Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, Eiza Gonzalez, Rosamund Pike, Carlos Bardem

Guy Ritchie's In the Grey may seem like a slick typical action movie on its surface, but we also take a look into the minds of its protagonists.  They are Sid (Cavill) and Bronco (Gyllenhaal), two exfiltration experts hired by a trillion-dollar New York bank that loans money to dictators like Manny Salazar (Bardem) and doesn't care that he's a dictator.  They want their money back, plus interest, and dispatch executives like Rachel (Gonzalez) to meet with Salazar and force him to pay up.  If he resists or reneges on the deal, which he does to a previous poor soul, then Sid and Bronco are brought in to assist.  

And by assist, we mean plan an elaborate plot which covers every angle and escape route you can think of (with help of their small, but skilled staff of mercenaries.  They protect Rachel with all of their resourcefulness and skill, and it is fun to watch them map out their strategy.  Sid and Bronco are experts and a joy to watch. 

Rachel has a sit-down with Salazar after Sid and Bronco sabotage his businesses and force him to the table.  Salazar, though, is hardly submissive and lowballs Rachel, leading to attempts by his goons on her life.  No worries, Sid and Bronco have that covered too and dispatch the villains with ruthless efficiency.  But there is more at the plot twists and turns, forcing Sid and Bronco to rescue Rachel using one of the aforementioned escape routes off of Salazar's island.  This was all set up in the first act, and since we paid attention, we see how Sid and Bronco cover the what-ifs and the angles.  

Ritchie is an adept action director, and while some of In the Grey devolves into chases and shootouts, we see the human side of the heroes.  They and the team actually take a moment of pause and reflection when they learn one of their own has fallen.  How often do you see that in an action movie?  

Obsession (2026) * * *

 

Directed by:  Curry Barker

Starring:  Michael Johnson, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless

Obsession is low budget, but it isn't cheaply made.  It is simple, taut horror with the universal theme and warning of:  Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.  

We begin with Baron (Johnston), a twentysomething who is desperately in love with his co-worker Nikki (Navarrette) and can't find it in him to communicate his feelings to her.  Nikki is a kind soul who isn't aloof or mean but has clearly placed Baron in the friend zone.  One evening, he buys a toy called "One Wish Willow" from a novelty store which he uses to grant him his wish that Nikki would love him above all others.  He should've worded it differently.

Nikki begins acting strangely.  She doesn't just love Baron, but she grows obsessed with him.  She doesn't want him even to use the bathroom for fear of letting him out of her sight.  She acts possessed by an otherworldly spirit.  Nikki can no longer be reasoned with.  When Baron calls the customer service number on the One Wish Willow package, the man on the other end matter-of-factly tells him that there is no way to reverse the wish and lotsa luck young man.  The number of inexplicable behavioral events keep piling up, and Baron is helpless to stop them.  The only way out is the inevitable, and does Baron want to go down that road?

The true victim in Obsession is Nikki, who did not ask for this to happen to her, and didn't deserve it.  The Nikki that "loves" Baron is not the one he fell in love with and fantasized about possessing.  She is but a vessel of an evil supernatural being that makes Baron and his friends regret that he made that selfish wish.  Obsession is truly scary and effective, because it's told clearly and with care.  Is there gore?  In one or two specific scenes, yes, and that's par for the course.  The scene where Nikki disposes of a potential rival is a genuine jump scare with a brutality no one is prepared for.  

Obsession grows all the scarier because it is still somewhat grounded in reality despite the obvious intrusion of the supernatural.  The performances are by unknown, but natural actors who inhabit the movie with conviction.  When the ending finally plays out, we realize just how much we sympathize with Nikki and why.