YMMV / The Cooler

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Shelly goes out of his way to keep Bernie in Vegas as a cooler. How much of that is him trying to keep a valuable asset in town? How much of that is him keeping his old life-long friend in town? How much of that is because he's in love with Bernie?
• Crosses the Line Twice: During the aftermath of the cheating at craps, Shelly has Mikey beaten up and punches his pregnant girlfriend. Since the pregnancy was fake and Shelly actually hit the pillow posing as her belly he cradles the pillow and sarcastically compliments Bernie for being a grandfather.
• Evil Is Cool: Mob-Affiliated Control Freak casino manager Shelly is a monstrously cruel and corrupt guy in a lot of scenes, but his clinging to the nostalgia of old Las Vegas and sleek, authoritative manner make him an engaging character even without his Pet the Dog moments.
• Heartwarming Moments: "Hey. You look in the mirror, you don't like what you see? Don't believe it. Look in my eyes. I am the only mirror you're ever gonna need. You look in my eyes, Natalie." That, right there, is true love.
• Ho Yay: Natalie points out that Bernie is the only person who ever stood by Shelly and Shelly is destroyed that Bernie's leaving him, that Bernie loves Natalie.
• Magnificent Bastard: Larry Sokolov is a Harvard graduate employed by the shady owners of the Shangri-La casino to modernize the business and enhance profits. His means are effective but alienate the traditionalist casino manager Shelly. When Shelly's employee, Bernie, goes on a suspicious winning streak, Larry demands an explanation, causing Shelly's resentments of him to boil over to the point where he breaks Larry's hand and warns him to leave Bernie alone. This fails to deter or phase Larry, who sends men to kill Shelly and Bernie and retrieve the latter's money, telling Shelly's executioner to emphasize that Larry bears him no ill will. Though Bernie survives due to a freak accident, Shelly winds up dead and the film ends with Larry toasting to the implementation of his new money-making plans.
• One-Scene Wonder: Buddy, the world-weary, heroin-addicted old school lounge singer who spends his one scene being a Morality Pet of sorts for Shelly and displaying some impressive insight about how the two of them are facing the End of an Age.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: It can feel wasteful how Bernie never interacts with his son and daughter-in-law again after he finds out they were using him, they watch him assume a large debt to protect them, and Mikey gets injured in a way a lot like Bernie did six years ago.

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