The Cooler (2003)
Maria Bello: Natalie Belisario
Photos
Quotes
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Natalie : I thought "easy money."
Bernie : What are you talking about?
Natalie : Shelly. He paid me to get close to you, to keep you around.
Bernie : Shelly...?
Natalie : Yeah. Shelly. You were right that first night. I was for sale. Bought and paid for. You were the easy mark, Bernie. At first I thought that you were just another way to make a quick buck, you know? And then I started to take a closer look. And for the first time, you were somebody who wasn't trying to hustle me. Somebody who wasn't trying to pretend he was someone he wasn't. Just a decent guy, trying to get back on track. And it didn't hurt any that you put me up on a pedestal. It sure puts the gutter in perspective.
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Bernie : They've got these rules about casinos hiring felons, so he got me a gig in telemarketing. We were scamming pensioners out of their retirement money. I-I lasted two weeks. By that time, I was... I was really getting in deep. I owed one of the casinos over a hundred grand. I put Shelly in a really awkward position. I don't blame him for what he did.
Natalie : What?
[Bernie indicates his injury]
Natalie : Your leg? He did that to you? He shot you?
Bernie : No. Baseball bat. I got off easy.
Natalie : What do you mean you got off easy?
Bernie : I was out of control.
Natalie : He maimed you, for fuck's sake!
Bernie : Listen to me. I'm grateful for what he did. I am absolutely serious. Any time I get an urge to play off the clock or so much as drop a quarter in a slot, I just reach down and feel what's left of my cartilage. It's an excellent reminder.
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Natalie : I thought shit like that only happened in the movies.
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Natalie : I think that, uh... I love you. No. I don't think. I'm pretty sure of it. You blindsided me, Bernie Lootz. I never saw it coming. You shouldn't do that to a girl. There's so many things you don't know, that you should know. Oh, fuck, I don't wanna ruin this.
Bernie : It-it... it don't matter. It don't matter what you come clean about. It's not gonna change the way I feel about you. It's not. Natalie, I... I'd say it, but...
Natalie : Say it. Just say it.
Bernie : No, with my rotten luck...
Natalie : Don't... fuck rotten luck, Bernie. That's over.
Bernie : I love you, Natalie. I really, really love you.
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Shelly Kaplow : You are out of his life, before he even gets home. Don't even tell him to his face. Leave him a note. I'm gonna make some calls, and you are gonna be situated at another joint.
Natalie : I don't think I can do that, Shell.
Shelly Kaplow : Excuse me?
Natalie : [louder] I said "I don't think I can do that, Shell." It wasn't an act. I meant it.
Shelly Kaplow : You love him?
Natalie : Yeah. I love the schmuck.
Shelly Kaplow : What the fuck is there to love? He's a loser. Always has been, always will be. I thought you were a smart cookie when I picked you out. You do not want to fuck with me. Because if you do, your next john is going to be a fucking rattlesnake in the fucking desert. Do you understand me?
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Natalie : Did you notice, uh, last night, that tattoo on my butt?
Bernie : Little Joe?
Natalie : Yeah. Yeah, two 2's. Little Joe. I had a son. His name was Joe. I was his mother for one year.
Bernie : You don't have to tell me this.
Natalie : No, I want to, Bernie. I gave my son up for adoption. I just wanted my life back. I was seventeen going on eighteen and I was so fucking selfish. My family didn't want nothing to do with me after that, so I hitched a ride out here and, uh, thought I'd make it as a showgirl. Ten years later... I'd like to think that if it happened when I was older, with a guy that I cared about, that it would have been different, you know? I think about my little Joe sometimes and I do know I did the right thing. I'm convinced of that.
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Mikey : Tell me, something, Natalie. Is he paying you?
Natalie : Excuse me?
Mikey : My old man, is he, uh, renting your ass? Because otherwise, I just don't get it. I mean, a loser like my pops in the company of some primo tits and ass? Just... it don't compute.
[doing the "coin behind the ear" trick with a casino chip]
Mikey : Is this enough to get me a little taste?
[sticking the chip into her cleavage]
Mikey : Family discount?
Natalie : Are you kidding me?
