Cocktail

The funniest thing about this movie is the fact that movie makers believe they actually have something to say about ambition in 80's America , about rat race and love. Oh boy ! All of this in a nonsense movie that is neither a comedy , drama or romantic comedy. The plot is thinner than in most bad soap operas. The characters are shallow and inconsistent . It also doesn't help that Tom Cruise and Elisabeth Shue act rather badly here. They can give good performances , but that's not the case here. Only Bryan Brown is decent, but he doesn't have that much screen time. The soundtrack to this movie is the best thing about "Cocktail" . It includes songs like "Kokomo" (The Beach Boys) , "Don't worry be happy" (Bobby McFerrin) , "Wild again" (Starship) , " Oh, I love you so" (Preston Smith) , "Tutti frutti" (Little Richard) and "Shelter of your love "(Jimmy Cliff). There's some nice background sets in the Caribbean. This is a junk movie that thinks it's got deep message about materialism. It's fairly original , sometimes amusing and never bores , but REALLY you could spend your free time much better than on this empty and forgettable movie. I give it 2/10.

One point for the soundtrack, especially Ry Cooder's All Shook Up. Apart from that, what was the point of this film? To tell us that being a barman is a great career path in a world full of talentless yuppies waiting to be entertained by trivial talents? That even a barman can make up doggerel? That Elizabeth Shue does more acting with her * than her face? That the Caribbean is a better place than New York because girls with big * wear fewer clothes there? All of these may be valid, but are they of value? My countryman Roger Donaldson has made some good films - Smash Palace, for instance - but this...this is an inexplicable waste of celluloid. Good album, though.

"Cocktail" is a film that contains a lively narrative with notable modern day thought-provoking philosophy. The story behind this film is a real hedonistic example of what most blokes would love to do. Hardly any responsibility being a bar-tender, except to those you tend - and all the while having a great time. The plot is thin which is why it is so easy to understand and this is what makes the film - the moment you have to think about a film like this, is the moment you miss the point. The soundtrack is great, and the movie soundtrack CD is missing some of the best songs from the film too, the best one when Tom and Elizabeth get frisky under the waterfall in Jamaica. This is an 80's movie that one would certainly enjoy especially those who grew up during the said decade. Also,it was more of an entertaining movie that features bar tenders and flaring as well as 80's soundtrack that included many family songs at that time. As for the story, it was not meant for deep thinking nor for someone to introspect for everything is crystal clear in its theme about ambition,courage and love. While the plot is something that is far from being original and refreshing as it was predictable and clichéd,it will never fall short of entertainment. It also shows Tom Cruise's ability to carry a film and elevate a movie higher in terms of appeal and charisma early in his stardom. Finally,the film remains a cultural piece of the 80's and consists of elements of a guilty pleasure by today's standards. Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

It just don't get better than that. This is a great movie, and while it is true that the acting wasn't exactly stellar, well, you definitely shouldn't be watching this movie for the acting in the first place. A classic 80s flick in my estimation, Cocktail tells the story of a bartender trying to make it big. A great movie, featuring some big movie stars before they were big movie stars. After I watched it, I wanted to go downstairs to my wetbar and try spinning some bottles around like Tom Cruise. Grade A.

A bona-fide piece of junk. This movie is so self-indulgent if it were a person it would be 100 stone overweight of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. It takes a hack with access to too much money to throw together 100 minutes of rambling dialogue and not too closely related scenes, some pretty faces in New York to Caribbean paradise, a few token sex scenes and personal tragedies, and a schmaltzy happy ending and call that a movie. If you can switch your brain off for however long, there may be mild pleasures to be had from the dream on an exotic island. The movie seems like it is trying to make a comment on ambition in 80's America.

Tom Cruise stars as Brian Flanagan, who is fresh out the army and finding that landing an executive job in the big city isn't as easy as he thought. Taking on a course for a business degree, he winds up working part time at a cocktail bar under the tutelage of bar tending philosopher Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown). A new world is about to open up for both of them. Right, I have the softest of soft spots for this movie. That doesn't mean I'm not aware of its many failings, most notably the heavy weight of predictability that pounds down on the head from the very first frame. But as simple as it may be (oh this is plot line simplicity decorated in flashy booze bottle twiddling), and the obvious cash in on Cruise's box office appeal that it was (note that his next film was the considerable shift to Rain Man), it's fun (thanks to Bryan Brown's mugging) and sweetly romantic (thanks to Elisabeth Shue being sweetly romantic). Yeah it's a hard sell I know! But Cruise charms in a way that has his haters swigging the Alabama Slammers by the dozen, and guys! Kelly Lynch pops up wearing a thong. Yeah I'm pretty shallow where Cocktail is concerned, sue me... All together now, "This magic moment" 6.5/10

As far as entertaining storytelling goes, Cocktail is an almost perfect film. Here is an example of compelling dialogue, magnificent urban cinematography, superb acting, and thoughtful editing combining to present us with a very lucid portrayal of one man's coming to terms with the reality of dreams and ambitions in our world. Cocktail is ultimately the story of Bryan Flanagan's (Tom Cruise) reaction as he doggedly pursues his ambition of getting rich, only to learn that his dream was never really worth pursuing. A new arrival in New York City, the "greatest concentration of wealth in the world," young Flanagan immediately seeks to establish himself in the business world. Without an education or practical experience, however, he suffers one humiliation after another while job-seeking. Eventually he realizes that the business world demands an education, so he enrolls in college and settles for a job as a bartender to pay the bills. But then something extraordinary happens: he discovers that he actually enjoys bartending more than he enjoys college, and that he is challenged more by the mentorship of bartender Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown) than he is by the tutelage of his bitter, sadistic college professors. Together, Coughlin and Flanagan develop the bartending equivalent of a synchronized swimming routine that delivers them both the recognition and money (in tips) they crave. At this point, Cocktail could easily have degraded into one long, hedonistic party, since the bartending action is certainly entertaining. But instead, a falling out between Flanagan and Coughlin suddenly shifts both the tone and the location of the film as Flanagan moves to the Caribbean to save money for starting his own business. In Jamaica he meets Jordan (Elizabeth Shue), a lovely, down-to-earth artist, and for the first time in the film Flanagan truly falls in love with a woman he takes to bed, and he seems genuinely surprised to realize that love has been a more worthy goal than sex all along. With the re-introduction of Coughlin's bad influence, however, Flanagan ignores what he has learned about love and pursues a wealthy benefactor, Bonnie (Lisa Banes), breaking Jordan's heart in the process. Returning to New York City with Bonnie, which should have been the break he has been waiting for, Flanagan instead suffers yet more humiliation in the power game and finally comes to realize that he'd already achieved the success that makes life worth living when he was with Jordan. So he burns his bridges with Bonnie, and the remainder of the film focuses on his new ambition, to win back the trust of the woman he loves. This is a great story, one that requires the viewer to really challenge Americans' preoccupation with money and power. Yet the beauty of Cocktail is the smooth, realistic way in which this story is presented. For example, few filmmakers today would risk losing the audience's attention by focusing at length on Jordan's silent reaction to Flanagan's betrayal, yet these few silent moments on a darkened beach say more than any amount of dialogue ever could--but only if you're listening! Cocktail is a wonderful story of love, ambition, opportunity, humiliation, frustration, sacrifice, the absurdity of business and academia, and the definitions of "success" and "failure," sprinkled with real-world humor that is noticeably different--and funnier--than mere comedy. It is also an exciting and fun film to watch, a "feel-good" movie of the highest caliber. I take my hat off to everyone who worked on this fine film.

Cocktail

Cocktail

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