Cocktail (1988)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Spencer S

  
  It's always an eye opening experience when you enjoy a film that you know you should hate. Such is the self hatred roller coaster of Cocktail, a very basic and uninspiring premise, also poorly executed, but way too much fun with its camp and cast of characters to incite the usual… More
  It's always an eye opening experience when you enjoy a film that you know you should hate. Such is the self hatred roller coaster of Cocktail, a very basic and uninspiring premise, also poorly executed, but way too much fun with its camp and cast of characters to incite the usual villagers with torches effect. Yes, the eighties were an especially grotesque time for cinema, including sex fueled debauchery, consumerism going hand in hand with Reagan economics, and some mind altering soundtracks and scores, all synth, all the time. Cocktail gravitates towards these pitfalls with great ease, but never quite makes it into awful, mostly because of the intriguing cast. The plot itself is nauseating, starting off as a great story of a bartender following his dream of wealth and power. Instead of climbing the ladder, or at least cultivating a "there's more to life than money" mentality, our protagonist becomes ever more unlikable, a lady's man so in your face it's an ugly portrayal. Somehow we bounce between New York City and Jamaica, but not in a timeline that makes any sense, including a romance with Elisabeth Shue's character. It's because Tom Cruise can pull off cocky in almost all roles, and Shue is the obliged girl next door, that this is a cult success. Even though the story, with all the rags to riches mentality, but none of the follow through, is based on Cruise's character, it just isn't juicy enough for the audience. There's so much materialistic buildup from our hero, that his subsequent behavior and that of the other characters is sickening, especially Shue's. Still, anything with Cruise in the eighties includes an eyeful of neon and that quirky grin, which is enough for any woman with an open mind.

• Bethany M

  
  One of the best romantic films ever made. I'm in love with this film and Tom Cruise was exceptional.

• Brad W

  
  What a waste of talent, I hated it.

• Conner R

  
  It's bizarre that this movie is actually as good as it is. A movie about the life of a bartender just seems stupid, but this was extremely well done. The acting, filming and plot was very well done. It's also really fun and enjoyable, a light hearted masterpiece if you ask… More
  It's bizarre that this movie is actually as good as it is. A movie about the life of a bartender just seems stupid, but this was extremely well done. The acting, filming and plot was very well done. It's also really fun and enjoyable, a light hearted masterpiece if you ask me. Tom Cruise and Elisabeth Shue are its main attraction, delivering completely. It's hard to explain in words, but this movie just needs to be seen and enjoyed by all.

• Lady D

  
  A romantic Drama set in the late 80's. A nostalgic classic of it's time, whilst many fans were enjoying Tom Cruise, it was always Bryan Brown who stole the show in this film for me. Very corny and cheesy in parts, but completely watchable and one of my favourites of that… More
  A romantic Drama set in the late 80's. A nostalgic classic of it's time, whilst many fans were enjoying Tom Cruise, it was always Bryan Brown who stole the show in this film for me. Very corny and cheesy in parts, but completely watchable and one of my favourites of that era, hence the rating, very quoteable too.

• Cassie H

  
  This movie didn't fail to amaze me,considering Tom Cruise was in it. LOVE IT!!! The story is just awesome :)

• Anthony L

  
  This is so awful it makes me shudder. Love that Shue though!

• Jason O

  
  Flanagan (Tom Cruise) is a student studying business and who takes up a new job being a bartender. Flanagan proves to be a great bartender, but he doesn't want to be a bartender all his life, especially after his co-worker betrays him and after he drops out of college. Flanagan… More
  Flanagan (Tom Cruise) is a student studying business and who takes up a new job being a bartender. Flanagan proves to be a great bartender, but he doesn't want to be a bartender all his life, especially after his co-worker betrays him and after he drops out of college. Flanagan isn't really satisfied with anything in his life until he meets an attractive girl named Jordan (Elisabeth Shue) and falls in love with her. But even then everything doesn't go as planned after he takes up a bet with his betraying former co-worker. "Cocktail" is a pretty good movie. It was one of the best of Tom Cruise's older movies. It has a good plot and the soundtrack isn't bad either. I recommend anybody to at least watch "Cocktail." NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2001.

• Roy G

  
  Overall, it's ridiculous, but Cocktail is a real classic of the late-80s self-help moviemaking genre.

• Candy R

  
  One of my fave movies from my teens. Love the musci. Good story.

• Lafe F

  
  A light-hearted formulaic comedy with a fun bartending plotline to fit Tom Cruise into. There are some nice locations, good soundtrack and romance to keep it all nice. I liked the scenes of Tom trying to mix drinks at first. Later, when he becomes more experienced, he puts on a good… More
  A light-hearted formulaic comedy with a fun bartending plotline to fit Tom Cruise into. There are some nice locations, good soundtrack and romance to keep it all nice. I liked the scenes of Tom trying to mix drinks at first. Later, when he becomes more experienced, he puts on a good bar show.

• jay n

  
  love elisabeth shue but this is junk.

• Dean M

  
  Fantastic drama and entertaining of Tom Cruise learning about life and bartending from the droll, laid-back Aussie Bryan Brown. You can see how many chicks he can get to lie back.

• xGary X

  
  Garish and usympathetic 80s drama that's all ugly flash and no substance.

• Jason S

  
  Good times.

• Bradley W

  
  What a waste of talent, I hated it.

• Deb S

  
  Tom Cruise plays the earnest and eager Brian Flanagan fresh out of the army and in NYC looking for a job. After failing to land a white collar job due to his lack of credentials, he hooks up withCoughlin (played by an excellent Bryan Brown) who hires him in his bar as a bartender… More
  Tom Cruise plays the earnest and eager Brian Flanagan fresh out of the army and in NYC looking for a job. After failing to land a white collar job due to his lack of credentials, he hooks up withCoughlin (played by an excellent Bryan Brown) who hires him in his bar as a bartender showing him all the ropes of the business. Together they team up and become the city's most sought-after bartenders having a string of sexy and exotic girlfriends until Coughlin betrays Flanagan. Flanagan decides to head over to Jamaica to tend bar on the beach. There, he meets and has a torrid Harlequin Romance Novel-cover affair with Jordan Mooney, played by the beautiful Elisabeth Shue. In fact, one of my personal favorite aspects of this film is the exotic location of Jamaica.

• Naughtia N

  
  A talented young man moves to New York in hopes to become a millionaire. After several job interviews and taking classes in school he gets a part time job working as a bartender. His bartending skills are astonishing and he decides to pursue a career in bartending and then he meets a… More
  A talented young man moves to New York in hopes to become a millionaire. After several job interviews and taking classes in school he gets a part time job working as a bartender. His bartending skills are astonishing and he decides to pursue a career in bartending and then he meets a girl who he falls in love with. This is a typical 80's movie, not bad.

• Mike T

  
  This is just flat-out bad filmmaking on so many levels. I really like Tom Cruise, but he's definitely not at the top of his game in this laughable melodrama. Lacking in structure, originality, character motivation and intelligence.

• Nicolas K

  
  I think Shue is kinda hot, but this film ain't.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings