Cocktail

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2:21

Cocktail

R

1988

1h 44m

Romance

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

11%

Tomatometer

46 Reviews

58%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

Brian Flanagan (Tom Cruise) wants a high-paying marketing job, but needs a business degree first. Working as a bartender to pay for college, Flanagan is mentored by his veteran boss, Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown). Together, their showy tricks and charisma command large crowds and tip payments -- until Flanagan and the cynical Coughlin have a falling out. Flanagan moves to Jamaica to raise enough money to open his own bar, where he falls in love with artist Jordan Mooney (Elisabeth Shue).

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Critics Consensus

There are no surprises in Cocktail, a shallow, dramatically inert romance that squanders Tom Cruise's talents in what amounts to a naive barkeep's banal fantasy.

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Peter Travers

People Magazine

02/26/2019

As if realizing that his star hasn't smiled for 15 minutes, Donaldson tacks on a goody-goody ending that would shame the Care Bears. How to sum up what went wrong? Cruise has a line in the movie: "Flat beer from rusty pipes."

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Richard Corliss

TIME Magazine

05/21/2013

Cocktail is a bottle of rotgut in a Dom Perignon box.

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Sheila Benson

Los Angeles Times

05/21/2013

The pairing of old-hand Brown and young-hand Cruise may have been meant to remind us of Cruise and Paul Newman; if so, think of this as The Color of Counterfeit Money.

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Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

Mar 19

3/5

...the unquestioning attitude of the film to the central character's arrested development in terms of women is less than impressive…

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Nov 4

1.5/4

A Razzie Award winner for Worst Picture (over Burt Reynolds' non-nominated Rent-a-Cop? Please.) and Worst Screenplay (more deserving).

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Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

06/22/2022

Cruise was never been a bad actor, but this film about a flaming sex symbol has elevated him to definitive stardom. [Full review in Spanish]

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Percy D

@RT05941032 12h

Predictable & didn't hold my attention. I expected more from both Tom cruise & Bryan. They must be disappointed as well. It had hype, good cinematography & great cast. But fell way short. Shue is a good actress but give her something to work with. This was trite!

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Zechariah C

@RT72984548 20h

A movie that was a joy to watch. I've seen bad and boring movies. This was not either. I'm happy I saw it. I had a great time and loved how the story unfolded.

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D L

@ddddddddd 1d

One of the most dated and bad films to continually be shown on TV.

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Ariel L

@Alegeriadelosimple Jun 8

80s, hustle, tom cruise and New York… That's what I came to Maybe it's not the spectacular story, but damn how sexy Tom looks here.

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thiago S

@Thiagostone May 25

Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom

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Jack F

@MovieFan111 Apr 26

This was a great movie. It goes to show that even if what every critic says is "bad" about it, doesn't mean the movie isn't enjoyable, which this movie very much is. No regrets watching it. Great title (even though it's based off a book). This would be a fun one to watch in a hotel room on vacation.

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Roger Donaldson

Director

Tom Cruise

Brian Flanagan

Bryan Brown

Douglas 'Doug' Coughlin

Elisabeth Shue

Jordan Mooney

Lisa Banes

Bonnie

Laurence Luckinbill

Mr. Mooney

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Cocktail: Trailer 1

2:21

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Synopsis

Brian Flanagan (Tom Cruise) wants a high-paying marketing job, but needs a business degree first. Working as a bartender to pay for college, Flanagan is mentored by his veteran boss, Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown). Together, their showy tricks and charisma command large crowds and tip payments -- until Flanagan and the cynical Coughlin have a falling out. Flanagan moves to Jamaica to raise enough money to open his own bar, where he falls in love with artist Jordan Mooney (Elisabeth Shue).

Director: Roger Donaldson
Producer: Robert W. Cort, Ted Field
Screenwriter: Heywood Gould
Distributor: Touchstone Pictures
Production Co: Touchstone Pictures, Interscope Communications
Rating: R
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 29, 1988, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $77.3M
Runtime: 1h 44m
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo