Cocktail | Rotten Tomatoes

Cocktail

R

Released Jul 29, 1988

1h 44m

Romance

Comedy

Drama

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Cocktail: Trailer 1

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9%

Tomatometer

45 Reviews

58%

Audience Score

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

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."

Feb 26, 2019

Full Review

Richard Corliss

TIME Magazine

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

May 21, 2013

Full Review

Sheila Benson

Los Angeles Times

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.

May 21, 2013

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

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]

Jun 22, 2022

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Cocktail kicks off with an entertainingly lighthearted opening stretch revolving around Brian's initial entry into the world of bartending...

Rated: 2.5/4

Jul 14, 2020

Full Review

Brian D. Johnson

Maclean's Magazine

Cocktail is a vacuous throwback to Saturday Night Fever -- without the cultural novelty. The script is spiked with some comic lines, but overproof doses of inadvertent humor kill the effect.

Mar 22, 2019

Full Review

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which k

Even though it's pretty old, it nevertheless captures the struggles people face in today's society. Love, opportunity, responsibility, contentment, issue, conflict, pride and modesty. This movie reflects real life struggles.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/20/24

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Connor A

This film is OK. It starts off pretty good as Tom Cruise's charm gives the film a feel-good feeling to it. Unfortunately the second half of the film gets a bit messy and loses the energy that made it good. It's not as bad as the critic score would make it out to be, but Tom Crusie is definitely the best thing about it

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/20/24

Full Review

DJ EARTH

Why on earth such low scores. This movie is superb

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/17/24

Full Review

Tom C

I don't particularly understand the hate for this film. It's not a masterpiece but it's not trying to be. It's a simple romantic comedy about a bartender. Tom Cruise is very charming in the lead role and I like his chemistry with Elisabeth Shue. Bryan Brown was never all that big in America but he delivers a good performance. There are some moments where it seems like the main character is making the worst decisions possible just for the fun of it but it's a rom-com that needs to have lots of drama between the couple so it is what it is. It's not half as bad as everyone makes it out to be. It's just a fun rom-com, don't expect anything more and you'll have a great time.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/26/24

Full Review

Jelisije J

A coming of age story for every young Bartender trying to make it in the real world and trying to have a measure of success.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/05/23

Full Review

Samuel F

My dads Saturday night movie recommendation, and one which I expected to just be a sappy, looks over substance romance. It most definitely is , but I was looking to hate it a lot more than I did. Yes, its plot is thin and cliche, filled with superficial characters and cringy moments. It throws a charming Tom Cruise at you to cheaply overcompensate for all of these things - but goddamn he's charismatic. I definitely found him to be a dense and inconsiderate character at times, but he also has this magnetic relationship with Bryan Brown, and I thought their dynamic was fun, even if exaggerated. He's dressed to the nines in every scene, and the 80s bartending scene (bolstered by the great soundtrack) looked like a vibe.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/01/23

Full Review

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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

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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

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