Cocktail (1988) Review

Quick View: Long before Tom Cruise was...different...he was one of my favorite actors. I still think he is a good actor. One movie I really loved in the late 80's was Cocktail. It was very cheesy and predictable but it had all the elements of a fun romantic movie with a slightly darker side as well. This is a good rainy day flick for those who don't demand a lot of depth from their cheesy flicks.

About Cocktail

This movie was produced in 1988 and directed by Roger Donaldson. Starring a young Tom Cruise as money hungry Brian Flanagan and Elizabeth Shue as Jordan, the girl next door type whom he falls for, this is a typical boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back film.

Cruise's Flanagan partners with Bryan Brown's character, Doug Coughlin, and things get crazy. Although Flanagan loves Jordan, he wants money more than he wants love and ends up briefly with Lisa Barne's character Bonnie. Of course, in the end love wins out but the chase is fun to watch and the few twists are interesting, if a bit predictable.

When it pours, it reigns: The plot

Brian moves to New York City after getting out of the army and becomes enamored with the night life, especially the bartending skills of Doug Coughlin. He gets a job as a bartender and the two dazzle the hopping crowd with choreographed drink making and all kinds of fun things that never happen at any bar I have been to.

The two are inseparable friends with huge dreams of making it big but a falling out involving a woman leaves Brian on his own where he travels to Jamaica and gets a job wowing the tourists there at a beach front bar. Hidden beneath the bar is a book on how to make it big in business though because Brian's only goal in life is to be a huge success.

Enter Jordan who is vacationing with a girlfriend. After rescuing her drunk friend, Brian puts the moves on Jordan. Love is in the air. They have some really romantic scenes but no nudity at all. It really isn't needed because the scenes are just enough to convey what is happening without the use of nudity.

As luck would have it Doug just happens to show up, now married to a rich young woman. The two mend fences as Bryan froths with envy at the seemingly great life his old friend managed to obtain.

Back on the sand Brian, frustrated that his life is going nowhere while his old friend's is so great, leaves the bar with a rich older woman on a bet. Unfortunately for him, Jordan sees the two leaving together and splits. Brian is upset but Bonnie has cash and contacts and can get him into places he could never get into by himself.

Brian moves in with Bonnie who treats him like a pet dog. He goes along with it for a while but it's clear he is still in love with Jordan. Eventually he cracks and takes off looking for her. After he finds her waitressing, Jordan drenches him with various foods and stalks away making it known she wants nothing to do with him.

He doesn't give up as he seeks her out and finds her apartment. She coldly tells him she is pregnant and there is no place for him in her and their child's lives. Devastated, he seeks out his old friend Doug only to find Doug's life is falling apart. His ventures are failing and he is hiding huge debts from his cold, mannequin of a young wife. Eventually, Doug departs using a broken bottle to commit suicide and wake up selfish Brian to the reality of life.

Brian goes after Jordan with new commitment. After finding out that Jordan is not a poor little waitress but is, in fact, the daughter of a very wealthy father, he turns down a substantial check from her father to get out of her life. (This is the turning point since the old Brian would have never turned down such an amount of money.) The couple eventually takes off together with her father threatening to cut off all financial assistance if his daughter leaves with Brian.

Brian and Jordan open a bar - with the help of his uncle and money he saved - and it becomes an instant success. Utilizing his charisma and bartending skills, Brian pulls in a packed house every night. Just as Brian is getting ready to recite one of his famous poems to the rabid crowd, Jordan whispers in his ear and surprises him with the fact that they are having twins. Happy, happy happy. The struggling but in love couple celebrate to end the movie.

Why I Like This Movie

Cruise is an incredibly charismatic guy in this film and Elizabeth Shue is a beautiful counterpart. The bartending scenes are really a lot of fun to watch and the music is great. I STILL have the soundtrack! I am a sucker for a good old fashioned love story and that is just what this is, interlaced with greed and a lesson. Money isn't everything, you see. Love is worth more than money. It is basically pounded into our heads as we watch the film but subtly enough that it doesn't make me crazy.

I think, if they stripped the fun bartending scenes and the music, this would be a pretty simple, possibly dull, film. Jazzed up with the soundtrack and flashing lights, it's a fun, no brainer of a film that I always watch whenever I find it on cable just so I can sing the Georgia Satellites' cover of "Hippy Hippy Shake" one more time. Watch this clip and tell me you wouldn't be hooked too! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YbjzztYbUo

Rating - R

Run Time 103 Minutes

My Viewpoint

This is a sublimely cheesy and superficial movie that I can't help but to love. If you're looking for a flick that you don't have to think much about and that is pure escapism, this is one to watch. I really enjoy it although I am well aware of its shortcomings - that being lack of any true substance. I give it 4 stars anyway. I enjoy it time after time after time.