Movie Review: Cocktail (1988)

Genre: Buddy Drama 

Director: Roger Donaldson  

Starring: Tom Cruise, Elisabeth Shue, Bryan Brown  
Running Time: 103 minutes  

Synopsis: Brian Flanagan (Tom Cruise) leaves the Army and heads to New York City with dreams of making big money. But lacking any college education, he fails to land a corporate job. Veteran bartender Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown) gives Brian an opportunity as a bartender, and the two men become friends, developing an energetic rapport behind the bar. Brian pursues college business courses, but after a falling out with Doug, he relocates to Jamaica where romance blossoms with the wholesome Jordan (Elisabeth Shue).

What Works Well: Director Roger Donaldson injects energy into the ultimately absurd spectacle of bartender showmanship. Aside from the juggling bottles act, the Doug Coughlin character is an intriguing study in complexity, manipulation, and false wisdom, while the thorny friendship between Doug and Brian exposes the pitfalls of male camaraderie when fueled by the warped metrics of greed and lust. 

What Does Not Work As Well: Seemingly packaged for the primary purpose of promoting soundtrack and poster sales, this is a superficial drama built upon unlikeable characters consumed by narcissism and meanness. Instead of exploring the dangers of the darkness within, Brian is presented as a celebration-worthy central character, despite never maturing beyond a toxic mix of selfishness and juvenile aggression. In a milieu rich with equal opportunity self-absorption, the women who enter the lives of Doug and Brian are either vapid, conniving, or possessing spectacularly poor judgment.

Key Quote:

Doug: The luck is gone / the brain is shot / but the liquor we still got.



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