Cocktail (1988)

A talented New York bartender takes a job at a bar in Jamaica and falls in love.

Director:

Roger Donaldson

Writer:

Heywood Gould (screenplay)

Stars:

Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown, Elisabeth Shue

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Cruise	...	Brian Flanagan
Bryan Brown	...	Doug Coughlin
Elisabeth Shue	...	Jordan Mooney
Lisa Banes	...	Bonnie
Laurence Luckinbill	...	Mr. Mooney
Kelly Lynch	...	Kerry Coughlin
Gina Gershon	...	Coral
Ron Dean	...	Uncle Pat
Robert Donley	...	Eddie
Ellen Foley	...	Eleanor
Andrea Morse	...	Dulcy
Chris Owens	...	Soldier
Louis Ferreira	...	Soldier (as Justin Louis)
John Graham	...	Soldier
Richard Thorn	...	Soldier

Storyline

After leaving the Army, Brian Flanagan tries to get a marketing job in New York. But without a college degree, this was not possible. He then decides to start studying for a business degree at the local City College and gets a part time job as a bartender. He realizes that its not that easy, but when his new boss Douglas Coughlin teaches him the secrets of the bar trade and they become the most famous bartenders in town. Both Brian and Doug Coughlin want their own top class cocktail bars someday and Brian's Cocktail Bar is to be called 'Cocktails & Dreams', and in order to get the necessary money to open it, Brian travels to Jamaica to work as a bartender at a resort Tiki Bar, and the pay is good. There he meets Jordan Mooney, a young and pretty, up and coming American artist on vacation with her girlfriend from New York, staying at the Island resort. Jordan and Brian spend some quality time together and fall in love. But when Brian takes a dare from his old buddy, Doug Coughlin to ...

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Plot Keywords:

bartender | cocktail | jamaica | cocktail bar | money | 

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Taglines:

They thought he was good, they were wrong... he was the best

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 July 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Coctel

Filming Locations:

Dunn's River Falls, Ocho Rios, St. Ann, Jamaica

Box Office

Gross:

$78,222,753 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Interscope Communications, Silver Screen Partners III, Touchstone Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Brian and Doug's bartending skills are referred to as "flair bartending." John Bandy, a flair bartender, trained Tom Cruise for the film.

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Goofs

When Brian and Doug are singing Chantilly lace, Doug falls down a flight of stairs and there is clearly a large puddle of water to the right of where Doug lands. In the next shot when you see Doug get back up there is NO puddle.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Brian: Come on, put it to the floor! Come on! Let's go!

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Connections

Referenced in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: The Gang Sells Out (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Powerful Stuff"
Written by Michael Henderson, Robert S. Field, and Wally Wilson
Performed by The Fabulous Thunderbirds
Published by The Walt Disney Music Company/Crosskeys Publishing Company/Cross Under Music/Colgems:EMI,
Inc., ASCAP
Produced by Terry Manning
Courtesy of CBS Associated Records

User Reviews

A wonderful story and a fantastic film

As far as entertaining storytelling goes, Cocktail is an almost perfect film. Here is an example of compelling dialogue, magnificent urban cinematography, superb acting, and thoughtful editing combining to present us with a very lucid portrayal of one man's coming to terms with the reality of dreams and ambitions in our world.

Cocktail is ultimately the story of Bryan Flanagan's (Tom Cruise) reaction as he doggedly pursues his ambition of getting rich, only to learn that his dream was never really worth pursuing. A new arrival in New York City, the "greatest concentration of wealth in the world," young Flanagan immediately seeks to establish himself in the business world. Without an education or practical experience, however, he suffers one humiliation after another while job-seeking. Eventually he realizes that the business world demands an education, so he enrolls in college and settles for a job as a bartender to pay the bills. But then something extraordinary happens: he discovers that he actually enjoys bartending more than he enjoys college, and that he is challenged more by the mentorship of bartender Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown) than he is by the tutelage of his bitter, sadistic college professors. Together, Coughlin and Flanagan develop the bartending equivalent of a synchronized swimming routine that delivers them both the recognition and money (in tips) they crave.

At this point, Cocktail could easily have degraded into one long, hedonistic party, since the bartending action is certainly entertaining. But instead, a falling out between Flanagan and Coughlin suddenly shifts both the tone and the location of the film as Flanagan moves to the Caribbean to save money for starting his own business.

In Jamaica he meets Jordan (Elizabeth Shue), a lovely, down-to-earth artist, and for the first time in the film Flanagan truly falls in love with a woman he takes to bed, and he seems genuinely surprised to realize that love has been a more worthy goal than sex all along. With the re-introduction of Coughlin's bad influence, however, Flanagan ignores what he has learned about love and pursues a wealthy benefactor, Bonnie (Lisa Banes), breaking Jordan's heart in the process.

Returning to New York City with Bonnie, which should have been the break he has been waiting for, Flanagan instead suffers yet more humiliation in the power game and finally comes to realize that he'd already achieved the success that makes life worth living when he was with Jordan. So he burns his bridges with Bonnie, and the remainder of the film focuses on his new ambition, to win back the trust of the woman he loves.

This is a great story, one that requires the viewer to really challenge Americans' preoccupation with money and power. Yet the beauty of Cocktail is the smooth, realistic way in which this story is presented. For example, few filmmakers today would risk losing the audience's attention by focusing at length on Jordan's silent reaction to Flanagan's betrayal, yet these few silent moments on a darkened beach say more than any amount of dialogue ever could--but only if you're listening!

Cocktail is a wonderful story of love, ambition, opportunity, humiliation, frustration, sacrifice, the absurdity of business and academia, and the definitions of "success" and "failure," sprinkled with real-world humor that is noticeably different--and funnier--than mere comedy. It is also an exciting and fun film to watch, a "feel-good" movie of the highest caliber. I take my hat off to everyone who worked on this fine film.