The plot of Cocktail is fairly interesting. Young guy trying to make it in the business world, getting sidetracked as an ace bartender and learning about relationships. The acting is good, especially Bryan Browne. But what ruins this movie for me is Tom Cruise. I'm just not a fan of his acting style.
In Cocktail, Cruise plays an arrogant bartender, so sure of himself that he seems to ooze smarminess. Very much like his portrayal of the arrogant pilot in Top Gun, or the arrogant pool player in the Color of Money, or the arrogant fighter in Far an Away, or the arrogant vampire in Interview with the Vampire, or the arrogant agent in Jerry Maguire.
I'm sensing a pattern here. And his arrogant interview, as himself, when questioned by Matt Lauer on Today, seems to suggest that Cruise wasn't really acting in those films, he was just being himself. So I am turned off by any film that features Tom Cruise. Folks who like him will love Cocktail. Folks who are not impressed by his arrogance will hate it.
One side note about Cocktail: we see Cruise and Browne as bartenders in a trendy club, packed with patrons who are lined up 3 or 4 deep all around the bar as the sound system blares tunes. I can only imagine how long it would take to get your drink with only those 2 bartenders working. And that's if they were quick about it. But Cruise and Browne make the drinks while engaged in synchronized dance-type movements, tossing the glasses and the bottles in the air and to each other. I figure it would take about 3 minutes (the average length of the songs they were "performing" to) for each drink to be served. So quite a few of those patrons lined up around the bar would be waiting at least a half hour or more before they got their drink. I'd rather have a less entertaining bartender who could serve the drinks quickly. Also interesting is that in the scene when Cruise takes a swing at Browne behind the bar, in the midst of all those people, the entire club immediately falls so quiet you could hear a pin drop, so that there is no noise other than Cruise talking to Browne. What happened to the music? There was no band to stop playing. So why did the sound system cut out at that precise moment? Cocktail would have been a much better movie without Tom Cruise.
In Cocktail, Cruise plays an arrogant bartender, so sure of himself that he seems to ooze smarminess. Very much like his portrayal of the arrogant pilot in Top Gun, or the arrogant pool player in the Color of Money, or the arrogant fighter in Far an Away, or the arrogant vampire in Interview with the Vampire, or the arrogant agent in Jerry Maguire.
I'm sensing a pattern here. And his arrogant interview, as himself, when questioned by Matt Lauer on Today, seems to suggest that Cruise wasn't really acting in those films, he was just being himself. So I am turned off by any film that features Tom Cruise. Folks who like him will love Cocktail. Folks who are not impressed by his arrogance will hate it.
One side note about Cocktail: we see Cruise and Browne as bartenders in a trendy club, packed with patrons who are lined up 3 or 4 deep all around the bar as the sound system blares tunes. I can only imagine how long it would take to get your drink with only those 2 bartenders working. And that's if they were quick about it. But Cruise and Browne make the drinks while engaged in synchronized dance-type movements, tossing the glasses and the bottles in the air and to each other. I figure it would take about 3 minutes (the average length of the songs they were "performing" to) for each drink to be served. So quite a few of those patrons lined up around the bar would be waiting at least a half hour or more before they got their drink. I'd rather have a less entertaining bartender who could serve the drinks quickly. Also interesting is that in the scene when Cruise takes a swing at Browne behind the bar, in the midst of all those people, the entire club immediately falls so quiet you could hear a pin drop, so that there is no noise other than Cruise talking to Browne. What happened to the music? There was no band to stop playing. So why did the sound system cut out at that precise moment? Cocktail would have been a much better movie without Tom Cruise.