Chance_Boudreaux19
This move is pure 80s cheese. It's a straight up melodrama with an unbelievable plot and overacting galore but it's glorious.This is a movie for those who adore the 80s and like Tom Cruise. Tom is really good in this and does his "I'm cooler than everyone" shtick like in Top Gun, Bryan Brown is also very good in this and the scenes with the two of them are probably the best in the movie. If this movie was made in 2018 it would just look like a 2 hour episode of The Bold and the Beautiful but a bit more raunchy. However because it is a time capsule to more interesting, care-free times it is a nice way to forget the troubles of the world whilst rejoicing at the sheer absurdity of this gem.
pfisher-32275
Wow this movie really has taken a beating from the IMDb reviewers. I think the several one star marks it received, is a little harsh but OK, I'll try to highlight the good things about this movie rather than the bad. I've always been of the, if you haven't got anything good to say, don't say it, school of thought.I think some people watch movies needing them to evoke a strong emotional responses. They want to be moved, they want a journey, or at the very least they want the plot line to be extremely engaging & flawless; Godfather, Shawshank, Schindler's list etc… or those of similar ilk are classic examples. If a movie does not do that, or doesn't meet a preconceived criteria, they feel short changed. These are the "I just wasted 90 minutes of my life" people, the short attention span people, the people that fall asleep 10 minutes in unless there's a court jester juggling in the isle. They are not people that watch all kinds of movies all the time as their primary way of unwinding. When they watch a movie they want it to knock their socks off, pure & simple. A fair point, but Cocktail like many others, is not that kind of movie.Movies are like eating, there's something for every mood. I've been to New York & like millions of others, it's one of my favourite cities (where half of the movie is shot) & I've been to the Caribbean several times (where the other half is shot), both great locations. I love the electricity of a good bar atmosphere, having a few drinks & a wiggle, the prospect of maybe getting lucky, or at least getting drunk & having a sing song, don't we all? This movie includes all the above and more. The classic rock & roll sound track is great, Everly Brothers, Big Bopper, Little Richard, Hippy Hippy Shake etc... & there's some nice mellow reggae ones thrown in as well.For the above alone, this deserves more than 1 star. It was never meant to garner dozens of Oscar Nominations, set records or change the face of cinema, It's just good fun. We can vicariously live through Toms charming, cocky & confident Brian Flanaghan as he rises to the top of New York's upper east side bar scene & from then in the Jamaican paradise of Montego bay, lazily serving cocktails on the beach. And for the ladies there's plenty of romance.No major studios got behind this & it obviously didn't have a massive budget, so like a lot of movies around this time it suffers a bit with production values. There's a section where Cruise has obviously been called back for pickups to strengthen the interview montage at the start. He goes from Cocktail hair, to Rain Man hair, to Cocktail hair again. Same thing happens to Michael J. Fox in Secret Of My Success & that's one of my favourites. I find this comical more than anything else, it's just a period thing. I guess that's because I have a happy, sunny disposition, it's the glass is half full thing again isn't it.Plonk Tom in front of a camera & he'll never disappoint & Elizabeth Shue Is adorable, plus there's great work from the supporting cast. If you are one of the less judgemental & cynical among us, who liked the 80's, a simpler time before technology dictated our every move & who can handle the odd 6 out of 10 without getting their underwear in a twist & having to take half an hour out of their lives to write a scathing review, then go for it."This is the upper east side, the saloon capitol of the world, the big time. Are you ready for the big time Mr Flanagan?!"
ithinkmyemailaddressis
Finally watched the movie as a memory of someone I knew, who had a part in a scene as an extra. I didn't even recognize them.Just awful dreck. Cruise is his usual youthful Cruisesque acting, which in a venue such a this, you'll swear you've seen before somewhere.Instead of a figher jet, it's a booze bottle, and there's not that much action either.Plot's thinner than skimmed pea soup.It's so bad that it leaves you cringing at the hideous 80's style of Cruise, with his painful effort to act as a showoff. Best leave this one to the dustbin.
Sandcooler
"Cocktail" is like one of those easy listening radio stations. It just works as background, it's fine as long as you don't pay too much attention. There's no real story, so if you tune out for ten minutes it doesn't matter at all. It's just scene after scene of Tom Cruise making cocktails, occasionally interrupted with a redundant love interest. It's a highly repetitive movie that goes absolutely nowhere, though Cruise's performance is a real saving grace. He carries the movie even though he has nothing to carry and makes this thing better than it deserves to be. He breathes life into his underwritten character and at least makes these scenes somewhat entertaining. It's still just a movie that devotes 90% of its running time to guys standing behind a bar taking orders, the fact that Cruise somehow makes that...palatable is already an impressive feat. Not impressive enough to recommend this though.
