There’s no point in talking too much about the plot in this movie since all of you probably saw it more than 35 years ago. But I never did until now, so to sum up very briefly: Tom Cruise plays an ambitious young man who wants to make a million dollars in business but instead winds up a hotshot bartender in New York City. Romance and drama ensue.
A few things struck me about this one. Looking at Tom Cruise in 1988 and looking at him now, it’s obvious he ages at about one-third the rate of a normal human being. Elizabeth Shue sure was cute, even with that big Eighties hair. There’s not a cell phone in sight nor a mention of the Internet, and other than a little nudity and language, this movie could have been made in 1938 instead of 1988. All it would take is a little tweaking of Heywood Gould’s screenplay. And speaking of that screenplay, it has a great line spoken by Bryan Brown, who plays Cruise’s bartending mentor: “All things end badly, otherwise they wouldn’t end.” That’s a pretty noirish line.
Overall, I enjoyed COCKTAIL quite a bit. It’s old-fashioned, just a story meant to entertain and hold your interest without much, if any, message. And I was entertained.
7 comments:
Now I want to watch it again. Cheers! ;-)
The nightclub in Coctail is The Old Don Jail in Toronto. The diner is The Lakeview, opened in 1932, still going strong today
Thanks!
I always thought this marked the end of Cruise's "serious actor" period, as he went for the money ever after. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. Personally, I thought it was crap.
Jeff, your assessment seems to be the consensus of the reviews, then and now. It's certainly not a highly regarded film.
Eighties nostalgia may have influenced my opinion of it.
Jeff, have you seen COLLATERAL? That is a SERIOUS movie. Very well done.
Regarding COCKTAIL...Bryan Brown is an underrated actor.
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