Cocktail (1988)
51%RT Audience Score: 58%
Awards & Nominations: 5 wins & 6 nominations
There are no surprises in Cocktail, a shallow, dramatically inert romance that squanders Tom Cruise’s talents in what amounts to a naive barkeep’s banal fantasy
If you’re looking for a movie that’s as flat as a day-old beer, then Cocktail is the perfect choice for you. Tom Cruise may ooze charm, but the mix of bar acrobatics and Caribbean love just doesn’t pack enough punch to get you drunk. Plus, the goody-goody ending is enough to make the Care Bears blush. Stick to drinking a real cocktail instead of watching this one.
Production Company(ies)
The Directors Company, Saticoy Productions, Paramount Pictures,
Distributor
Touchstone Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Dunn’s River Falls, Ocho Rios, St. Ann, Jamaica
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1988
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Stereo
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 44m
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Language(s):English, Spanish, Sign, L
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jul 29, 1988 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 29, 2003
Genre(s)
Romance
Keyword(s)
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Worldwide gross: $171,504,781
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $439,127,925
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 347
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 47,887,451
US/Canada gross: $78,222,753
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $200,284,768
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 348
US/Canada opening weekend: $11,789,466
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $30,186,236
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 456
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $20,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $51,208,826
Production budget ranking: 778
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $27,575,953
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $360,343,146
ROI to date (est.): 457%
ROI ranking: 282
Bryan Brown – Douglas ‘Doug’ Coughlin
Elisabeth Shue – Jordan Mooney
Lisa Banes – Bonnie
Laurence Luckinbill – Mr. Mooney
Kelly Lynch – Kerry Coughlin
Director(s)
Roger Donaldson
Writer(s)
Heywood Gould
Producer(s)
Robert W. Cort, Ted Field
Film Festivals
Cannes
Awards & Nominations
5 wins & 6 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (45) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (4) | Rotten (41)
As if realizing that his star hasn’t smiled for 15 minutes, Donaldson tacks on a goody-goody ending that would shame the Care Bears. How to sum up what went wrong? Cruise has a line in the movie: “Flat beer from rusty pipes.”
February 26, 2019
Peter Travers
People Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Cocktail is a bottle of rotgut in a Dom Perignon box.
May 21, 2013
Richard Corliss
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
The pairing of old-hand Brown and young-hand Cruise may have been meant to remind us of Cruise and Paul Newman; if so, think of this as The Color of Counterfeit Money.
May 21, 2013
Sheila Benson
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
It may not be a megaton bomb, but Cocktail is definitely of the Molotov type.
May 21, 2013 | Rating: 2/4
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
Very, very stupid.
May 21, 2013
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Cruise oozes as much charm as in Top Gun and The Colour of Money, but the mix of bar-acrobatics and Caribbean love isn’t anywhere near strong enough to get you drunk.
May 21, 2013 | Rating: 2/5
Lola Borg
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Cruise was never been a bad actor, but this film about a flaming sex symbol has elevated him to definitive stardom. [Full review in Spanish]
June 22, 2022
Rene Jordan
El Nuevo Herald (Miami)
Cocktail kicks off with an entertainingly lighthearted opening stretch revolving around Brian’s initial entry into the world of bartending…
July 14, 2020 | Rating: 2.5/4
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Cocktail is a vacuous throwback to Saturday Night Fever — without the cultural novelty. The script is spiked with some comic lines, but overproof doses of inadvertent humor kill the effect.
March 22, 2019
Brian D. Johnson
Maclean’s Magazine
Ultimately, the ideas in this film fall as flat as stale beer and honest emotions are as watered down as cheap whiskey. This Cocktail is definitely on the rocks.
February 26, 2019
Jack Garner
Gannett News Service
Cocktail is so steeped in corn, the drama seems comedic and the comedy is about as funny as a hangover.
December 9, 2017
Cathy Burke
United Press International
Perhaps the best one can say for this bland concoction mixed by agents and the studio executives is that every bartender in Hollywood wants to be Tom Cruise and that suffices as an ironic subtext.
May 21, 2013 | Rating: 2/5
Adrian Turner
Radio Times…
Plot
Intent on becoming a successful businessman, and even a millionaire, the ex-military man, Brian Flanagan, waits for his big break while serving drinks at a New York City tavern, and studying for his degree. However, when the charismatic cynic and veteran bartender, Doug Coughlin, becomes the ambitious Brian’s sage mentor, their chemistry, combined with the flamboyant tricks behind the bar, will soon yield fame and money until they decide to split ways. Now, as Flanagan struggles to raise money in Jamaica to open his dream bar someday, he falls hard for the striving waitress, Jordan Mooney, while a wealthy fashion executive wants to take him back to Manhattan to live with her. Is there a future between Brian and Jordan?
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny comment about the film Cocktail on Fresh Kernels.
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