Moviepedia

Recently, we've done several changes to help out this wiki, from deleting empty pages, improving the navigation, adding a rules page, as well as merging film infoboxes.

You can check out the latest overhauls that we have done on this wiki so far, as well as upcoming updates in our announcement post here.

READ MORE

Moviepedia
Moviepedia
Fandom's centric resource about film knowledge
44,590
pages
in: Films based on novels, Rated R, Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments,
and 26 more

Cocktail

Sign in to edit

Cocktail is a 1988 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Roger Donaldson from a screenplay by Heywood Gould, and based on Gould's book of the same name. It stars Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown and Elisabeth Shue. It tells the story of a business student, who takes up bartending in order to make ends meet.

Released on July 29, 1988, by Buena Vista Pictures (under its adult film label Touchstone Pictures), Cocktail features an original music score composed by J. Peter Robinson. Despite earning overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics, and winning the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture, the film was a huge box office success, grossing more than $170 million worldwide against a budget of $20 million, becoming the eighth highest-grossing film of 1988.

Plot[]

Cocky Brian Flanagan, just finished with his stint in the army, heads back to New York City and is eager to land a high-powered job in the business world. When he fails, he settles for work as a bartender while attending business school during the day.

Doug Coughlin, an older and experienced bartender, takes Brian under his wing and teaches him how to flair. They become friends, with Doug giving Brian the idea for a nationwide chain of bars called Cocktails and Dreams. Brian drops out of business school and they become popular bartenders at a trendy nightclub.

Their flairing act catches the eye of Coral, a wealthy photographer, and she and Brian begin dating. Doug bets Brian that the relationship will not last and, unbeknownst to Brian, convinces Coral to sleep with him. After Brian finds out, he has a fight with Doug in front of a full bar and dissolves their partnership.

Two years later, Brian is working at a beachside bar in Jamaica, hoping to save enough money for his own bar. He meets artist Jordan Mooney and they begin a passionate relationship. Doug shows up, married to the wealthy, flirtatious and much younger Kerry, and bets Brian that he cannot attract Bonnie, a wealthy older woman. Brian accepts his challenge and wins Bonnie over. Jordan is devastated when she spots Brian and Bonnie drunkenly walking to Bonnie's hotel room. The next morning, Brian regrets the fling and seeks out Jordan, only to find she has left for the United States.

Brian returns to New York with Bonnie, hoping she will get him the corporate job he wants, but feels marginalized and resents her lifestyle. While attending an art exhibit, Brian has an altercation with the artist in front of Bonnie's friends, leading them to break up.

Brian tries to reconcile with Jordan, but she angrily refuses. When calmer, she reveals she is pregnant with his child and does not want him in her life because she does not want to be hurt again. After he tries again to talk to Jordan, a neighbor tells him she has moved into her parents’ upscale Park Avenue apartment. Jordan's father, Richard, tries to pay Brian off, but he refuses. Jordan explains that she hid her wealth because she wanted him to love her for who she was. To illustrate how little he cares about her money, he tears up her father's check and leaves.

Brian finds Doug on his yacht and thinks he has finally achieved the financial success they both wanted. However, Doug tells him that when his business began to fail, he invested all of Kerry's money in commodities and lost her entire wealth.

When Brian takes Kerry to her apartment, she says she is bored with marriage and tries to seduce him, but he rebuffs her. He goes back to Doug's boat and finds him dead from suicide by using pieces of glass from a broken bottle to cut his throat. Kerry mails a letter to Brian that was left for him by Doug, which turns out to be Doug's suicide note, explaining that his life was a fraud.

Distraught, but determined to win Jordan over, Brian tries to visit her, but is stopped by security who has been told by Jordan's father not to admit him. He fights his way up to the apartment, tells her of Doug's death and says he does not want to make the same mistake by being too proud to ask for help. He says his Uncle Pat has given him a loan to start his own bar and confidently predicts that he will be successful.

When Jordan still hesitates, Brian declares his love for her, that he wants to marry her and take care of her and their child. She agrees to take him back, but Richard interferes, leading to a fight where a security guard assaults Jordan. As they leave, Richard tells them they are on their own and Brian answers that he prefers it that way.

Brian and Jordan marry and he lives out his dream, opening his own bar, Flanagan's Cocktails and Dreams, with hopes of starting franchises across the country. At the grand opening, Jordan whispers that she is pregnant with twins. In his happiness and much to his Uncle's dismay, he proclaims that drinks are on the house and the bar is open.

Cast[]

  • Tom Cruise as Brian Flanagan
  • Bryan Brown as Doug Coughlin
  • Elisabeth Shue as Jordan Mooney
  • Lisa Banes as Bonnie
  • Laurence Luckinbill as Richard Mooney
  • Kelly Lynch as Kerry Coughlin
  • Gina Gershon as Coral
  • Ron Dean as Uncle Pat
  • Ellen Foley as Eleanor
  • Gerry Bamman as Tourist
  • Larry Block as Bar Owner
  • Paul Benedict as Finance Teacher
  • Kenneth John McGregor as Sculptor

Reception[]

Box office[]

Cocktail earned $78.2 million at the North American box office, and $93.3 million international to a total of $171.5 million worldwide, almost nine times its $20 million budget, and ranking as the eighth highest-grossing film of 1988 worldwide.[3][4]

Critical response[]

Despite its box office success, Cocktail received negative reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 9% of 45 film critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 4.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "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."[5] On Metacritic, the film has a 12 out of 100 score based on 14 reviews, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[6] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[7]

Vincent Canby of The New York Times gave a negative review, calling it "an upscale, utterly brainless variation on those efficient old B-movies of the 1930s and 40s about the lives, loves and skills of coal miners, sand hogs, and telephone linemen, among others."[8] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times was also critical, explaining that "the more you think about what really happens in Cocktail, the more you realize how empty and fabricated it really is."[9]

"I was not happy with the final product," said Gould. "It got so savaged by the critics ... I was accused of betraying my own work, which is stupid. So I was pretty devastated. I literally couldn't get out of bed for a day. The good thing about that experience is that it toughened me up."[10]

In 1992, Cruise said the film "was not a crowning jewel" in his career.[11]

The official soundtrack single, The Beach Boys' "Kokomo", was commercially successful and topped the charts in the United States, Australia and Japan. The song was nominated for a Grammy and a Golden Globe.

Accolades[]

Cocktail won two Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay while Cruise was nominated as Worst Actor and Donaldson as Worst Director.[12] The film is listed in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book The Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of "The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made".[13] The film was also nominated for Worst Picture at the 1988 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards but lost to Caddyshack II.[14]

Additionally, Cruise's other film in 1988 was his co-starring role in the Best Picture-winning film Rain Man, alongside Dustin Hoffman. In doing so, he became the first (and as of 2024, only) actor to star in a Worst Picture Razzie winner and Best Picture Oscar winner in the same year.

Soundtrack[]

Cocktail (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
various artists
Released August 2, 1988 (1988-08-02)
Length 35:27
Label Elektra
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic






[15]

Cocktail soundtrack
No. TitleArtist Length
1. "Wild Again"  Starship 4:43
2. "Powerful Stuff"  The Fabulous Thunderbirds 4:48
3. "Since When"  Robbie Nevil 4:02
4. "Don't Worry, Be Happy"  Bobby McFerrin 4:48
5. "Hippy Hippy Shake"  The Georgia Satellites 1:45
6. "Kokomo"  The Beach Boys 3:34
7. "Rave On!"  John Cougar Mellencamp 3:13
8. "All Shook Up"  Ry Cooder 3:29
9. "Oh, I Love You So"  Preston Smith 2:42
10. "Tutti Frutti"  Little Richard 2:23

Additional tracks featured in the film include:

  • "Addicted to Love" – Robert Palmer
  • "Shelter of Your Love" – Jimmy Cliff
  • "This Magic Moment" – Leroy Gibbons
  • "When Will I Be Loved" – The Everly Brothers (uncredited)
  • "That Hypnotizin' Boogie" - David Wilcox

Song featured in the UK trailer:

Charts[]

Template:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chart
1988–1989 weekly chart performance for Cocktail
Chart (1988–1989) Peak
position
European Albums (Music & Media)[16] 7
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[17] 7
Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)[18] 1
Template:Album chart
2013 weekly chart performance for Cocktail
Chart (2013) Peak
position
Template:Album chart
2016 weekly chart performance for Cocktail
Chart (2016) Peak
position
1988 year-end chart performance for Cocktail
Chart (1988) Position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[19] 12
US Billboard 200[20] 74
US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)[21] 4
1989 year-end chart performance for Cocktail
Chart (1989) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[22] 19
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[23] 26
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[24] 31
European Albums (Music & Media)[25] 56
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26] 70
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[27] 20
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[28] 27
US Billboard 200[29] 32
US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)[30] 2

Certifications[]

Certifications for Cocktail
Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[22] 4× Platinum 280,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[31] Diamond 1,000,000^
France (SNEP)[32] Gold Expression error: Missing operand for *.*
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[33] Gold Expression error: Missing operand for *.*
New Zealand (RIANZ)[34] Platinum 15,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[35] Gold Expression error: Missing operand for *.^
Sweden (GLF)[36] Gold Expression error: Missing operand for *.^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[37] Gold 25,000x
United Kingdom (BPI)[38] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[39] 4× Platinum 4,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

External links[]

References[]

  1. ↑ Cocktail (15). British Board of Film Classification (September 8, 1988).
  2. ↑ Box Office Champs, Chumps : The hero of the bottom line was the 46-year-old 'Bambi'. Los Angeles Times (8 January 1989).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cocktail (1988).
  4. ↑ Easton, Nina J.. "Roger Rabbit' Hops to Box-Office Top; 'Coming to America' Hits 2nd", The Los Angeles Times, 5 January 1989. 
  5. ↑ Cocktail. Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango.
  6. ↑ Cocktail. Metacritic. CBS Interactive.
  7. ↑ Cinemascore :: Movie Title Search (20 December 2018).
  8. ↑ Canby, Vincent. "Movie Review – Cocktail", 29 July 1988. 
  9. ↑ Ebert, Roger. "Cocktail :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews", 29 July 1988. 
  10. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named chicago
  11. ↑ "Tom Cruise". Rolling Stone. May 1992. Archived from the original on August 20, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  12. ↑ Wilson, John (23 August 2000). The Razzie Awards – 1988 Archive. Golden Raspberry Award.
  13. ↑ Wilson, John (2005). The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-0-446-69334-9. 
  14. ↑ Awards.
  15. ↑ Ruhlmann, William. Cocktail – Original Soundtrack.
  16. ↑ "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 6 no. 8. February 25, 1989. p. 23. OCLC 29800226. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 2, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  17. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972, 1st (in fi), Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5. 
  18. ↑ "Ísland (LP-plötur)", November 11, 1988, p. 44. (in is) 
  19. ↑ "Top 100 Albums of '88" (PDF). RPM. Vol. 49 no. 10. December 24, 1988. p. 13. ISSN 0033-7064. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 18, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via World Radio History.
  20. ↑ "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1988". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 14, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  21. ↑ "1988 The Year in Music & Video – Top Pop Album Soundtracks" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 100 no. 52. December 24, 1988. p. Y-21. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 9, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2022 – via World Radio History.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 ARIA Top 50 Albums for 1989. Australian Recording Industry Association.
  23. ↑ Jahreshitparade Alben 1989 (in de).
  24. ↑ "Top 100 Albums of '89". RPM. Vol. 51 no. 8. December 23, 1989. p. 14. ISSN 0315-5994. Archived from the original on July 27, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  25. ↑ "European Top 100 Albums 1989" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 6 no. 51. December 23, 1989. p. 9. OCLC 29800226. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 30, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  26. ↑ Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1989 (in de). Offizielle Deutsche Charts.
  27. ↑ Top Selling Albums of 1989. Recorded Music NZ.
  28. ↑ Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1989 (in de).
  29. ↑ "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1989". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 11, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  30. ↑ "1989 The Year in Music – Top Pop Album Soundtracks" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 101 no. 51. December 23, 1989. p. Y-58. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 8, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via World Radio History.
  31. ↑ Canadian album certifications – Various Artists – Cocktail. Music Canada (January 15, 1992).
  32. ↑ French album certifications – B.O.F. – Cocktail (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  33. ↑ IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1990. IFPI Hong Kong.
  34. ↑ New Zealand album certifications – Various – Cocktail OST. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand.
  35. ↑ Fernando Salaverri (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002, 1st, Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2. 
  36. ↑ Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998 (in Swedish) (PDF). IFPI Sweden (April 10, 1989).
  37. ↑ The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Various; 'Cocktail OST'). Hung Medien.
  38. ↑ British album certifications – Original Soundtrack – Cocktail - Ost. British Phonographic Industry (March 3, 1989). Enter Cocktail - Ost in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
  39. ↑ American album certifications – Soundtrack – Cocktail. Recording Industry Association of America (January 10, 1989). If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
More Fandoms