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| Young, clean-shaven Tom Cruise, ready to serve your drink of choice, for Roger Donaldson's Cocktail |
Brian Flanagan has returned home from the military full of ambition to pursue his dreams, which lead him to bartending in New York City. But he must face complications in life as well as realizing that despite his tremendous drive, the millionaire life he dreams of doesn't come as he'd hoped.
Tom Cruise (Born on the Fourth of July (1989)) is Oscar-worthy in his best part yet here; Flanagan reflects dreams of greatness and the frustration of making mistakes and meeting obstacles that most will be able to relate to. Cocktail tells a universal story of dreams, believing in them and keeping them alive, and of finding something greater on the way to achieving them: Love. There is more than meets the eye to Cocktail, which is in fact an example of hugely focused storytelling at its best and most charming. The film features a young Gina Gershon (Bound (1996)), Bryan Brown (Gods of Egypt (2016)) is terrific as Flanagan's condescending business partner-friend, and Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas (1995)) plays Flanagan's love interest with grace, charm and intellect. The two have real chemistry, and the film also benefits from a wealth of great songs and elegant photography by Dean Semler (Appaloosa (2008)).
Cocktail is written by Heywood Gould (Fort Apache the Brown (1981)) and directed by Australian master filmmaker Roger Donaldson (Thirteen Days (2000)). It is funny, romantic, dramatic and uplifting, with great lines and no rough patches; a film that can be seen again and again, first-class storytelling.
Related review:
Roger Donaldson: Thirteen Days (2000) - Electrifying Cuban Missile Crisis thriller
The Cocktail trailer simply gives away nearly the whole movie, so here, instead, is a great scene from the film, for your viewing pleasure
Cost: 11 mil. $
Box office: 171.1 mil. $
= Huge hit
[Cruise was a lifestyle phenomenon and a teenage idol by the late 80's, (especially catapulted by the success of Top Gun (1986)), and Cocktail is a vehicle that exploits this status to great effect. It was a huge hit in the US, where it made 78.2 mil. $ (46% of the total gross), as well as internationally. It was Globe-nominated for Best Song and (in a ridiculous stunt of simply trashing what's popular) Raspberry-nominated for Worst Actor (Cruise) and Worst Director (Donaldson), winning for Worst Picture (producers Ted Field and Robert W. Cort) and Worst Screenplay (Gould).]
What do you think of Cocktail?
Do you think it deserved any of the Razzie statuettes and nominations it received?
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