1988 film by Roger Donaldson

Tom Cruise (as Brian Flanagan) stands behind the bar counter with his right hand on it. Three empty glasses are placed on the counter facing down. The film's logo is written in pink neon colors around a circle with the film's tagline reading "When he pours, he reigns."
Cocktail
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, … Wikipedia
Ratings
5.9 / 10.0
IMDb
97.2K votes
58%
Rotten Tomatoes
100K votes
12.0
Metacritic
14 votes
Factsheet
Directed by Roger Donaldson
Screenplay by Heywood Gould
Based on Cocktail
by Heywood Gould
Factsheet
Directed by Roger Donaldson
Screenplay by Heywood Gould
Based on Cocktail
by Heywood Gould
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Cocktail_(1988_film)
Cocktail (1988 film) - Wikipedia
5 days ago - 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 business student Brian Flanagan, who takes up bartending ...
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IMDb
imdb.com › title › tt0094889
Cocktail (1988) ⭐ 5.9 | Comedy, Drama, Romance
July 29, 1988 - Cocktail: Directed by Roger Donaldson. With Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown, Elisabeth Shue, Lisa Banes. A talented New York City bartender takes a job at a bar in Jamaica and falls in love.
Release date   Jul 29, 1988
Duration   01:44:00
Rating: 5.9/10 ​ - ​ 97.2K votes
Discussions

Is Cocktail (1988) “so bad, it’s good” or just bad?
I dig the first half where he’s learning to bartend. I love choreography so the Addicted to Love sequence revs me up. Once he leaves the island and goes back to New York the whole vibe changes and it’s a downer. I’ll rewatch it though because Shue and Cruise are hot. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/movies
211
76
March 4, 2025
What do y'all think of this movie "Cocktail" (1988)?
It's a strange time capsule and just one of the strangest movies. The fact it filmed in Toronto not New York, probably one of the earlier films to pull this trick? The fact it's based on the creation of the TGI Fridays chain which has now totally pivoted away from being a singles bar to just another chain restaurant 30 years later. Adjusted for inflation it would have topped $300 million! None of this makes a lick of sense. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/movies
93
49
December 20, 2017
Cocktail is the most problematic mainstream film of the last decade.
OP, look up Madonna-Whore complex . The premise of this film is built on this concept. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/BollyBlindsNGossip
114
630
March 17, 2022
The utter mess of Tom Cruise’s worst rated film: 1988’s Cocktail
I know this is purely nostalgia talking, but I liked it More on reddit.com
🌐 r/movies
37
0
January 20, 2023
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Rotten Tomatoes
rottentomatoes.com › m › cocktail
Cocktail | Rotten Tomatoes
November 29, 2025 - 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. Read Critics Reviews ...
Release date   Jul 29, 1988
Director   Roger Donaldson
Rating: 58/100 ​ - ​ 100K votes
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Letterboxd
letterboxd.com › film › cocktail
Cocktail (1988)
After being discharged from the Army, Brian Flanagan moves back to Queens and takes a job in a bar run by Doug Coughlin, who teaches Brian the fine art of bar-tending. Brian quickly becomes a patron favorite with his flashy drink-mixing style, and Brian adopts his mentor's cynical philosophy on life and goes for the money.
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Apple TV
tv.apple.com › apple tv › cocktail
Cocktail - Apple TV
July 29, 1988 - Tom Cruise is electrifying as Brian Flanagan, a young, confident, and ambitious bartender who, with the help of a seasoned pro (Bryan Brown), becomes …
Release date   Jul 29, 1988
Director   Roger Donaldson
Actors   Tom CruiseBryan BrownElisabeth Shue
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NPR
npr.org › 2025 › 12 › 28 › nx-s1-5638449 › cocktail-recipes-movie-inspired
Here are 3 movie-inspired cocktails to try on New Year’s Eve : NPR
2 days ago - A cocktail called Death Becomes Her, named for the 1992 movie, is photographed at Death & Co in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 23, 2025. Bar manager Josh White created the drink, which gets its green color from pistachio syrup.
Find elsewhere
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Common Sense Media
commonsensemedia.org › movie-reviews › cocktail
Cocktail Movie Review | Common Sense Media
Cocktail
Traditional values trump glitz. Not for kids. Read Common Sense Media's Cocktail review, age rating, and parents guide. "Cocktail" is essentially as 1980s shallow as the soundtrack music. There are some amusing one-liners, mostly delivered by Doug attempting to impart wisdom to his protégé through Coughlin's laws of bartending. The acrobatic drink-mixing scenes are great fun, but treat the consumption of alcohol superficially. Parents might want to address this issue with their teens while viewing the film.
Rating: 2 ​
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Cocktail_(2012_film)
Cocktail (2012 film) - Wikipedia
4 days ago - Cocktail is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Homi Adajania, written by Imtiaz Ali, and produced by Saif Ali Khan and Dinesh Vijan under their respective banners Illuminati Films and Maddock Films along with Eros ...
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Roger Ebert
rogerebert.com › reviews › cocktail
Cocktail movie review & film summary (1988) | Roger Ebert
Cocktail
"Cocktail" tells the story of two bartenders and their adventures in six bars and several bedrooms. What is remarkable, given the subject, is how little the "Cocktail" tells the story of two bartenders and their adventures in six bars and several bedrooms. What is remarkable, given the subject, is how little the movie knows about bars or drinking. Early in the film, there's a scene where the two bartenders stage an elaborately choreographed act behind the bar. They juggle bottles in unison, one spins ice cubes into the air and the other one catches them, and then they flip bottles at each othe
Rating: 2/4 ​
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Google Play
play.google.com › store › movies › details › Cocktail
Cocktail - Movies on Google Play
A chance meeting between two very different people; a shy awkward and distraught Meera who has been duped in a hoax marriage and a super-sexy and rich wild-child Veronice results in a very unlikely friendship.And when the two start living together, Veronica and Meera seem to complete each other's inherent incompleteness.One night out,Meera points out Gautam as the brazen fool who had shamelessly flirted with her at the airport.Veronica is intrigued and decides to settle the score.But things backfire when the two hit it off and soon Gautam movies in with them.
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Fandom
disney.fandom.com › wiki › Cocktail
Cocktail - Disney Wiki - Fandom
JavaScript is disabled in your browser · Please enable JavaScript to proceed · A required part of this site couldn’t load. This may be due to a browser extension, network issues, or browser settings. Please check your connection, disable any ad blockers, or try using a different browser
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Global News
globalnews.ca › news › 747392 › cruises-made-in-canada-movie-cocktail-celebrates-25-years
Cruise’s made-in-Canada movie ‘Cocktail’ celebrates 25 years | Globalnews.ca
July 29, 2013 - A quarter-century after Cocktail opened in theatres, its director explains why it still resonates with audiences. “It’s a movie that speaks to young people and their lives. What are you going to do with your career? What are you going to do with your love life?
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/movies › is cocktail (1988) “so bad, it’s good” or just bad?
r/movies on Reddit: Is Cocktail (1988) “so bad, it’s good” or just bad?
March 4, 2025 -

I personally love the movie but it is very flawed. Unlikable hero, poorly paced, bad dialogue, etc. Where I go back and forth on is if these flaws throw the movie into the guilty pleasure category or is it objectively bad and liking it means you have poor tastes? Cruise himself has said it's it his crowning jewel.

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ErosNow
erosnow.com › movie › watch › 1004611 › cocktail
Cocktail | Watch Full Movie Online | Eros Now
November 14, 2025 - Cocktail is a Hindi rom-com movie based on a love triangle between Gautam (Saif Ali Khan), Veronica (Deepika Padukone) & Meera (Diana Penty). The movie shows the bond between three friends who meet in London. All is well as Gautam & Veronica instantly click but things start to get bumpy as ...
Release date   Nov 14, 2025
Duration   02:17:00
Director   Homi Adajania
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3 Brothers Film
3brothersfilm.com › blog › 2024 › 7 › 4 › review-cocktail-1988
Review: Cocktail (1988) — 3 Brothers Film
July 4, 2024 - But if you can set aside the standards of 21st-century mixology and accept that a young man could become the toast of New York City nightlife for flamboyantly spinning and tossing bottles, the movie can open up for you in enjoyable ways. Directed by Roger Donaldson, Cocktail is based on Heywood Gould’s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, about the kinds of people who aspire to more but get stuck tending bars, and Gould adapted it himself for the screen.
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Amazon
amazon.ca › Cocktail-Tom-Cruise › dp › B000065V3G
Cocktail: Amazon.ca: Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown, Joseph Alfieri, Harvey J. Alperin, Elisabeth Shue, Lisa Banes, Richard L. Anderson, Laurence Luckinbill, Mel Bourne, David Coatsworth, Bill Bateman, Leroy Gibbons, Kim Nelles, Luther Hansraj, John Lyons, Adam Furfaro, Allan Wasserman, David Chant, David Crowley, Joseph Zaccone, Kelly Lynch, Gina Gershon, Ron Dean, Robert Donley, Ellen Foley, Andrea Morse, Chris Owens, Justin Louis, John Graham, Robert Greenberg, Harvey Alperin, E. Hampton Beagle, Robert W. Cort,
Cocktail: Amazon.ca: Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown, Joseph Alfieri, Harvey J. Alperin, Elisabeth Shue, Lisa Banes, Richard L. Anderson, Laurence Luckinbill, Mel Bourne, David Coatsworth, Bill Bateman, Leroy Gibbons, Kim Nelles, Luther Hansraj, John Lyons, Adam Furfaro, Allan Wasserman, David Chant, David Crowley, Joseph Zaccone, Kelly Lynch, Gina Gershon, Ron Dean, Robert Donley, Ellen Foley, Andrea Morse, Chris Owens, Justin Louis, John Graham, Robert Greenberg, Harvey Alperin, E. Hampton Beagle, Robert W. Cort, Rob Cowan, Parker Whitman, Rich Crater, Rick Livingston, Jean Pflieger, Jeff Silverman, Jack Newman, Greg Curda, Paul Benedict, Dan Davis, Diane Douglass, George Sperdakos, Dianne Heatherington, Arlene Mazerolle, Paul Abbott, Ted Field, Larry Block, John Fisher, Kelly Connell, Gerry Bamman, James Eckhouse, David Gertz, Reathel Bean, Heywood Gould, Peter Boyden, Kenneth J. McGregor, Marykate Harris, Liisa Repo-Martell, David L. Crowley, James Mainprize, Donna Isaacson, Richard Lightstone, Gregg Baker, Dan MacDonald, Richard Livingston, John S. Lyons, Ellen Maguire, William Mapother, Rosalyn Marshall, Ken McGregor, Charles Miller, Janice Miller, Ellen Mirojnick, Garry Pastore, Doc Pomus, Hilton Rosemarin, Lew Saunders, Dean Semler, Andrew Shue, Allen E. Taylor, Richard Thorn, Neil Travis, Jim Weidman, Kim H. Winther, Roger Donaldson, Dean Semler, Jack Brodsky, Michael Douglas, Robert W. Cort, Ted Field: Movies & TV Shows
Amazon.ca - Buy Cocktail at a low price; free shipping on qualified orders. See reviews & details on a wide selection of Blu-ray & DVDs, both new & used.
(4.6)
Price   $16.90
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TV Guide
tvguide.com › movies › cocktail › 2000029393
Cocktail - Where to Watch and Stream - TV Guide
Cocktail · 1:30 · Watch Now · 1:30 Cocktail · 1:30 · See All Trailers & Videos · 1989 - Golden Globe - Best Original Song - Motion Picture - nominated · 1989 - Razzie Award - Worst Actor - nominated · 1989 - Razzie Award - Worst Director - nominated ·
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JustWatch
justwatch.com › ca › movie › cocktail
Cocktail - movie: where to watch streaming online
3 weeks ago - Currently you are able to watch "Cocktail" streaming on Disney Plus, Hollywood Suite, Hollywood Suite Amazon Channel.
Release date   Jul 29, 1988
Duration   01:44:00
Director   Roger Donaldson
Rating: 85/100 ​ - ​ 2.89K votes