Cocktail (1988)
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A young man's ambitious quest for success leads him from the bartending circuit of New York to the beaches of Jamaica.
The story
Brian Flanagan is a cocky, ambitious young man from New York City who, after being discharged from the U.S. Army, fails to land a high-powered business job. To make ends meet while attending business school, he takes up bartending. Under the mentorship of an experienced bartender named Doug Coughlin, Brian learns the art of flair bartending and joins a partnership to open a chain of bars. Their growing fame as performers attracts the attention of a wealthy photographer, leading to a complicated romantic entanglement and a shift in Brian's career path as he seeks to balance his ambitions with his personal life.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After a falling out with his mentor Doug over a relationship with a wealthy photographer, Brian moves to Jamaica to work at a beachside bar. There, he begins a passionate relationship with an artist named Jordan. However, a series of challenges, including a brief fling with a wealthy older woman and the eventual realization of his own ambitions, leads him back to New York. After a series of complications involving his former mentor's failed business and the discovery of his true feelings for Jordan, Brian eventually reconciles with her. The film concludes with Brian and Jordan marrying and Brian successfully opening his own bar, 'Flanagan's Cocktails & Dreams', while realizing the true value of his relationship.
- First release year
- 1988
- Runtime (minutes)
- 103
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Roger Donaldson
- Writers
- Heywood Gould · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Tom Cruise · Brian Flanagan; Bryan Brown · Doug Coughlin; Elisabeth Shue
- Genres
- romantic comedy; drama
- Themes
- ambition; success; romance
- Tone and mood
- ambitious; romantic
- Premise and plot tags
- bartending; romance; success
- Source material / true-story basis
- Heywood Gould's semi-autobiographical novel published in 1984.
- Awards and nominations
- Golden Raspberry Award · Worst Picture · Win; Golden Raspberry Award · Worst Screenplay · Win; Golden Raspberry Award · Worst Actor · Nomination; Golden Raspberry Award · Worst Director · Nomination
- Production trivia
- The film was a huge box office success, grossing $171.5 million worldwide.; The film was based on a semi-autobiographical novel by the screenwriter.; Tom Cruise became the first actor to win a Razzie for Worst Picture and an Oscar for Best Picture in the same year.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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