Cocktail (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.

“Interesting take on Balzacu0026#39;s novel u0026quot;Papa Goriotu0026quot;, where Goriot is Cruiseu0026#39;s absent father and the reluctant devil Vautrin is played by Brown. The line that Brown tries to teach Cruise is how to get into high society through the right kind of woman.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe slickness, including the overwritten dialogue, gets in the way, but it sure is fun to look at. Brown is good in a scene-stealing kind of way, and you can see flashes of brilliance in Cruiseu0026#39;s performance – occasionally. The scene where Banes tells him what kind of shirt to wear, for example. It takes about three seconds, but you can see the resignation on Cruiseu0026#39;s face and in his voice.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGershon and Shue are underused, in my opinion, having what amounts to incidental roles.”