Cocktail (1988) on Netflix
Fresh out of the Army, Brian Flanagan wants a business career in New York and ends up behind a bar. Veteran bartender Doug Coughlin teaches him flair bartending.
- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb6.0/1099,478 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes9%
Trailer
Plot summary
Brian Flanagan returns to New York after his Army discharge and looks for a high-powered business job. Without a college degree he gets nowhere, so he enrolls at a local business college and takes part-time work pouring drinks. His boss, Doug Coughlin, is an experienced bartender who shows him flair bartending and describes Cocktails & Dreams, the chain of bars he intends to open. Doug's cynical views on the trade rub off on Brian, who quits school. The pair become a popular attraction at a trendy nightclub, and Coral, a wealthy photographer, takes an interest in Brian. Doug wagers that the relationship will not last.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Cocktail (1988)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Cruise's other film in 1988 was Rain Man, making him the first and, as of 2026, only actor to star in a Worst Picture Razzie winner and a Best Picture Oscar winner in the same year.
- The now-iconic bottle-flipping bartending trick was never in screenwriter Gould's original novel; he showed it to stars Cruise and Brown on set, and it became a signature part of the finished movie.
- Despite being savaged by reviewers and taking home a Razzie for Worst Picture, the film was a massive commercial hit, earning far more than eight times its budget worldwide.
- The soundtrack single "Kokomo" by The Beach Boys became a bigger phenomenon than the film itself, topping the pop charts in the United States, Australia and Japan and picking up both a Grammy and a Golden Globe nomination.
- Co-star Kelly Lynch said Disney reshot about a third of the finished film and turned it into flipping the bottles and this and that, complaining that the process cut her character's backstory, though she said working with Tom was a great time both on and off camera.
