Rewatch IndexEvery Rewatchables episode
All movies

MOVIE + PODCAST

Cocktail

1988Runtime unavailableRomanceDrama

Movie details, ratings, and The Rewatchables episode for Cocktail.

On the mic
Cocktail1988
RT CRITICS11
RT AUDIENCE58
METACRITIC12
Directed byRoger DonaldsonMovie director
On the mic
RT critics11%Tomatometer
RT audience58%Popcornmeter
Metacritic12Critic score

MAKE IT A MOVIE NIGHT

Where to watch

UNITED STATES

Checking where Cocktail is available…

THE POD'S PICKS

Episode awards

See who or what the hosts picked for each award.

12award categories
EPISODE 139

Cocktail

11 picked · 1 without a winner

Who won the movie?

Picked on the show

Tom Cruise

They explicitly named Tom Cruise as the movie's winner, while giving Coughlin a strong honorable mention.

~ 1:12:00Runner-up: Coughlin

Apex Mountain

Picked on the show

Tom Cruise

The hosts explicitly crowned Tom Cruise's late-80s star run as the movie's Apex Mountain, while also discussing other possible candidates.

~ 1:07:00Runner-up: Brian Brown
Show every award10 more, in episode order

What's age the best?

Likely pick

Cruise and Coughlin bartending / Addicted to Love

The hosts mainly agreed that the Cruise-and-Coughlin bartending sequence and its 80s energy have aged best, with Elizabeth Shue also praised.

~ 0:48:00Runner-up: Elizabeth Shue as an 80s goddess

What's age the worst?

Likely pick

The movie's rich-girl/dad relationship setup

They identified several weak aged-worst elements, especially the repetitive rich-girl/father conflict and the overblown ending.

~ 0:56:00Runner-up: The ridiculous penthouse climax

Best Coughlin lessons

Likely pick

A waitress won't truly hate you until you've given her crabs.

In a rapid rundown of Coughlin's Laws, the crabs line drew the clearest approval, with a few other absurd aphorisms also singled out.

~ 1:02:00Runner-up: Never trust a chick named after an inanimate object.

Casting what ifs

Likely pick

Elizabeth Shue over Heather Graham or Molly Ringwald for Jordan

They briefly ran through alternate casting and agreed the movie works best with Elizabeth Shue as Jordan.

~ 1:04:00Runner-up: Charlie Sheen as Brian Flanagan

Best that guy

Likely pick

Uncle Pat / Ron Dean

The discussion settled on Uncle Pat as the standout supporting character-type performance, with Jordan's dad also considered.

~ 1:05:00Runner-up: Jordan's dad / Lawrence Luckinbill

Dian Waiters Award

Likely pick

Kelly Lynch

They narrowed the field to the female supporting performances and landed on Kelly Lynch as the pick.

~ 1:06:00Runner-up: Gina Gershon

Recasting couch

Picked on the show

No recast; the movie is perfect as-is

They explicitly said they would not recast the movie, though they mentioned a few alternate ideas in passing.

~ 1:07:00

Half-assed internet research

Picked on the show

Bottle tossing was added at Cruise's request

They rattled off several trivia items, led by the fact that Cruise requested the bottle-tossing business in the film.

~ 1:07:00Runner-up: Kokomo's awards recognition

Could this be remade as a 10 episode Netflix show?

Picked on the show

Yes

They agreed the premise could absolutely be expanded into a Netflix series.

~ 1:08:00

Unanswerable questions

No winner

No clear winner

They posed several unresolved questions, including the timeline, the cell block's business viability, and what really happened to Coughlin.

~ 1:08:00

About these picks Winners come from the episode transcript. Timestamps may be a little off.

WHAT TO WATCH NEXT

Movies to watch before and after.

Three movies to watch before Cocktail, and three to watch next.

Finding six movies…Three to watch first and three to watch next.
Includes a Rewatchables episodePosters from TMDB.

YOUR LIST

Save your progress.

Mark the movie as watched, save the episode for later, or listen on Spotify.

THE PODCAST

The Rewatchables episode