tom cruise young 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 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 other like a couple of circus jugglers. All of this is done to rock ‘n’ roll music, and it takes them about four minutes to make two drinks. They get a roaring ovation from the customers in their crowded bar, which is a tip-off to the movie’s glossy phoniness. This isn’t bartending, it’s a music video, and real drinkers wouldn’t applaud, they’d shout: “Shut up and pour!” The bartenders in the film are played by Tom Cruise , as a young ex-serviceman who dreams of becoming a millionaire, and Bryan Brown , as a hard-bitten veteran who has lots of cynical advice. Brown advises Cruise to keep his eyes open for a “rich chick,” because that’s his ticket to someday opening his own bar. Cruise is ready for this advice.

He studies self-help books and believes that he’ll be rich someday, if only he gets that big break. The movie is supposed to be about how he outgrows his materialism, although the closing scenes leave room for enormous doubts about his redemption.

The first part of the movie works the best. That’s when Cruise drops out of school, becomes a full-time bartender, makes Brown his best friend and learns to juggle those bottles. In the real world, Cruise and Brown would be fired for their time-wasting grandstanding behind the bar, but in this movie they get hired to work in a fancy disco where they have a fight over a girl and Cruise heads for Jamaica.

There, as elsewhere, his twinkling eyes and friendly smile seem irresistible to the women on the other side of the bar, and he lives in a world of one-night stands. That’s made possible by the fact that no one in this movie has ever heard of AIDS, not even the rich female fashion executive ( Lisa Banes ) who picks Cruise up and takes him back to Manhattan with her.

What do you think? Do you believe a millionaire Manhattan woman executive in her 30s would sleep with a wildly promiscuous bartender she picks up on the beach? Not unless she was seriously drunk. And that’s another area this movie knows little about: the actual effects of drinking. Sure, Cruise gets tanked a couple of times and staggers around a little and throws a few punches. But given the premise that he and Brown drink all of the time, shouldn’t they be drunk, or hung over, at least most of the time? Not in this fantasy world.

If the film had stuck to the relationship between Cruise and Brown, it might have had a chance. It makes a crucial error when it introduces a love story, involving Cruise and Elisabeth Shue , as a vacationing waitress from New York. They find true love, which is shattered when Shue sees Cruise with the rich Manhattan executive.

After the executive takes Cruise back to New York and tries to turn him into a pampered stud, he realizes his mistake and apologizes to Shue, only to discover, of course, that she is pregnant – and rich.

The last stages of the movie were written, directed and acted on automatic pilot, as Shue’s millionaire daddy tries to throw Cruise out of the penthouse but love triumphs. There is not a moment in the movie’s last half-hour that is not borrowed from other movies, and eventually even the talented and graceful Cruise can be seen laboring with the ungainly reversals in the script. Shue, who does whatever is possible with her role, is handicaped because her character is denied the freedom to make natural choices; at every moment, her actions are dictated by the artificial demands of the plot.

It’s a shame the filmmakers didn’t take a longer, harder look at this material. The movie’s most interesting character is the older bartender, superbly played by Brown, who never has a false moment. If the film had been told from his point of view, it would have been a lot more interesting, but box-office considerations no doubt required the center of gravity to shift to Cruise and Shue.

One of the weirdest things about “Cocktail”‘ is the so-called message it thinks it contains. Cruise is painted throughout the film as a cynical, success-oriented 1980s materialist who wants only to meet a rich woman and own his own bar. That’s why Shue doesn’t tell him at first that she’s rich. Toward the end of the movie, there’s a scene where he allegedly chooses love over money, but then, a few months later, he is the owner and operator of his own slick Manhattan singles bar.

How did he finance it? There’s a throwaway line about how he got some money from his uncle, a subsistence-level bartender who can’t even afford a late-model car. Sure. It costs a fortune to open a slick singles bar in Manhattan, and so we are left with the assumption that Cruise’s rich father-in-law came through with the financing. If the movie didn’t want to leave that impression, it shouldn’t have ended with the scene in the bar. But then this is the kind of movie that uses Cruise’s materialism as a target all through the story and then rewards him for it at the end. The more you think about what really happens in “Cocktail,” the more you realize how empty and fabricated it really is.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

• Tom Cruise as Brian Flanagan
• Lisa Banes as Bonnie
• Laurence Luckinbill as Mr. Mooney
• Elisabeth Shue as Jordan Mooney
• Bryan Brown as Doug Coughlin

Photographed by

• Dean Semler

Screenplay by

• Heywood Gould
• J. Peter Robinson
• Neil Travis

Produced by

• Robert W. Cort

Directed by

• Roger Donaldson

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Cocktail (1988)

104min - English

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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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• "[It] is all predictable melodrama. What sells the film are the splashy bar scenes between Cruise and Brown in the first half of the movie"  Gene Siskel : Chicago Tribune
• "Cruise is walking in the footsteps of Troy Donahue and John Travolta here (...) It's a performance with all the integrity of wax fruit. And 'Cocktail' is mud in your eye."  Rita Kempley : The Washington Post
• "Very, very stupid."  Jonathan Rosenbaum : Chicago Reader
• "What is remarkable, given the subject, is how little the movie knows about bars or drinking (...) The first part of the movie works the best (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"  Roger Ebert : rogerebert.com
• "'Cocktail' may seem a retreat for Donaldson"  Sheila Benson : Los Angeles Times
• "Cruise oozes as much charm as in 'Top Gun' and 'The Colour of Money', but the mix of bar-acrobatics and Caribbean love isn't anywhere near strong enough to get you drunk (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"  Lola Borg : Empire
• "Perhaps the best one can say for this bland concoction (...) is that every bartender in Hollywood wants to be Tom Cruise and that suffices as an ironic subtext (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"  Adrian Turner : Radio Times
• "A tale of cock, signifying nothing."  Time Out

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• Chicago Tribune Dave Kehr Cocktail is a meandering, shapeless film, without the force of character to resist any of the cliches that come its way.
• Chicago Tribune Gene Siskel Cruise is beguiling with his smile and his swagger, but the script doesn't take us anywhere fresh when it leaves the barroom.
• Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey It may not be a megaton bomb, but Cocktail is definitely of the Molotov type.
• Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert The more you think about what really happens in Cocktail, the more you realize how empty and fabricated it really is.
• People Magazine Peter Travers As if realizing that his star hasn't smiled for 15 minutes, Donaldson tacks on a goody-goody ending that would shame the Care Bears. How to sum up what went wrong? Cruise has a line in the movie: "Flat beer from rusty pipes."
• TIME Magazine Richard Corliss Cocktail is a bottle of rotgut in a Dom Perignon box.
• Los Angeles Times Sheila Benson The pairing of old-hand Brown and young-hand Cruise may have been meant to remind us of Cruise and Paul Newman; if so, think of this as The Color of Counterfeit Money.
• Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum Very, very stupid.
• Orlando Sentinel Jay Boyar This vacant, misshapen film is basically an extended beer commercial that presents the world as a ludicrous place populated by sex-and-cash-and-booze-crazed zomboids. Cruise, meanwhile, comes off as a somewhat taller Spuds MacKenzie.
• Variety Variety Staff Contains nary a surprise.
• New York Times Vincent Canby It is an inane romantic drama that only a very young, very naive bartender could love. How it got that way is difficult to understand.
• Washington Post Rita Kempley Cocktail is mud in your eye.
• Gannett News Service Jack Garner Ultimately, the ideas in this film fall as flat as stale beer and honest emotions are as watered down as cheap whiskey. This Cocktail is definitely on the rocks.
• United Press International Cathy Burke Cocktail is so steeped in corn, the drama seems comedic and the comedy is about as funny as a hangover.
• TV Guide TV Guide Staff With no fewer than 17 of Donaldson's favorite rock songs and a complete lack of dramatic impetus, Cocktail would fare better as an extended-play music video.
• Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt If some other drug were treated this way in a movie, lots of outraged people -- including parents and politicians -- would be up in arms. But it's only alcohol, the reasoning seems to go, so it's all harmless fun.
• Movie Metropolis James Plath It's the bartending antics and musical backdrops that make the film entertaining. Without them, "Cocktail" is just another beer gone flat.
• Philadelphia Daily News Ben Yagoda The philosopher Hannah Arendt once wrote a book about the banality of evil. After seeing Cocktail, I want to write one about the evil of banality.
• South Florida Sun-Sentinel Roger Hurlburt Cruise's name on the marquee is plenty to insure the success of the film, even if it is lopsided, shallow, and slips the audience a Mickey Finn at the outset.

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Rent Cocktail on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

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.

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Roger Donaldson

Brian Flanagan

Bryan Brown

Douglas 'Doug' Coughlin

Elisabeth Shue

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10 Stirring Facts About Cocktail

One of cinema's greatest guilty pleasures, Cocktail starred Tom Cruise as Brian Flanagan, a young man who unexpectedly achieves some fame as a "flair bartender" in New York City along with his mentor, Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown). Brian eventually takes his bottle-flipping skills down to Jamaica, where he falls for Jordan (Elisabeth Shue), a vacationing artist. Here are some facts about the Tom Cruise staple, in accordance with Coughlin's Law.

1. BRIAN FLANAGAN WAS ALMOST TWICE AS OLD IN THE BOOK.

Yes, Cocktail was originally a novel; it was written by Heywood Gould, and based on the dozen years he spent bartending to supplement his income as a writer. Whereas Tom Cruise's Brian Flanagan is in his twenties, Gould's protagonist was described as a "38-year-old weirdo in a field jacket with greasy, graying hair hanging over his collar, his blue eyes streaked like the red sky at morning." As Gould told the Chicago Tribune , "I was in my late 30s, and I was drinking pretty good, and I was starting to feel like I was missing the boat. The character in the book is an older guy who has been around and starting to feel that he's pretty washed-up." Disney and Gould—who adapted his book for the screen—fought over making Brian Flanagan younger, with Gould eventually relenting .

2. THERE WERE AT LEAST 40 DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPT.

The script went through a couple of different studios, and dozens of iterations. According to Gould , "there must have been 40 drafts of the screenplay before we went into production. It was originally with Universal. They put it in turnaround because I wasn't making the character likable enough. And then Disney picked it up, and I went through the same process with them. I would fight them at every turn, and there was a huge battle over making the lead younger, which I eventually did."

Bryan Brown explained that when Cruise came on board, the movie "had to change. The studio made the changes to protect the star and it became a much slighter movie because of it."

Kelly Lynch, who played Kerry Coughlin, was much more forthright about how Gould's vision for the story changed under Disney, telling The A.V. Club :

"[Cocktail] was actually a really complicated story about the ’80s and power and money, and it was really re-edited where they completely lost my character’s backstory—her low self-esteem, who her father was, why she was this person that she was—but it was obviously a really successful movie, if not as good as it could’ve been. It was written by the guy who wrote Fort Apache The Bronx, and it was a much darker movie, but Disney took it, reshot about a third of it, and turned it into flipping the bottles and this and that."

3. FOR A BRIEF SECOND, DISNEY WASN'T COMPLETELY SOLD ON TOM CRUISE IN THE LEAD.

Recounting the kind of story that only happens in Hollywood, Gould told the Chicago Tribune about one of his early meetings with Disney heads Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg. "Someone mentioned that this might be a good vehicle for Tom Cruise," Gould recalled. "Eisner says, 'He'll never do this, don't waste your time, he can't play this part.' And then Katzenberg says, 'Well, he's really interested in doing it,' and without skipping a beat Eisner says, 'He's perfect for it, a perfect fit!' That's the movie business: I hate him, I love him; I love him, I hate him!"

4. BRYAN BROWN'S AUDITION WAS "DREADFUL."

Director Roger Donaldson specifically wanted Bryan Brown to audition for the role of Doug. Brown flew from Sydney to New York and, almost immediately after his 20-plus-hour flight, was sitting in front of Donaldson. "He did the audition and he was dead tired and it was dreadful," Donaldson said . "After he did it I was like, ‘Bryan, do yourself a favor—we’ve got to do it again tomorrow.’ And he said, ‘No, no, I’m catching a plane back tonight.’ I couldn’t persuade him to stay and do it again, so I didn’t show anybody the audition." Instead, Donaldson told the producers and studio to watch Brown's performance in F/X (1986); clearly, they liked what they saw.

5. CRUISE AND BROWN PRACTICED THEIR FLAIR BARTENDING, AND USED REAL BOTTLES ON SET.

Los Angeles TGI Friday's bartender John Bandy was hired to train Cruise and Brown after he served a woman who worked for Disney who was on the lookout for a bartender for Cocktail . Bandy trained the two stars in the bottle-flipping routines , and Gould took Cruise and Brown to his friend's bar to show them the tricks they used to do . Donaldson claimed they used real bottles—and yes, they did break a few .

6. JAMAICA WASN'T KIND TO TOM CRUISE

The Jamaica exteriors were shot on location, where it was cold, and Cruise got sick. When he and Shue had to shoot a love scene at a jungle waterfall, it wasn't pleasant. "It’s not quite as romantic as it looks,” Cruise told Rolling Stone . “It was more like ‘Jesus, let’s get this shot and get out of here.’ Actually, in certain shots you’ll see that my lips are purple and, literally, my whole body’s shaking.”

7. THE FILM SCORE WAS ENTIRELY REWRITTEN IN A WEEKEND.

Three-time Oscar winner Maurice Jarre ( Lawrence of Arabia ) was Cocktail 's original composer, but the producers didn't think his score "fit in" with the story. They particularly didn't like one cue, so they called in J. Peter Robinson to fix it. Donaldson liked what Robinson did so much, that he asked the composer to take over and do the rest of the work. "All this was happening on a Friday," Robinson said . "I was starting another film on the following Monday and told Roger that I was going to be unavailable. 'We're print-mastering on Monday, mate!!' Roger said. So from that point on I stayed up writing the score and delivered it on Monday morning at around five in the morning."

8. "KOKOMO" WAS WRITTEN FOR THE MOVIE.

While it was The Beach Boys, by then minus Brian Wilson, that recorded the song which brought the group back into the spotlight, "Kokomo" was penned by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas; Scott McKenzie, who wrote “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)”; producer Terry Melcher, Doris Day's son; and Mike Love. Phillips wrote the verses, Love wrote the chorus, and Melcher penned the bridge. The specific instructions were to write a song for the part when Brian goes from a bartender in New York to Jamaica. Off of that, Love came up with the "Aruba, Jamaica ..." part .

9. ROGER DONALDSON IS SORRY ABOUT "DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY."

Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy" hit number one thanks to its inclusion on the Cocktail soundtrack. The director heard the song on the radio one day while driving to the set. “I heard it and thought it would be perfect for the film," he said . "And suddenly it was everywhere. Sorry about that."

10. THE REVIEWS—INCLUDING TOM CRUISE'S—WERE HARSH.

To conclude his two-star review, Roger Ebert wrote , "The more you think about what really happens in Cocktail, the more you realize how empty and fabricated it really is." Richard Corliss of TIME said it was "a bottle of rotgut in a Dom Perignon box."

In 1992, even Tom Cruise admitted that the movie "was not a crowning jewel" in his career. And Heywood Gould wasn't pleased with it at first either. "I was accused of betraying my own work, which is stupid," Gould said . "So I was pretty devastated. I literally couldn't get out of bed for a day. The good thing about that experience is that it toughened me up. It was like basic training. This movie got killed, and then after that I was OK with getting killed—I got killed a few more times since then, but it hasn't bothered me."

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Cruise was never been a bad actor, but this film about a flaming sex symbol has elevated him to definitive stardom. [Full review in Spanish]

Cocktail kicks off with an entertainingly lighthearted opening stretch revolving around Brian's initial entry into the world of bartending...

Cocktail is a vacuous throwback to Saturday Night Fever -- without the cultural novelty. The script is spiked with some comic lines, but overproof doses of inadvertent humor kill the effect.

As if realizing that his star hasn't smiled for 15 minutes, Donaldson tacks on a goody-goody ending that would shame the Care Bears. How to sum up what went wrong? Cruise has a line in the movie: "Flat beer from rusty pipes."

Ultimately, the ideas in this film fall as flat as stale beer and honest emotions are as watered down as cheap whiskey. This Cocktail is definitely on the rocks.

Cocktail is so steeped in corn, the drama seems comedic and the comedy is about as funny as a hangover.

Cocktail is a bottle of rotgut in a Dom Perignon box.

The pairing of old-hand Brown and young-hand Cruise may have been meant to remind us of Cruise and Paul Newman; if so, think of this as The Color of Counterfeit Money.

Perhaps the best one can say for this bland concoction mixed by agents and the studio executives is that every bartender in Hollywood wants to be Tom Cruise and that suffices as an ironic subtext.

It may not be a megaton bomb, but Cocktail is definitely of the Molotov type.

Additional Info

• Genre : Drama, Comedy
• Release Date : July 29, 1988
• Languages : English, Spanish
• Captions : English, Spanish
• Audio Format : 5.1

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Cast & Crew

Brian Flanagan

Bryan Brown

Douglas 'Doug' Coughlin

Elisabeth Shue

Jordan Mooney

Laurence Luckinbill

• Average 4.2

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Tom Cruise Then & Now: Photos From His Young ‘Risky Business’ Days to Today

Tom Cruise has become one of the most recognizable actors in Hollywood over the years and you can see photos of his life through the years.

His talent and ability to play all kinds of characters in various films has put him in the spotlight on numerous occasions and leaves viewers wanting to see more. From an excited yet somewhat irresponsible teenager, to an impressive US Navy pilot, to a lovestruck sports agent, he knows how to do it all! 

One of his most iconic roles is the one he played in the ‘Mission Impossible’ films from 1996 to 2018. He’s known for doing his own stunts whenever he can in the action-packed features and has the end project keeps viewers on their toes from start to finish. Through the years, he’s practically grown up on camera. Make your way through the photos to see some of his most memorable movie moments!

Tom Cruise in 1983

Tom Cruise can be seen here in ‘Risky Business’ in 1983. His role of Joel, a high school senior who gets into some trouble after his parents go away on vacation, was his breakthrough role in the film industry. 

Tom Cruise in ‘Top Gun’

Tom Cruise is seen here in 1986’s ‘Top Gun’. He played US Navy pilot LT Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, who attends The Top Gun Naval Fighter Weapons School and brings his cocky attitude along with him.

‘Top Gun’ producer Jerry Bruckheimer revealed that “it wasn’t easy” to convince Cruise to take the role in a May 2021 interview with Variety. They ended up wooing the actor with his own ride on a Navy jet. 

He recalled, “They took him up on an F-14 and flipped him and did all kinds of stunts to turn him around and make sure he never got back in a cockpit. But it was just the opposite. He landed and he walked over to a phone booth and called me up and said, ‘Jerry. I’m making the movie. I love it.’ He became an amazing aviator himself. He can fly just about any plane they can make.”

Tom Cruise in ‘Cocktail’

Tom Cruise is seen here in 1988’s ‘Cocktail’. He played Brian Flanagan, a bartender who wants a high-paying marketing job in the rom-com, which was directed by Roger Donaldson of ‘Dante’s Peak’ fame. The movie was panned but was a commercial success, raking in $170 million worldwide off a $20 million budget. ‘Cocktail’ also starred Bryan Brown and Elisabeth Shue.

Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman at the ‘Mission: Impossible’ premiere

Tom was married to Nicole Kidman from 1990 until 2001 and their romance was often put in the spotlight. Both remain private about their reasons for parting ways. They share two children, Connor and Bella. Nicole has since gone on to wed country singer Keith Urban. Here he is holding her hand during his appearance at the ‘Mission: Impossible’ premiere in 1996.

Tom Cruise in ‘Eyes Wide Shut’

Tom can be seen here in the 1999 film ‘Eyes Wide Shut’. He played Dr. William ‘Bill’ Harford, a man who seeks out an affair and discovers he’s in over his head.

The psychological drama was acclaimed director Stanely Kubrick’s last project. It also featured the talents of Tom’s then-wife Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack, and Marie Richardson.

Tom Cruise in ‘Minority Report’

Tom Cruise is seen here in 2002’s ‘Minority Report’. He played Chief John Anderton, the head of a Precrime unit advanced in psychic technology, who is accused of murdering a man he had never even met.

The movie is adapted from a 1956 novella. Also starring Colin Farrell and Samantha Morton, the film earned over $358 million worldwide off of an overall budget of $142 million.

Tom Cruise in ‘War of the Worlds’

Tom Cruise can be seen here in 2005’s ‘War of the Worlds’. In the Steven Spielberg adaptation of the 1898 H.G. Wells epic, Tom played dockworker Ray Ferrier, who must protect his children from an alien invasion. It also starred Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin, Miranda Otto, and Tim Robbins.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes at the ‘Valkyrie’ premiere

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes drove the fans crazy when they showed up at the Brasilian Premiere of ‘Valkyrie’. Tom was married to Katie from 2006 until 2012. They share a daughter named Suri, who was born in 2006.

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz in ‘Knight and Day’

Tom Cruise can be seen here in a scene with Cameron Diaz in 2010’s ‘Knight and Day’. He played Roy Miller, a covert operative who meets Cameron’s character on an airplane and insists he’s set up to take a fall.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes on an outing with their daughter Suri

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes celebrate her 33rd birthday during an outing with their daughter Suri in 2011, when she was 5. Talking about fatherhood with  Esquire in 2010, he said, ‘I’ll never forget the moment I became a dad. It’s hard to describe… That level of responsibility, the desire to give such joy, the clarity: Nothing is more important than this.’

Tom Cruise In ‘Edge of Tomorrow’

Tom Cruise can be seen here in 2014’s ‘Edge of Tomorrow’. He played Maj. William Cage, an officer who is thrown into a time loop after he dies while on a mission after Earth falls under attack by invincible aliens.

Tom Cruise In ‘Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation’

Tom Cruise is seen here in 2015’s ‘Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation’. He played Ethan Hunt, who faced a new threat called ‘The Syndicate’ in the film. There are a total of 6 ‘Mission Impossible’ films.

The original ‘Mission Impossible’ was the first film that Tom ever produced. Remembering his early conversations with Paramount studios, he told Games Radar , “I looked at Paramount and I thought what I wanted to produce was something – I looked at it in many different ways… I wanted something that was going to be very commercial, potentially, but I wanted something that was going to be artistically challenging.”

“What is the challenge of this thing going to be?” he went on. “I wanted it to be an international film, and an international cast. Which at that time was different. I wanted to shoot it in England… I remember they said, ‘Can’t you shoot it in LA, or New York?’ And I was like no, I actually, I want to go to London.”

Tom Cruise & Annabelle Wallis In ‘The Mummy’

Tom Cruise is seen here with Annabelle Wallis in 2017’s ‘The Mummy’. He played Nick Morton, a soldier of fortune who comes under attack in the Middle East.

The daredevil praised co-star Russell Crowe while promoting on the ‘Today’ show in 2017. He said, “I had a blast with Russell, he’s a brilliant actor. The kind of talent that he has and screen presence.” Tom added, “I’ve wanted to work with him in a very long time. I have a lot of respect for him.”

Tom Cruise In ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’

Tom Cruise is seen here in 2018’s ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’. He reprised his role as Ethan Hunt in the film.

The franchise’s 6th installment follows Ethan and his team as they track down missing plutonium while being monitored by a terrorist group called The Apostles after a mission goes wrong. The film raked in $791.1 million globally.

Tom Cruise attends the ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ premiere

Tom Cruise attended the ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ global premiere in Paris in 2018. He looked handsome in a suit and tie.

A sequel to the 6th ‘Mission Impossible’ is scheduled to be released on Sept. 30 2022, following several pandemic delays. The 8th film plans on a July 7 2023 release.

Tom Cruise in ‘Mission: Impossible 7’

Tom Cruise was spotted on the set of ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ in Rome shooting a camera car scene while handcuffed in 2020. He was photographed doing a lot of dangerous stunts for the feature.

The film will feature the return of Tom and co-stars Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, and Frederick Schmidt. New faces include Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, Esai Morales, Rob Delaney, Charles Parnell, Indira Varma, Mark Gatiss, and Cary Elwes.

Tom Cruise & Son Connor At A Baseball Game

Tom Cruise waves during Game 2 of a baseball National League Division Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers, in San Francisco on Oct. 9, 2021.

He was joined by his son Connor, who lives a private life near Clearwater, Florida, where the Church Of Scientology is headquartered. He likes to share his deep water fishing adventures and cooking skills on social media, but keeps private beyond that.

Tom Cruise At The USA Premiere Of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

Tom Cruise was so handsome in a navy blue suit at the world premiere of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ on May 4, 2022. The event was held at the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, California.

Tom Cruise In Seoul

Tom Cruise attends a Seoul, South Korea press conference for ‘Top Gun: Maverickk’ on Jun. 20, 2022. His overseas appeal is super broad.

Tom Cruise In Mexico City

Tom Cruise poses for photos during the film photocall for ‘Top Gun Maverick’ at Ritz Carton Mexico City Hotel on May 6, 2022. He wore all black for the occasion.

Tom Cruise At The Seoul Premiere Of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

International superstar! Tom Cruise woos the crows at the Seoul, South Korea premiere of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ on Jun. 19, 2022.

Tom Cruise Touches Down In Seoul

Tom Cruise waves as he arrives to promote his latest movie ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ at the Gimpo Airport in Seoul, South Korea on Jun. 17, 2022. He wore a tan polo and aviator sunglasses.

Tom Cruise At The London Premiere Of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

Tom Cruise is sharp at the London premiere of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ on May 19, 2022. He wore a handsome tux.

Tom Cruise at ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ premiere

Tom Cruise looked handsome in this navy blue suit at the ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ film premiere in New York City on July 10, 2023.

Cocktail (1988)

Tom cruise: brian flanagan.

• Photos (63)
• Quotes (24)

Photos 

Quotes 

[Last Barman poem] 

Brian : I am the last barman poet / I see America drinking the fabulous cocktails I make / Americans getting stinky on something I stir or shake / The sex on the beach / The schnapps made from peach / The velvet hammer / The Alabama slammer. / I make things with juice and froth / The pink squirrel / The three-toed sloth. / I make drinks so sweet and snazzy / The iced tea / The kamakazi / The orgasm / The death spasm / The Singapore sling / The dingaling. / America you've just been devoted to every flavor I got / But if you want to got loaded / Why don't you just order a shot? / Bar is open.

Bonnie : Please, I don't want to end it this way.

Brian : Jesus, everything ends badly, otherwise it wouldn't end.

Brian : Days get shorter and shorter, nights longer and longer, before you know it, your life is just one long night with a few comatose daylight hours.

[last lines] 

Jordan : Bet I can still spook you.

Brian : No way.

[she whispers in his ear] 

Brian : Twins? Twins?

[to everyone] 

Brian : Twins! Drinks are on the house!

Uncle Pat : No! No!

Brian : The bar is open!

[Flanagan's advice to his unborn child:] 

Brian : If Jordan gives birth to a fine Irish son / There will be Cocktails and Dreams for him one day to run / A business that will yield the financial windfall / To be franchised in every suburban shopping mall. / If a daughter arrives to bless our clan / I guess the shit will finally hit the fan / But this I shall promise thee / I'll never let her marry a guy like me. / Still if our child is the naughtiest of girls or the wildest of young men / I swear I'll be the best dad I can / And never ever get spooked again.

Brian : Coughlin's law: never show surprise, never lose your cool.

Brian : You're offering me a job?

Doug : Uh huh.

Brian : The waitresses hate me!

Doug : You wait till you've given them crabs. Then you'll really know hatred.

Brian : Should we let it breathe?

Doug : It hasn't breathed for fifty years, it's dead. Let's just drink it.

[Jordan is drawing a picture of Brian] 

Brian : So this is your profession.

Jordan : More like my... obsession.

Brian : To pay the rent?

Jordan : Someday it will.

Brian : I'm willing to start at the bottom.

Job Interviewer : You're aiming too high.

Brian : I'm looking for the Manager.

Doug : What's the problem? Did you find a hair in your quiche?

Brian : No, I'm looking for a job.

Doug : Ah, you'd like to put a hair in somebody else's quiche.

Doug : Mighty Casey has struck out.

Brian : The game's not over yet. It wouldn't be any fun if they fell over with their legs in the air, would it?

Brian : I'll stick with the brew.

Doug : Beer is for breakfast around here, drink or be gone.

[Jordan has returned to her father's Park Avenue penthouse to find Brian arguing with him] 

Brian : I think there's a chance for us.

Jordan : Brian, there is no "us." There's too many things about "us" that don't work.

Brian : What about the baby? A kid needs a father.

Jordan : Not one who's not going to be around in a year?

Mr. Mooney : Yeah, with your lifestyle, what kind of a father would you...

Jordan : Dad!

Brian : Listen, I'm sorry I called you a bitch.

Eleanor : Why? I am a bitch.

Brian : Not a goddamned thing any one of those professors says makes a difference on the street.

Doug : If you know that, you're ready to graduate.

Mr. Mooney : You're on your own.

Brian : That's the only way I want it.

Brian : [telling Bonnie he's moving out of her place]  I left a can of Spam in your refrigerator... I hope your Brewers Yeast doesn't take it personally.

Brian : [looking at Jordan's painting]  Is this our waterfall?

Jordan : No.

Brian : It's terrific.

Jordan : Yeah, it's all right. The name's Mooney, not Monet.

Bonnie : I've been thinking about you all day.

Brian : Really? A plane ride home will cure that.

Jordan : What are you doing here?

Brian : I bet you thought you'd never see me again.

Jordan : *Hoped* is a better word!

[first lines] 

Brian : Come on, put it to the floor! Come on! Let's go!

Brian : You wouldn't treat a stray dog like this.

Jordan : A stray dog can be *loyal*.

Brian : I can't *make it with my best friend's old lady.

Kerry Coughlin : Ami I supposed to live with the same man *forever and no one else in my life?

Brian : Yes! It's called *marriage.

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Tom Cruise's first wife was 'very present' on Cocktail set, says Gina Gershon: 'We did kiss as much as we could'

The actress recalls meeting Mimi Rogers fresh off her wedding to Cruise on set of the 1988 romance.

Jessica is a staff writer at Entertainment Weekly, where she covers TV, movies, and pop culture. Her work has appeared in Bustle, NYLON, Cosmopolitan, InStyle, and more. She lives in California with her dog.

It seemed like risky business for Gina Gershon to film love scenes with Tom Cruise while his new bride was on set.

Gershon looked back on filming her first ever love scene opposite Cruise on the set of the 1988 romance Cocktail during a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live , sharing with host Andy Cohen that her costar's first wife, fellow actress Mimi Rogers , "was very present."

"He had just gotten married," Gershon said, quipping, "But we did kiss as much as we could. Every scene it was like, ‘Should we kiss in the scene?' 'Oh yeah, I think we should kiss.’ It was my first love scene ever.”

"And did he take care of you?" Cohen asked.

"Totally," Gershon replied, calling Cruise a "gentleman" before relaying a familiar anecdote about believing that she had broken his nose while filming the love scene. "At one point, he starts off under the covers, and I told him I was very ticklish, I said, ‘No, no, don’t ever do that.'”

During a take, "I think he wanted a reaction," Gershon said. "And he grabbed my stomach, and I kneed him right in the nose. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I just broke Tom Cruise’s nose.’ He’s like, ‘No, no, you told me.’ I was like, ‘I’m so sorry,’ he was like, ‘No, it was my fault.'”

"He was so overprotective over me. He was great," Gershon added.

Cruise was married to Rogers, known for her roles in films Gung Ho and Someone to Watch Over Me, between 1987 and 1990.

From director Roger Donaldson, Cocktail followed Cruise who played an ambitious young bartender who opens a bar in Jamaica and falls in love with an artist played by Elisabeth Shue . The romance dramedy also starred Bryan Brown, Laurence Luckinbill, and Lisa Banes.

During her appearance on WWHL , Gershon was on hand to promote her new action sci-fi film Borderlands with costar Cate Blanchett , who got a kick out of the latter's Cruise anecdotes. Based on the best-selling video game series of the same name, Borderlands follows a ragtag team of misfits who band together to battle alien monsters and dangerous bandits in the planet of Pandora.

"I wanted to make something totally bonkers and bats--- crazy that has the insanity of  The Fifth Element  or  Escape From New York ," director Eli Roth said in EW's Borderlands cover story for Comic-Con . "I think there's a spirit of anarchy and absurdity in the game. I wanted the movie to have that same spirit as well: a movie completely made by lunatics."

Watch Gershon discuss Cruise in the clip above.

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