Cocktail is a movie about a young man named Brian (Tom Cruise), who works as a bartender in New York. First he just uses his bartending skills as a part-time job to make some money for his studies, but after a while he and his partner Doug (Bryan Brown) end up working in a high-end nightclub, where they make entire shows out of making cocktails.
When Brian finds his girlfriend left him to the betrayal of Doug, he leaves for Jamaica to earn money to get his own bar started. When he meets Doug there, he loses another girlfriend thanks to his own foolishness, and decides to go back to New York where he begs his former girlfriend and Doug to get his life back...
Cocktail is far from a masterpiece; it is, however, quite entertaining when you don't pay attention to the acting, or the storyline. While the acting of Tom Cruise is mediocre at best, the plot is quite clear, and Doug's part is skilfully done by Bryan Brown.
This movie is a somewhat fun movie to watch when you just want silly entertainment, and don't care in what way; if you dislike Tom Cruise however, or don't enjoy flashy moves, quick one-liners and a plot that circles around sex and alcohol: don't be bothered, because then Doug's law comes into effect: "Anything else is always something better."