Prime Time: Cocktail (1988)

Everyone knows that it can be a great life when you make some money working in a bar. Get hired in the right place and you can get great tips, be paid for having fun, and try to boost your sex life. There was also a time, throughout the 1980s, when everyone was encouraged to grab the American dream by the throat, make millions in some comfortable job that allowed you to go full yuppie, and generally have much more money than taste (or manners). Cocktail, one of a number of classic Tom Cruise films that helped him solidify his superstar status, comes up with what seems to be a perfect combination of these life dreams, focusing on a cocky young man who wants to have the fun, wants to have the money, and wants to have a level of respect afforded to him that is rarely given to anyone who is “just a bartender”.

Written by Heywood Gould, and based on his own book, this is a film that somehow ends up being even worse than you remember. I may be wrong, but I don’t THINK many people genuinely loved this when it was released. It was a hit, there were things to enjoy (the soundtrack being a big plus), and it had Cruise being at his most desperately alpha male (can pick up any woman he wants, will make his dreams a reality by sheer force of will, happy to start fighting people when he feels wronged, etc), but even those who enjoyed seeing this when it was first released surely had a number of better films they would always revisit ahead of it. 

I should try to sketch out the plot, and I will put more words here than necessary. Cruise is Brian Flanagan, a young man who has just left the military and wants to make his fortune. He ends up working in a bar alongside Doug Coughlin (Bryan Brown), being taught both bar skills and valuable life lessons. One thing leads to another, which leads to Brian working at a bar on a sun-drenched beach, where he meets the lovely Jordan Mooney (Elisabeth Shue), but Brian seems unlikely to be able to ever commit to a full and honest relationship. Can he overcome the big obstacle of his own making by the time the end credits roll? Does a Bloody Mary have tomato juice in it?

Director Roger Donaldson knows the movie he is making here. It isn’t a dark drama. It isn’t an unpredictable journey through the heart of American maleness. It isn’t a “How To” guide for those wanting to segue from bartending to the world of big business. It’s a Tom Cruise movie. And Tom Cruise needs to be Tom Cruise, but at a stage where he can still be taught a thing or two by his elders. 

Cruise aside, and I guess he does fine here (although this is arguably his most obnoxious onscreen role), the real treat of Cocktail is listening to the ridiculous wisdom imparted by Brown, who serves as both a mentor and a grave warning to our “hero”. Brown matches Cruise in terms of attitude and presence, but also shows how quickly someone can become tiresome and laughable when trying to retain an air of cool superiority. Shue is also a welcome presence, even if she is treated as poorly by the script as you might expect. She’s not EXACTLY a trapped princess waiting to be rescued by a brave prince, but it’s pretty damn close. Gina Gershon, Kelly Lynch, and Lisa Barnes all turn up to play three very different women who cross paths with one, or both, of our drink movers and shakers, but it’s only Gershon who is allowed to have a bit of resistance to the charms of Tom, and Roger Dean is good fun in a small role, playing Uncle Pat, who also delivers wisdom while tending his own small bar.

Much like the flair bartending tricks and flourishes at the heart of this, Cocktail is ultimately impractical, pointless, and superficial. It is a showy distraction, but it’s also moderately entertaining while you watch it. And you can always practice those moves at home, in private, with the soundtrack blasting from your speakers. 

5/10

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The November Man (2014)

An action thriller from director Roger Donaldson (who has a lengthy filmography that you could call more eclectic than consistent, but is always worth checking out), The November Man makes perfect use of leading man, Pierce Brosnan, and jumps from one set-piece mixing smarts and violence to the next.

The very basic way to explain this movie is that Brosnan plays a retired CIA agent, named Peter Devereaux, who is called back in to service and ends up protecting Mira Filipova (Olga Kurylenko). A lot of people want Mira dead, and the main person heading up the pursuit is David Mason (Luke Bracey), a young man who was trained by Deveraux.

Based on a book by Bill Granger, The November Man is exactly the kind of movie that it shows itself to be from the very first scenes. The wiser elder agent, the hot-headed youngster, some twists and turns, and Brosnan looking unflappable for most of the runtime. 

The script, by Michael Finch and Karl Gajdusek, is decent enough. About as predictable as this sort of thing can do often be, it at least feels satisfying by the time things all come together in the finale. You’re not supposed to know who is actually going to be a hero and who is going to be a villain, but you can figure it all out at least a few steps ahead of the main characters.

Brosnan is on good form, even if he is reusing the kind of performance he already did so well in the Bond movies and The Thomas Crown Affair (as well as a few others from the past couple of decades). Kurylenko does well as the woman in peril, I always like watching her onscreen, and it’s an added bonus to watch one era of Bond work with another era of Bond girl. Bracey is also good in his role, being tough and determined to “win” at all costs, but also still weighed down by his connection to Brosnan’s character. Bill Smitrovich, Will Payton, and Lazar Ristovski all do their part in the main plot, playing various authority figures making life difficult for the lead.

Ultimately a bit too similar to a number of better movies, The November Man is still one that I would recommend to people wanting a bit of action couched in a plot attempting to pretend it is a bit smarter than it really is. It’s paced well, Donaldson directs with enough skill and confidence, there are some decent set-pieces, it doesn’t overstay its welcome, and Brosnan is effortlessly cool throughout.

7/10

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Species (1995)

Species is a delirious b-movie given an (at the time, anyway) a-list cast. There are many ways in which the whole thing could be written off as complete nonsense unworthy of your time, and I'm sure that many people feel that way, but there are also many ways in which it just keeps piling on the fun until viewers give in and go along with the whole ridiculousness of it all.

The plot is all about contact with alien intelligence. Yep, scientists searching for extraterrestrial life have hit paydirt but this isn't so much a flowing dialogue as it is a fractured exchange of ideas. Earth has been sending up a message for a long time now and aliens finally respond with a formula that leads to a great new energy source. The second message from somewhere out in the universe contains information about alien DNA and how to splice it with human DNA. So the science folk give it a go. They end up with a young girl (Sil, played by Michelle Williams). Sadly, when Sil starts displaying some worrying behaviour in her sleep it's decided that the project must end. Which means destroying Sil with cyanide. Sil doesn't like that plan and escapes, just in time for her body to change as she metamorphasises into her adult form (Natasha Henstridge). She needs to be found and stopped so a team is assembled consisting of an anthropologist (Alfred Molina), an empath (Forrest Whitaker), a molecular biologist (Marg Helgenberger) and a mercenary (Michael Madsen). They are given their instructions by the team leader Xavier Fitch (Ben Kingsley) and the hunt is on. Meanwhile, the rapidly-maturing Sil starts to get broody.

Roger Donaldson directs from a script by Dennis Feldman that throws a few smart lines in with a number of laughable clunkers (the context of the moment that has Forrest Whitaker saying "something . . . . bad . . . happened here" remains one of my favourite unintentional laughs ever). Yet it seems clear throughout that all involved knew how preposterous the core idea was - a gorgeous alien is on the prowl for a mate while a group of folks try to get to her in time - and had a lot of fun with it.

The whole movie is lifted immensely by the presence of the gorgeous Natasha Henstridge in the lead role, as averse to clothing as she is beautiful. The rest of the cast all get to have at least one or two great moments - whether they are supporting actors being seduced by Henstridge, Whitakler and Molina enjoying a number of Long Island Iced Teas, Kingsley trying to stay cool and calm under increasing pressure, Helgenberger flirting with Madsen or Madsen just being a cool hardass.

But the big bonus that the movie has is the presence of the great H. R. Giger in the design department. Yes, the visionary who gave us the main creations in the Alien universe here lends his considerable talents to a project that sees him creating something equally arresting, even if the surrounding movie isn't quite the horror classic that the Ridley Scott film was. Not every film making use of such talent needs to be a classic and Species doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is - a gloriously demented, sexy, sci-fi horror with some great (and not so great) effects here and there, some enjoyable nastiness and a great main character.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Species-Special-Edition-DVD/dp/B0002ADWYY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1347484116&sr=8-3