COCKTAIL

SYNOPSIS: Tom Cruise plays an ambitious young man who arrives in New York City and becomes known as a flashy bartender in a hot club. He falls for Shue's girl-next-door character, however, his desire for success causes him to travel down a more selfish path with an older woman.

BOTTOM LINE: It seems a little cruel to take obvious potshots at a film that barely deserves comment, never mind actual viewing. All I can say to defend my upcoming actions is that all involved should have known better. Though I didn't loathe Cruise's big-grin style of acting as much when this film first came out as I do now, I still couldn't swallow the self-centered, over-blown, completely ridiculous story I was supposed to be entranced by. Sexy bartender falls in love with cute rich girl only to be shunned by her family, forcing her to choose him or her money. Since the only real skills he seems to have are smiling and spinning bottles of liquor to music, I'd say that he's worth spending some time under the sheets with, but not the rest of your life. Mixing a good, stiff drink is a necessary talent in my book, but you can always go to your local bar to fill that need. It's understandable why the lovely Ms. Shue would accept this gig. It may be crap, but it's crap starring Tom Cruise and she had her future to consider. Hers is the only decent performance. Cruise for his part, gives a turn about as deep as the lyrics from the pop music on the soundtrack. He catches your eye, but grows tiresome the minute you hear his cheesy lines. If ever there was a film that promoted drinking, mostly to stop the pain of viewing, this is it. The bottom of Cruise's barrel.