LORELAI: Wow, Marty does the jar twirl before putting the salsa in the bag. Impressive, very Cocktail.
Cocktail, 1988 romantic comedy-drama film directed by Roger Donaldson and written by Heywood Gould; the screenplay was based on his 1984 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name.
It tells the story of a young New York business student, played by Tom Cruise, who takes up bartending in order to make ends meet. An older, more experienced barman, played by Bryan Brown, takes him under his wing and teaches him how to flair – that is, to entertain bar patrons using cocktail shakers and liquor bottles like a juggler. Lorelai suggests that Marty the substitute bag boy is “flairing” the groceries to dazzle the customers.
Cocktail was savaged by critics, who called it “brainless”, “empty”, and “banal”, and it won Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay at the Golden Raspberry Awards. It is generally seen as one of the worst films ever made. Despite this, it was a huge success at the box office, and the #8 film of 1988.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 