It’s finally happened– at long last, I have given in to the rallying cry of readers begging for a Cocktail cocktail. Or maybe I just got tired of having this 1988 cult classic reappear like a bad penny every time I type “movie cocktails” into Google. It should be Cinema Sips that comes up, goddamn it! So on a particularly uninspired week, I picked the lowest hanging fruit and gave Cocktail (Disc/Download) a shot. Verdict? Full of flair, with very low risk of hangover.
What do I mean by flair? I mean that Tom Cruise is juggling bottles and shakers like a circus performer in order to distract from the fact that this movie’s script is bananas. There is not one character to root for, and yet I can’t look away. I must know if “Cocktails & Dreams” will ever become a reality. I must try to understand why the lovely Elisabeth Shue would waste her time on a sleazy bartender in Jamaica. And above all, I must learn what the hell happened to TGI Fridays to turn it from New York craft cocktail hot-spot to airport den of desperation. Not all of these questions get answered (I’m still scratching my head about the Fridays thing), but that’s okay. It becomes clear early on that this movie isn’t interested in making sense, and we should just have a drink and enjoy the ride.
Perhaps the most puzzling aspect of all is that for a movie about cocktails, this one features a truly disgusting signature drink. The “Red-Eye” gets made frequently on screen, but fear not- I refuse to subject you to this concoction of tomato juice, beer, vodka, and a raw egg. Instead, I’m focusing on Tommy C’s time in Jamaica with a tropical drink that’ll make you feel like you’re saddled up to the wooden bar of your neighborhood Fridays. While watching Cocktail, I recommend drinking a Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri.
Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri
1 1/2 cups Crushed Ice
2 oz Rum
1 oz Lime Juice
1 oz Strawberry Simple Syrup (boil 8 oz strawberries with 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar until softened, then strain out solids).
1/2 oz Coconut Cream
Combine all ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. Pour into a hurricane glass, and garnish with a fresh strawberry and paper umbrella. Then sit and think about the guy who invented the paper umbrella, and how rich he must be by now.
Typically, I would not include coconut cream in a daiquiri, however for home blending, I find it helps with frozen drink consistency (and you can’t even taste the coconut). If you’re a longtime reader of this blog, you should be able to shout out the ingredients of all the drinks Tom Cruise has to master at the beginning of the movie. Nobody will have to tell YOU that a Cuba Libre is just a rum & Coke. And if you’re still learning, that’s okay. Cinema Sips is my Cocktails & Dreams, and it never closes. Cheers!
*For more Tom Cruise, be sure and check out the Tommy C Appreciation Club on moviejawn.com! Cinema Sips is proud to be a member :-).
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