Moviegoers have come to expect three things in a Tom Cruise movie: Cruise's sexy smile, Cruise lipsyncing to a rock 'n' roll song and Cruise making love to one or more beautiful women throughout the movie. Cruise does not disappoint us in his new movie Cocktail.

Cocktail is the story of Brian Flanagan (Cruise) who has been released from the service and now wants to make a million dollars. The story takes place in New York City where Flanagan hits Wall Street to find his niche in the business world. Unfortunately for Flanagan, the business world requires more than a desire to work; the world of business wants a college degree. Frustrated, Flanagan enrolls at a local college and takes a part-time job as a bartender to cover the costs of his education. The bar is where he first meets Douglas Coughlin.

Coughlin, played by Australian actor Bryan Brown, is a cynical bartender who becomes Flanagan's mentor and best friend. At this point the movie leads us to believe that the story will be about the relationship between these two men. For example, the barroom scenes where Coughlin and Flanagan display their talent for choreographed bottle flipping are fun. Their friendship is believable and interesting. The men are constantly discussing how they can make enough money to open their own bar. However, the plot takes a predictable twist and has the two friends fighting over a woman, which temporarily ends the friendship.

The next scene shows Flanagan in Jamaica without Coughlin. Three years have slipped by and now Flanagan works in a bar. The lack of transition from New York to Jamaica is annoying. The movie slows and the plot becomes entangled in dozens of pointless subplots. Of course a love angle is introduced. Flanagan meets Jordan Mooney (Elizabeth Shea) who is also from New York. The couple spends a few romantic days together and the audience is supposed to believe that something special exists between them.

The situation gets more complicated when Coughlin shows up at the island with his new heiress wife. (His wife's role in the movie is to parade around in costumes that seem to be made of rubber bands.) Again Coughlin ruins Flanagan's current love relationship by daring him to pick up an older wealthy woman. Flanagan takes the dare, picks up the woman and loses Mooney.

The story then becomes unrealistic and boring. Flanagan travels with a wealthy woman in hopes of breaking into big business but leaves her when he realizes he is only a bedroom toy.

Granted, Cruise is a marketable movie actor. In the past his "smile, sing, sex" combination has worked; however, maybe the public is ready for a more mature Cruise.