A bar becomes the focal point of slice-of-life drama in Cocktail, a low-key, satisfying production that combines a string of short stories about staff and customers alike to good effect. High-school dropout Paul Yip (Endy Chow) takes up a job vacancy for a bartender and soon develops an ability to mix cocktails to suit patrons’ moods. Joining coworker Stella (Race Wong) and the bar’s boss Candy (Candy Lo), Paul sees a diverse stream of regulars come and go each night, from overworked car salesman Kuen who’s being kept from seeing his girlfriend, to Yuki, a girl helplessly falling in and out of love. But it’s not all drink-mixing and people-watching for staff at this bar: Paul has grown up in a broken home with an alcoholic father and has much to come to terms with, depressed Candy keeps a mysterious relationship with a monthly visitor, and Stella holds back a crush on her unreceptive new colleague.
Presenting all its stories in snippets that drift into and out of the picture as the movie progresses, Cocktail’s script succeeds most in drawing together and fleshing out an effective local community of characters. The two young bartenders narrate separately but bind everything together, and Paul’s compelling tale about his alcoholic father adds emotional weight to the film as a whole. Casting is kept to middle-tier actors and new talent who acquit themselves well, while co-directors Herman Yau and first-timer Longisland So punctuate the bar’s ongoing neon-lit affairs with music video-like montages, rapid cuts and quick flashbacks that all bring a pleasing sense of style to Cocktail on the big screen.