Very few films combine drama, comedy, and romance so successfully, and in so fine a blend, as the epic sports-romance ’Jerry Maguire’ (1996)! The film was a critical and commercial success worldwide, and happens to be an all-time personal favorite of mine. Built on an original script by writer/director Cameron Crowe, it boasts of an Oscar-nominated performance by Tom Cruise, which many consider to be his career best. Cuba Gooding, Jr. won the much deserved Oscar (for Best Supporting Actor) for his role as Tidwell, which is very much the pivot of the film. The film also provided a breakthrough role for Renee Zellweger, as Dorothy. Others in the ensemble cast include: Regina King, Jerry O’Connell, Jonathan Lipnicki, Kelly Preston, Bonnie Hunt, Drake Bell, Donal Logue and Eric Stoltz. The cinematography by Janusz Kaminski is simply outstanding. The soundtrack features tracks byThe Who, Neil Young, Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, and also has Bruce Springsteen’s grand offering -Secret Garden.
The story in a nutshell
Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is an agent with a major sports management firm. He’s enthusiastic, successful, a great negotiator and people like him. But it begins to dawn on Jerry that there’s something wrong with what he’s doing. Athletics is big entertainment business in America. That the athlete is obligated to flex his muscles once a week is secondary. The big bucks comes from the advertisers and for them, one needs a top notch agent. Enter Jerry Maguire, and his likes. Not long after a troubling encounter with the son of an injured athlete he represents, Jerry has a serious crisis of conscience. In the midst of a sleepless night, Jerry writes a memo calling on himself and his colleagues to think more about the long-term welfare of the clients they represent and less about immediate profits. While everyone around him applauds the sentiment, Jerry’s superiors think his ideas are bad for business; Jerry is fired, and, rather than standing in solidarity with him, his "friends" in the firm scramble like sharks to claim Jerry’s clients. At the end of his last day, the only people willing to join Jerry as he strikes out on his own are staff accountant Dorothy (Renee Zellweger), a single mother secretly in love with him, and Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.), a football player whose pride and arrogance have gotten in the way of his reaching his potential. ’Jerry Maguire’ made "Show me the money!" an impressionable catchphrase in the history of cinema.
Memorable moments
"I’m sorry little boy. I can’t this sign this kind of card, " says the super-rich athlete. He makes the big money through product endorsements, not athletic feats, and he can not jeopardize his income stream by signing anything other than what he has been paid to sign. Certainly not for some kid, no matter how much the kid idolizes him.
Tom Cruise as Jerry Maguire is fantastic! He takes the film into a whole new league. He had researched for the role in a big way, and had even done workshops for the film! Jerry’s is full of problems, and this is best summed up by his character when he confesses that he is "great at friendship, bad at intimacy. That’s my theme song."
"One night", he says, "I had two pieces of bad pizza, went to bed and grew a conscience." After that, he writes a twenty-five page mission statement - proposing: "fewer clients, less money." Obviously, this does not endear him to management.
In the now-famous crowded restaurant scene, when his boss, Bob Suger (Jay Mohr), fires him, Jerry’s expressions are a lesson in understatement. Soon, they both run back to the office where they call all of Jerry’s clients. Each promises to go the extra mile for them!
The portrayal of Jay Mohr’s character is so ruthless, that it’s frighteningly believable.
Another favorite scene of mine is the one between Dorothy and Jerry where Dorothy is trying to flirt with Jerry while her young son Ray (Jonathan Lipnicki) swings on their arms yelling, "One, two, three, swing!" Lipnicki is a cloyingly sweet kid and he projects the apt responses.
The conversation between Dorothy and her sister Laurel (Bonnie Hunt) offers some little gems as well: "I’ve had three lovers in four years and all run a distant second to a good book and a warm bath, " confesses Dorothy to her sister Laurel Boyd. As Dorothy breaks down in tears, Laurel cautions her, "Take it easy. Don’t cry at the beginning of a date. Cry at the end like I do."