Jerry Maguire Review

Jerry Maguire
Release Date: December 13th, 1996
Written and Directed: Cameron Crowe

"Show me the money!" one of the most recognizable movie quotes of all time. The term has been parodied in just about every comedy show and used to sell just about every product(the player's Cuba imitation is painfully racist). Then you have "You had me at hello" the second most famous quote from Jerry Maguire, parodied on many a comedy show as well and probably used in at least one ad. Oh but thats not all, next you have "You complete me" the third most famous quote, this was found in most of the thousands of parodies of this movie that exist in some form usually accompanying "You had me at hello" My point is, Jerry Maguire is responsible for at the very least 50% of the lame sketch comedy parodies of the late 90s. So I go into the film aware of all these pop culture icons, what I didn't realize is how much deeper the film goes beyond these famous quotes.

The story is of Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) a sleazy sports agent who after a confrontation with the young son of a hockey player, becomes depressed and writes a mission statement entitled "The Things We Say But Do Not Do" a desperate plea for sports agents to care more about their clients and less about the money. He sends this out to everyone at his office, and when he arrives the next day he is rewarded with thunderous applause! Only to soon be fired by a former apprentice of his Bob Sugar (Jay Mohr) just like that all of his clients are being stolen in front of his eyes. In a desperate plea to keep his career Jerry calls all his clients but one client, an overly charismatic and egotistical football player Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr) keeps him on the line for so long that Jerry loses all his other clients. As Jerry leaves the office he makes a request for anyone that wants to, to join him in creating a new talent agency based on the principles in his mission statement. Only one person does, a lonely single mother accountant who Jerry has only met once named Dorothy Boyd (Rene Zellwegger) So as Jerry and Dorothy try to get Rod famous, we get to see their rises and falls and ultimately blossom into a relationship reserved only for the sweetest of movies.

When watching Jerry Maguire it was hard not to cringe when hearing a lot of the famous quotes, just because I am so used to them in parodies its almost hard to take it seriously now. A lot of the scenes, specifically the "You had me at hello" scenes are so sugary sweet it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. But most of the movie is so good that it is easy to forget about the bittersweet taste of Rene crying all the time about her overly cute little son played by Jonathan Lipnicki. While those two particular performances are nothing above what you would find in your average romantic comedy; Tom Cruise and Cuba on the other hand, hit out of the park. Cruise portrays loneliness very well, and you honestly feel bad at how many times he gets screwed over by his own kind in this movie, as he slowly realizes that he used be just like them. Cuba Gooding Jr. is perfect for this role and deserved his Oscar. He is so full of charisma, in yet also so full of honesty and emotion that you can't help but love him. It is depressing watching this film knowing Cuba would go on to be in Norbit and Daddy Day Camp. Cameron Crowe is a great writer, he is a rare breed, I can easily imagine Jerry Maguires screenplay, usually this would be a fault with a movie to feel like you are reading a screenplay as you watch, but somehow Cameron Crowe makes that enjoyable and uses it to his advantage for great dialog. It does become a problem during the more emotional scenes as it is hard to really take them too seriously, but again this could be at fault for me being familiar with their parodies before I saw the actual film. The only problem I had with the writing is that we don't see enough of Jerry being a real sleazeball, maybe the studio was afraid people wouldn't find Tom Cruise to be a great person for more than 6 seconds, man would that come back to bite them.

Cameron Crowe also knows how to direct his actors, especially Cuba, you become excited when he comes on screen with all the energy in the air. Cameron Crowe should cast him in another movie, maybe save his career. If you want to look at Jerry Maguire in a simple manner, it is a mix of a guy's sports movie and a girl's romantic comedy that pleases both audiences. But at it's core the film is a story about a man making a realization in his life of how to treat other human beings, making him a better, happier person for it.

9.3/10