Director: Cameron Crowe
Starring: Tom Cruise, Renee Zellweger, Cuba Gooding Jr.
Year: 1996
The first time I watched Jerry Maguire (and it must have been around the time it first came out, I would have been 13 or 14), I watched it as a Tom Cruise movie. That was right before he became a little more edgy: Eyes Wide Shut, Magnolia, Vanilla Sky, that kind of Cruise. But this was still in his 90s heartthrob era: Days of Thunder, Far and Away, Mission Impossible, that kind of Cruise. So, watching one of his films was about watching him, because he was such a bright star. This time around, however, I saw Jerry Maguire as a Cameron Crowe film, and that made all the difference.
Jerry Maguire is a sports agent, getting athletes millions and making a pretty penny himself in commissions. He is selfish, brash, corrupt, and unhappy, until one night he realized what being an agent should be about; personal connections and taking care of your client. For that bout of conscience he was fired from his job, but Jerry continued to try to make it on his own, this time with only one client, Rod Tidwell, wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals. Meanwhile, Jerry also fell in love with his sole employee, a single mom named Dorothy, who wanted to love the man that he could be, the man she knew was in there somewhere.
I really did watch this movie differently this time, and it changed the whole thing. Seen as a Crowe film, it makes more sense, since the movie is so obviously about so much more than simply Tom Cruise. Say Anything, Singles, Almost Famous; these are movies about becoming the person you think you want to be, about the people you meet who help you get there. Jerry Maguire is the same story, it’s a guy wanting to be better, and along the way he finds romance and friendship and hope. Yes, it’s also Cruise, it’s also a rom/com, it also has the famous lines, but beyond that it’s a standard Crowe coming-into-yourself flick, and that’s something worth seeing. Plus, we have a pretty cool cast on our hands: Tom, Renee, Cuba, Kelly Preston, Jerry O’Connell, Jay Mohr, Bonnie Hunt, Regina King, and of course the famous performance of the cute little Jonathan Lipnicki. Jerry Maguire is awesomely 1996, and it’s cooly Crowe, with some great performances thrown in for good measure; this one holds up, and that’s a nice surprise.
My rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆