JayHysterio

I admit I watched this to see Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall and Penelope Cruz but this film pretty much portrays their characters as weak, impulsive and in Cruz' case...psychotic.

Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem who I also like) was a user and manipulator, I know it's a chick flick and maybe women get off on his lusty, artistic, peasant persona but he was a user and quite immature, I didn't connect his actions at all with artistic as being the reason for his lifestyle. He was just a louse. I saw it immediately in his first scene.

What was Allen's point? The ending makes it appear both Johansson and Hall were left as unhappy people due to J. A. Did Allen have some need to punish them for their infidelities and poor choices? Was he trying to show Europeans as free spirited while Americans are uptight and sexually frustrated? It seemed the whole film was based on sex and not any emotional attachments.

I didn't feel good about this film. Watching people attempt to self destruct with no affirmation of goodness at the end...hard pass.

At least when portraying Chigurth, Bardem left no doubt about what he was. He didn't play mind games, he just killed you.

It's getting close to 30 years since Jerry Maguire hit the screen and a lot has changed; the internet and social media have now replaced any attempt at the personal service that JM idealistically tried to portray as a change in the sports agency industry. In fact, it only attracted more materialistic, status seeking MBA's looking to be more like Scott Boras than Jerry Maguire.

Predictably, athletes and agents now command and control even more of the sports scene than they ever did. Players' agents demand longer and more expensive contracts, with owners often refusing to invest and top name athletes from fans' favorite teams moving on to a bigger paycheck in other parts of the country or world.

In more recent developments, college athletes are now allowed agents to negotiate NIL contracts with sponsors. That of course, is if the athlete isn't already convinced by his agent to forego his college eligibility to a lucrative contract before reaching sophomore status. Transfer portals have also allowed collegians to move between schools more easily based on athletic skill only, seeking a higher commercial value profile.

Cameron Crowe's film was well intentioned as a feel good saga of loyalty and friendship over money. But it was rather naive. Not his fault and it's a still a good film carried entirely by the characters and the actors who played them. It was a nice try.