Jerry Maguire

This movie is a comedy, drama, romance, sports movie, and a money movie (e.g. Wall Street, where the main character is trying to make a lot of money). The problem such a movie faces is maintaining a consistent tone. Remember Prizzi's Honor? JM solves that problem by using restraint. It doesn't go over the top, although its characters sometimes do. It has funny moments, but it's not Animal House or American Pie. It's a drama, but it keeps the stakes low. This isn't Armageddon: they aren't trying to save the world. There are no life or death decisions. The romantic stakes aren't that high either: Renee Zellweger loves Tom Cruise, but she's been in love before and if this doesn't work out, she will be again. The only really high stakes are the money. By keeping the stakes low, JM let's us watch it with a bit of detachment.

This is more of a drama than a comedy. A good test is whether the characters change. Here, Tom Cruise starts off completely cynical, abruptly changes to ridiculously idealistic, then spends the rest of the movie finding the right balance. Renee Zellweger starts by loving Tom Cruise from afar, then gets him, then has to work out her ambiguous feelings.

JM is fun to watch. The characters, though flawed, are sympathetic. We enjoy watching them succeed, fail (sometimes in funny ways), and try to discover what they really care about. It's complicated, thoughtful, and surprisingly subtle.

It's all well and good to stroll through life with a healthy air of scepticism, but despite some peoples' views on these supposedly 'manipulative' romantic films, there are an elite few that really do have things to say based on something more noble than ticket sales - things that are actually worth listening to.

Jerry Maguire is one of these rare beasts. No, it's not perfect, and no, it doesn't ring true for every last second of its running time, but if you come away from it with a sneer rather than a genuine desire to take a step back and look at yourself, then there's no romance in your soul at all. It's a genre that's always been particularly susceptible to the flood of lacklustre money-spinners, so to come across something that's had so much visible thought and effort thrown into it from all corners is a revelation. I'm not naive enough to think that anything making it big in the film industry these days can be purely a labour of love, but Jerry Maguire at least comes close.

It's refreshing to see Tom Cruise demonstrate that, against all odds, he can act his heart out when given the right role, as can Cuba Gooding Jr. (neither of them better previously or since) - and the rest of the cast give it every bit as much passion. It's beautifully written, and shot with an easy style that makes me wish there were more directors like Cameron Crowe in this world.

And on top of that, it gets better with each viewing. Even the soundtrack feels as if weeks have been spent fine-tuning it to perfection, and I'm no fan of Springsteen or Tom Petty. Deride it if you like, I'm not saying that Jerry Maguire's totally free of sentiment... I'm just suggesting that it's not necessarily a bad thing to have your heartstrings tugged and your self-awareness questioned once in a while.

I just finished watching this movie for the third time and I still love this movie as much as I did after the first time I watched it. Maybe even more! As I already said in the title of my review, only Cameron Crowe can make this kind of movies. Movies about life the way it is and life the way it should be. What I like the most about Crowe's work, is that everything is real. The characters, their emotions, the story,… The whole is absolutely amazing.

Tom Cruise gave an excellent performance as the sports agent with a heart. Someone for who money isn't the most important thing. It's all about the relationship between the sports agent and his client. What's so great about "Jerry Maguire", is the fact that the movie isn't about who Jerry Maguire really is, it's about who he wants to be. I loved Cuba Gooding Jr. By far his greatest role ever. Let's not forget Renée Zellweger and her cute son, amazingly performed by the young Jonathan Lipnicki. Both where very good. Perfect casting for Zellweger.

I read in the trivia that the title role was written for Tom Hanks. Don't get me wrong, Tom Hanks is an excellent actor, but to play an ambitious and arrogant sports manager (what Jerry Maguire was at the beginning of the movie), you need to have Tom Cruise's face. He was just perfect for the role. I can't think of anybody who could have done this as good as he did.

So my conclusion for Jerry Maguire: If you haven't seen it, you should definitely see it. If you have seen it, I hope you can agree with me. This movie is wonderful, as where are used from Cameron Crowe-movies.

9/10

I refused to see Jerry Maguire for several years, assuming it was a cheap movie about money, sports and sex. When i finally watched it on TV, i was blown away. This movie is about hope, redemption, love, and finding out the meaning of life. Tom Cruise does a spectacular job playing someone with nothing to loose, and Cuba Gooding's performance brought tears to my eyes. Renee Zellweger fits perfectly by having great chemistry with Jerry, and by having a normal, plain look. This film works because it's so real and easily plausible; its a witty, romantic drama more than a romantic comedy that proves its never too late to start over or take a risk.

Many moving parts rhythmically sync together in Cameron Crowe's 'Jerry Maguire' - one of the best films of the 1990s. Hard to believe it's been 25 years, and just saw Maguire for maybe 20th time, so long overdue are my comments.

The influence and imprint on this film by brilliant filmmaker/TV series creator/producer James Brooks is apparent in how Cameron directed this film - it was an interesting mentoring brain-share between Cameron and Jim during pre-production that set the direction for Jerry Maguire.

The preparation for filming included: a side trip to Billy Wilder's house by Cameron and Tom Cruise in an attempt to recruit the elder legend for a key Day-Player bit part in the film (didn't work); the introduction of then little-known Renee Zellweger by casting director legend Gail Levin (the acting rapport between Renee and Tom during her audition was instant and never wavered); Cuba Gooding's infectious enthusiasm that won him his role over more famous names, and an Oscar in the Spring for Supporting Actor; and Tom Hanks' early consideration for the Lead that as it turns out was fortunate to have too many scheduling conflicts (much of the dialogue in JM was written for Hanks). Interesting background stories are common to Cameron Crowe film production.

But the engine that propels this film are the timeless ideals of pursuit of meaning and happiness in one's life, the power of overcoming adversity - "going for it" and stretching for the brass ring, finding true love and commitment to it, and developing key friendships that have a lifetime impact in one's life.

One is initially inserted into this story during Jerry's rapid ascent towards the pinnacle of career success as a sports agent, followed by an overnight ethics crisis "free falling" to the edge of a career-abyss. This perfect storm of dramatic conflict ties each of the main characters together, and we are immersed and hooked for the rest of the film.

The memorable/quotable dialogue in 'Jerry Maguire' is iconic ("show me the money", "you complete me", "you had me at hello", etc.), delivered by actors that rose to the occasion, each putting forth inspired performances.

Cameron has a way of extracting an actors' genuine emotional connection to their character that few directors achieve. This ability can be found in every Cameron Crowe film from 'Say Anything' (1989) forward.

Cameron's music-sync of iconic songs in the film are inspired and perfect (as one would expect), surpassed in his films only by those tracks used in his semi-autobiographical 'Almost Famous' (Cameron's greatest film to date, and on my IMDb Top 10 Greatest Comedy Films list).

'Jerry Maguire' is timeless and memorable, and a reminder for me why I fell in love with movies (and music) at a very young age - a lifetime gift that gets re-stoked by films like this one.

An easy decision to rate Jerry Maguire a 10 as one of film's Top 100 💯 Greatest Movies.

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