johnnywagner-09971
Jerry McGuire is a good film bolstered by a touching screenplay and some great performances. Tom Cruise plays Jerry Mcguire- a sports agent with a conscious. He writes a memo from heart on the ethics of his industry and is booted off his job. He starts an agency on his own, assisted by a single mother and later wife played by Renee Zellwegger. On his rooster is a crazy, unremarkable client, played by Cuba Gooding Jr. The film is filled with quips and a certain warmth which is common in Cameron Crowe films. Gooding Jr. is hilarious as the over the top smartass, yet lovable deep-down Rod Tidwell and Tom Cruise shows yet again why is such a top movie star- he makes himself relatable. This movie is about love and redemption.
classicsoncall
Unlike many films in which the central character has a career changing epiphany near the end of the story, this one occurs right at the start. Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is a highly successful sports agent who ultimately comes to grips with the empty life style and endless quest for money that takes over one's life when they find themselves at the top of their profession. The movie handles Maguire's transition with considerable skill without overlooking the doubts and fears one would expect when making a life altering decision. For those who had faith in Jerry all along, Cuba Gooding Jr's Tidwell learns a lesson in humility when taken to task for playing with his head and not his heart, while Renee Zellweger's own heart wears consistently on her sleeve for Jerry's time and attention. Their eventual marriage is tested when it becomes a question of love versus loyalty, but once again, Jerry Maguire returns to a principled conclusion that his new family is worth more than all the mega-bucks available in the fast paced world of celebrity sports and multi-million dollar endorsements. Here's a movie with a different kind of 'show me the money' message and well worth your time.
merelyaninnuendo
Jerry MaguireThere are some genuine emotional moments with cliched touch which works for the most part of the movie with the help of some good performances but lacks complete understanding on executing a scene. Jerry Maguire despite of its strong writing material relies totally upon the performances and brings out the best from each and every character. Cameron Crowe still needs some work to do on supervising and executing from paper onto the screen. As mentioned earlier, it is filled with stellar performance by Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Renee Zellweger. Jerry Maguire starts off slowly as it takes its time to settle on its first act and then boosts up with incredible writing and finishes off majestically.
lasttimeisaw
For those who endearingly miss Tom Cruise as a fine actor, or Cameron Crowe at the top of his games, JERRY MAGUIRE is a blast from the past. Our titular hero (Cruise) is a smug predator in a cutting-throat capitalistic business, who suddenly grows a conscience, and then immediately makes a wrong move, trying to exhort his peers to also grow a conscience, unfortunately the majority of those is too cynical to accept his noble motion, he is therefore blackballed and according to Murphy's law, must hit the rock bottom, which only leaves him a loyal admirer/accountant Dorothy Boyd (Zellweger), his only client, an under-the-radar football star Rod Tidwell (Gooding Jr.) and a goldfish. Tailored to USA's pernicious winner/loser ethos, the subsequent upswing must diligently tackle two most important things a man must obtain, his career and his love life, to prove the world that he is not a loser but a bona-fide winner, aka, it is the "kwan", that really matters to one's truth worth, a magically coined word by Crowe. Cogently the film thrives as a sincere page-turner albeit Crowe being rather deferential towards all the genre tropes, his script coruscates with a cordial sympathy towards Jerry's fix and a tangential self-awareness of eschewing the mawkishness, conceivably, it is a story borne out of affection and deliberation, but one defective looms large in the end is that Crowe doesn't get more into the agent business maybe because it is not his forte, the triumphalism is approached through Rod's doughty sportsmanship (a cinematic but garden-variety antic with a sharp tang of cruelty, in real life, more often than not, a player is physically permanently damaged), and what Jerry has attributed to the triumph is regretfully left largely untapped, however he would right this wrong in his next film ALMOST FAMOUS (2000), which is more in his element, inspired by the days when he was a contributing editor of Rolling Stones Magazine. One might argue JERRY MAGUIRE is the film where Tom Cruise's Hollywood golden-boy charisma is in his highest voltage, and his effort is incontrovertibly contagious, ever so remarkable he devotes himself entirely to a character which is quite self-referential in a manner (riding a money- seeking business, deviled by commitment issue, cannot deal with being alone), sheds self- consciousness and flexes his muscles to bring forth exigency, compassion and warmth, in company with a honest-to-goodness romance playing off against a self-abasing Renée Zellweger, who also punches above her weight in a conventional ugly-duckling role but spiffed up with a strong sense of dignity and sensibility, she knows when to waive what doesn't worthy of her even it is what she really wants, that is in my humble opinion, the most valuable takeaway of the whole movie. The homey atmosphere is also magically graced by a heart-melting Jonathan Lipnicki as Dorothy's cutie son and Bonnie Hunt's protective but amenable elder sister (although that divorced women group gag should be relegated to a cheesy chick flick dud).Lastly, about Cuba Gooding Jr.'s Oscar victory, he does strut his stuff with a highfalutin bravado, errs on the side of being clownish but essentially an entertaining hoot, like the film per se, a feel- good treat concocted with a conscience.
