A loveable drama, rom com

Rating: 8/10 (7 June 2003)

"Jerry Maguire" came out in 1996, it hit the box office and it proved it could cut it at the academy awards. It probably did so well at the box office because of Tom Cruise, the man was the main image of the posters and of course he played the title character. What "Jerry Maguire" did then was revitalise the rom com, drama. Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is a sports agent, the guy you don't normaly see, everything he does is for money, not for one second has he ever doubted his place in the world and the buisness he is in. That is until one of his low key stars is injured severly and causes Jerry to think about what he is doing. What happens is he decides to share his views, in one night he just pours his feelings out. He is loved by everyone at the office and cheered for his courage (He would probably be fired) Now he is the man, he no longer questions himself, but just then, he is fired. Jerry is left to go it alone, with only one of his clients left, a failing family man named Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.). The rest of the movie can not be broken down as it would be a spoiler. The first thing you say about when you hear the name "Jerry Maguire" is the Show Me The Money scene. It is one of the greatest scenes of all time and perhaps, the greatest scene of the nineties. Completely memorable, one of the biggest phrases of all time now, Tom Cruise potrays that scene excellently. He is desperate, time is running out, he now knows it is over and Cruise also givs the mood a boost by showing us how far a man will go to keep at least something from being over. Cuba Gooding Jr is also good there as well as his character is annoying Jerry and dosen't quite realise how important this is. When I write a review, I start with a little introduction with my thoughts and a few facts, then I write the plot, then I say the first thing that comes to mind about the movie I am reviewing and lastly I then comment on the cast, the directing and the script in that order, bu today I am going to do it in importance and how important they are into how the movie works. The directing by Cameron Crowe is his best. Good work, worthy of the oscar nomination he recieved. His simple shots are excellent with each one capturing the charaters features and thoughts. There is no room for style here, just a gritty portrayl, the tone he gives this film is just pure brilliance. Cameron Crowe never overdoes anything, nothing in this film is uneeded, this is just great directing, to simple to be fully appreciated like him not recieving the academy award. Now people's first thoughts is this film is long, I never question how long a movie is as long as it is good and I never questioned the quality of this film and it's script. It is witty, dramatic at times, maybe sentimental, brilliant in dialogue that moves you and great scenes. Crowe, who directed, was nominated for the script he wrote I think and I think it was beaten by "Fargo". Something I can't complain with is that, the script is better than the directing ecause of the effect, a work of brilliance that will always be more congratualted than the directing. Lastly in my three, the greatest thing about this movie, apart from Show Me The Money, is the cast and acting. Acting in this movie is completley memorable. Tom Cruise for starters was oscar nominated, Jerry Maguire is proably his most in depth character and Cruise gives him more depth than he proably has. It is comedic, deperate, calm, sweet and complete. Jerry is a characte who has decided to make a U-turn in his life and throughout the movie you can see at time that Jerry may be questioning his decision or sometimes believing it is the right one. Cruise perhaps has the best character he has ever had. Cuba Gooding Jr is also right on par as the fun loving, ego manic, Rod Tidwell. The character of Tidwell is perhaps harder to plat than people think because of the situation he is in, he is a family man trying to make a good home for his family but he also wants to play football and that he has a large ego needs to show as much as that he is a family man. Again Cuba does what Cruise did in the eyes, I always watch an actors eyes, his eyes says that I desperatly need this, I may be going out of buisness, but MAY go out of buisness. Rod is someone who accepts what is happening because he lovs his life more than people may know. Renee Zellwegger made a name for herself in this movie as Dorothy Boyd, who is single mother and Jerry's loyalist friend who loves him. The character again has massive depth but not as difficlt to pull off as the other two, Zellwegger makes the most of her screentime. The most astonishing part o the acting is the realtionship between Dorothy and Jerry, you can see these two people love each other but just can't show and for some reason are uncomfortable with it. They have a reconcilation at the end with another great peace of solo acting from Cruise and in the end are together hand in hand, you can see in their eyes now that they love each other and they are married. This really is a great achievment in modern day filmaking beacuse I beleive this movie is very appealing, characters who are completley memorable, scnes everything. I am thirteen years old and I love this movie, I love films like this, Sure I like the odd eighteens, adult crime movies and I have loads, but when a film like this comes along you just can't help but be gripped by it. "Jerr Maguire" is one of the best films of the last decade. You will love this movie anybody that has been in love, anybody that has gone it alone, anybody who know what these kind of situations are and underatnds then will love this movie. I mean ANYbody, "Jerry Maguire" A GREAT romatic, drama... with a pinch of comedy.