`Feel-good' comedy drama, best for it's brilliant performances.

Rating: Null/10 (16 May 2003)

`Show me the money'. Cameron Crowe's breakout debut is good to say the least. `Jerry Maguire' is a soft-centred, romanticised and rather enjoyable character study of the struggle to return to the top. There's plenty of memorable dialogue along with a biting verbal. It's proud, if not boastful of its sometimes-arrogant style. It works best in its more comedic and satirical moments.
The movie opens brilliantly and energetically and draws some modest laughs. However, this unique style is completely abandoned after the first 80 or so minutes and it gradually settles in familiar territory with lightly sentimental drama. The latter plunge isn't a huge mistake. It holds your interest and keeps the same pace, but isn't as good as the poignant first half.
The performances are what keeps this film alive and kicking. In an Oscar nominated turn, Tom Cruise loses the ego in one of his best roles to date. He is well suited to the title part and proves to his critics that he's more than just a shallow Hollywood star. Cuba Gooding Jnr. is ecstatic as the egotistical self-worshipping sports star. Renee Zellwegger perfectly balances comedy and drama in a breakthrough role that was done brilliantly. The three leads were enough to hold the film in its place but there's some good (if not irrelevant) support from the likes of Kelly Preston, Jay Mohr, Jerry O'Connell, Bonnie Hunt and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo from Eric Stoltz.
The script is also very sharp and imaginative and the finished product is better than the sum of its parts. There are some neat touches such as a man-eating divorced women's group and a male jazz obsessed child technician (male nanny). It builds up (perhaps too much) momentum and doesn't know what to do with it so gradually turns into a `too serious' drama at the halfway mark. This is a shame because had it not been for this, then I think it would have lived up to the entirety of its hype.
Still though, `Jerry Maguire' is an intentionally inflated, but very enjoyable and very good for what it's worth. My IMDb rating: 6.8/10.