More than about showing him the money

Rating: 8/10 (20 April 2013)

This is a Tom Cruise movie, but I did not hold that against it. For some reason I wanted to see this movie, not because it was a Tom Cruise movie, but because of the plot about how the main character, Jerry Maguire, lost his job as a sports agent and then went out on his own to build up his empire again.
The plot is not that shallow, rather the character of Maguire begins as a business orientated, money loving, sports agent until he is confronted with the reality of his character through the hatred of the son of a badly injured ice hockey player. At this point he realises that his desire is to purely make money off of other people and that he does not care about the person whom he is making money off. At that point he writes a mission statement which he intends to change the whole industry with - and even though he is congratulated with his stand, the competitiveness of the industry means that the younger agents seize this moment of weakness and throw him out. In the ensuing struggle he manages to gain two stars to work for, and then the famous one walks out on him leaving his with an angry black football player who wants a great contract but is not willing to work for it.
Through the movie we see Maguire's character struggle through his problems, and his character rely on what are defined as his weaknesses. At the bachelor party at the beginning his one major weakness is revealed: he needs a woman to support him - he cannot be alone. So when he looses his job, he also walks out on his star fiancée because he simply feels that he does not deserve her. He has lost everything else so by all intents and purposes, he should loose her as well.
This is where the other character comes in. An accountant at the firm Maguire worked for who was inspired by his mission statement. When Maguire calls for people to leave with him, she is the only one who does, but she also has a desire - she wants an husband and a father for her child. This is strengthened through the movie as she continues to look at people in love and think about how she wants that for himself. This is bad because Maguire can't be alone, and she knows that, so she sees her chance and takes him. The thing that makes this a little different is that Maguire loves her kid.
This weakness of Maguire's is continually exploited as he struggles with his single client, who is so stubborn that he refuses to leave Maquire, but he also refuses to listen to Maguire's advice. In the end they must settle with a weak contract because there is little else that they can get. It is only when he breaks out of his shell that things start to happen, and because Maguire has been his friend as well as his agent, this relationship is strengthened.
But his character is also there to show what a strong marriage relationship is all about. As we watch Maguire and his secretary romanticise over each other, we know that it is not a relationship of love, but one of necessity. When they do get married, we know that it is because Maguire simply does not want her to leave as opposed to really loving her. The illusionary relationship is developed as it is contrasted with that of Maguire's client. We see a husband and wife who truly love each other, while Maguire and his wife seem to drift apart as Maguire spends more time with his client and his son.
This is a great movie, and it is surprisingly deep for an American movie. The characters are finely crafted and they each have to struggle through their problems, all of them looking for the easy way out but knowing that it is not the best way out. For a Tom Cruise movie, it is actually quite good.