Romantic comedy disguised as a sports movie

Rating: 3/10 (21 June 2019)

This movie seems to be a mix of many different genres (comedy, romance, drama, sports, money) and we can see as to why it is such loved. But as a film, it is actually quite pretentious, and overly long and sappy. The sports angle starts off as intriguing but once the romance and love story come in, it takes away from the excitement, and becomes a predictable rom-com.
The performance from Tom Cruise is him playing his essential character, lovable guy but also a slick "all about me" type. He's the lead and who we are supposed to root for. Cuba Gooding Jr. won an Oscar for his role but was playing a more over the top athlete type, and came across as annoying- yet people love his character and performance for how "authentic" it is. And Renee Zellweger is the love interest but happens to be a rather weak and uninteresting character. Also her son is one of the more annoying and corny characters in the film.
People love this film for its famous catchphrases ("Show me the money!", "You complete me", "You had me at hello") and it has a nostalgic feel.
It seems that Cameron Crowe desperately tried making a film to ponder to many different demographics, and seeing its box office resume and the fact it won or was nominated for several awards, he succeeded in that sense. But as an audience opinion, the film isn't serious enough to be a drama, not funny enough to work as a comedy, too womanly to be a sports movie, and too sporty for a Lifetime movie.
Overall, Jerry Maguire is watchable and somewhat intriguing at times, but as a while is quite long and becomes a bore. It really is a romantic comedy disguised as a sports film. Not nearly as great as people clamor for it.