JERRY MAGUIRE
A film review by Derek Miner
Copyright 1996 Derek Miner
JERRY MAGUIRE begins where most movies would build up to. Sports agent Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is one of the most successful agents in the business. He's got big clients, he's engaged to a beautiful woman (Kelly Preston), but he's disgusted with who he's become. So, one fateful night at a convention, he drafts a "mission proposal" for the business, emphasizing ideals, integrity and personal attention. Needless to say, the powers that be are not happy with Jerry's sudden realization.
Enter single mother Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger), who is an accountant in the same agency Jerry works for. Dorothy is so inspired by Jerry's ideals, she makes the spontaneous decision to join him when he's booted from the agency. It's a Tom Cruise movie, so there's inevitably a romance developing here, but it's a very well-paced one. Jerry and Dorothy embark on a mission to succeed on their own with Jerry's only remaining client, Ron Tidwell (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), a second-tier football player with an outrageous personality and a big chip on his shoulder. Tidwell implores Jerry to "show me the money."
Writer/Director Cameron Crowe has built his reputation slowly, directing only three features in the last seven years. Each time, though, he progresses to the next level. SAY ANYTHING (1989) was about young love and leaving high school. SINGLES (1992) went out into the real world, with characters who just want to meet people they can be happy with. JERRY MAGUIRE is by far Crowe's most assured work, with excellent characters and real heart (and another director-trademark Eric Stoltz cameo). The focus is not as narrow as in his previous films, however. Instead of concentrating a few situations and filling the rest out with humorous asides, he expands the characters, letting _them_ fill out the film. Crowe balances the comedy and drama effortlessly, allowing his characters to drive the humor.
Cruise turns in a great performance as Jerry Maguire. The character still fits the mold of a "Tom Cruise" part, but he doesn't drag it down to the level of early Tom-Cruise-charm driven characters. Cuba Gooding, Jr. starts off in what could have been a one-note, over the top performance, but eventually brings it down to earth for some great moments. Most of the attention has been focused on the male characters, however. Zellweger is an attractive young actress, but she is not given a great deal of substance here, which could move the audience past the initial impression. It's not that her performance is bad, or that the film suffers because she isn't as well defined, but she is only given a few scenes where she could shine. Regina King, on the other hand, makes a great impression in her few scenes as Tidwell's wife. Again, the character is not given a great deal to do, but we can sense how important she is in her husband's life.
JERRY MAGUIRE is one of the best movies of 1996, but probably not "Oscar" material. The Academy tends to ignore audience-targeted films like this, and this year saw few "commercial" films that attempted any sort of depth with their characters anyway (two divergent films, THE FRIGHTNERS and SWINGERS only stand out in my mind). Cameron Crowe's charcters develop in a way that has a measure of predictability, but feels real, because they're likable. JERRY MAGUIRE has a handful of truly great scenes, and a very engaging story, making it's two-hour-plus running time feel comfortable rather than dragging. JERRY MAGUIRE should please a wide-range of audiences, and hopefully, they'll all come out feeling better about themselves and their ideals.
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