Jerry Maguire (1996)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Cameron Crowe

Writer (WGA):

Cameron Crowe (written by)

Release Date:

13 December 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

Everybody loved him... Everybody disappeared.

Plot:

When a sports agent has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent with the only athlete who stays with him.

Plot Keywords:

Sports Agent | Client | Agent | Football | Football Player

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 21 wins & 18 nominations

Cast

Tom Cruise	...	Jerry Maguire
Cuba Gooding Jr.	...	Rod Tidwell
Renée Zellweger	...	Dorothy Boyd (as Renee Zellweger)
Kelly Preston	...	Avery Bishop
Jerry O'Connell	...	Frank Cushman
Jay Mohr	...	Bob Sugar
Bonnie Hunt	...	Laurel Boyd
Regina King	...	Marcee Tidwell
Jonathan Lipnicki	...	Ray Boyd
Todd Louiso	...	Chad the Nanny
Mark Pellington	...	Bill Dooler
Jeremy Suarez	...	Tyson Tidwell
Jared Jussim	...	Dicky Fox
Benjamin Kimball Smith	...	Keith Cushman
Ingrid Beer	...	Anne-Louise

MPAA:

Rated R for language and sexuality.

Runtime:

139 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | American Sign Language

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby | DTS-Stereo

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | France:Unrated | Iceland:L | USA:R (certificate #34799) | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Austria:6 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:6 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:7 | Sweden:7 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

John Wayne Airport - 18601 Airport Way, Santa Ana, California, USA

Company:

Gracie Films

Trivia:

Cameron Crowe offered the Dorothy Boyd role to Janeane Garofalo, if she could lose weight, but after trimming down, she learned that Renée Zellweger had won the part instead in what was to become a career-launching smash hit.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Jerry is kissing Dorothy on the front porch after their date, he accidentally unties her dress and then reties it in a messy knot. This knot can continue to be seen in the shots from the back throughout the scene, but in the shots from the side, the straps of the dress are clearly tied in a bow.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jerry Maguire: So this is the world, and there are almost six billion people on it. When I was a kid, there were three. It's hard to keep up.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Storm Cell (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Secret Garden

At the risk of my own cynical reputation...

It's all well and good to stroll through life with a healthy air of scepticism, but despite some peoples' views on these supposedly 'manipulative' romantic films, there are an elite few that really do have things to say based on something more noble than ticket sales - things that are actually worth listening to.

Jerry Maguire is one of these rare beasts. No, it's not perfect, and no, it doesn't ring true for every last second of its running time, but if you come away from it with a sneer rather than a genuine desire to take a step back and look at yourself, then there's no romance in your soul at all. It's a genre that's always been particularly susceptible to the flood of lacklustre money-spinners, so to come across something that's had so much visible thought and effort thrown into it from all corners is a revelation. I'm not naive enough to think that anything making it big in the film industry these days can be purely a labour of love, but Jerry Maguire at least comes close.

It's refreshing to see Tom Cruise demonstrate that, against all odds, he can act his heart out when given the right role, as can Cuba Gooding Jr. (neither of them better previously or since) - and the rest of the cast give it every bit as much passion. It's beautifully written, and shot with an easy style that makes me wish there were more directors like Cameron Crowe in this world.

And on top of that, it gets better with each viewing. Even the soundtrack feels as if weeks have been spent fine-tuning it to perfection, and I'm no fan of Springsteen or Tom Petty. Deride it if you like, I'm not saying that Jerry Maguire's totally free of sentiment... I'm just suggesting that it's not necessarily a bad thing to have your heartstrings tugged and your self-awareness questioned once in a while.