Jerry Maguire - 1996
Look, I get it. Cameron Crowe doesn't make perfect films. EXCEPT!...when Cameron Crowe makes perfect films. Except for this one time when he really, pretty much got it all right with one guy - Jerry Ma-f**king-Guire!
Unconvinced? Stay but a moment. Jerry Maguire contains peak period, way pre-cuck Tom Cruise doing all sorts of dashing things - smiling, yelling, crying, flexing, and running! (God it's funny to watch a 5'4" man sprint. Running Tom Cruise never gets old). He's putting it all together here, adding heaps of star charisma, and just fantastic line readings of above average dialogue. This SHOULD have been his Oscar. Would the Academy have taken him more seriously in the late 90's, perhaps we'd have more than Ethan Hunt to remember his late-career by. Alas, it was not to be.
But this isn't just the Tom show. Cuba Gooding Jr. is so terrifically over the top here. He plays Rod Tidwell with charisma for days, and yet his heart-on-your-sleeve presence is the perfect foil for Jerry's calculated distance and fear of commitment. Cuba is nearly matched pitch for pitch by a young Regina King (in a performance which I had forgotten!), who keeps Rod grounded and committed, yet backs him entirely throughout. Still, perhaps the greatest revelation of all in this whole affair is Renee Zellweger, whose fumbling heroine at first can't find her way, but whose confidence grows with the film's running time. She is guarded, doe-eyed, sexy, and yet grounded in thoroughly impressive ways. (Don't forget Bonnie Hunt as her sardonic sister as well).
Now, this is a Cameron Crowe picture after all. And you'd have to work very hard to convince me that he hasn't made more duds than gems. That his characters are often more archetype than flesh and blood, his dialogue schmaltzy, his stories full of characters saying the kind of tear-jerking things that only stars say, of this I am all too aware (I can't UNsee Elizabethtown). Top it all off with some carefully calibrated soundtrack choices for maximum gush, and we're on our way.
I understand the critiques. And I'm not saying Jerry Maguire is fully immune to such things. (Cruise screaming "Free Falling!" in the car after his meeting with Cush would be one example. Springsteen out of the ashes for "Secret Garden" would be another. Some of the plot machinations around agents. Some of the Tidwell family's behaviors). It's there. Here's the thing: It totally works for me in this setting! I'm not sure if it's the sports, or the love, or the actors, or the charm, or the charisma but it all. fully. works. This movie contains some of the all-time great quotes, which I KNOW you know. One of the best closing monologues in film history. Sure, it's a happy ending that makes us feel good. Are we not allowed to have those anymore??! This picture has heart and soul for MILES. I loved it as a kid, and I love it still today. So sue me. (Just don't steal my ambassador of Quan).
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