Jerry Maguire-You'll Fill Your Diaper
Remember the good old days when a guy with $40-$50 million dollars in his pocket could make a simple movie about a sports agent and his life? No visual effects, no expensive dream sequences, ah hell when you only have $40 or $45 or $50 million dollars you can't go all crazy. The year is 1996, and Jerry Maguire, a fine movie on all accounts, cost $40-$50 million bucks, today this movie might run $100 million or more. That aside, the script is a fine piece of work by Cameron Crowe, who up until the perplexing Elizabethtown (the casting was part of the problem) was amazingly consistent with three straight gems-Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous and Vanilla Sky.
What really makes Jerry Maguire one of those classic flicks that old people will be watching in their space age adult diapers, are the fantastic acting performances combined with the witty writing of Crowe. Tom Cruise is fantastic, as is Cuba Gooding Jr, this is of course before such classics as Snow Dogs, Boat Trip and, of course, Radio. Other performances would be easy to overlook for Cruise, as the adrenalin laced, sports agent Maguire and Gooding as athlete Rod Tidwell really shine brightly, but Renee Zellweger steals a few scenes in her own right and Kelly Preston and Jerry O'Connell toss in, perhaps the best performances of their careers.
This is what made Jerry Maguire such a profitable film, grossing over $250 million dollars. It was one of those films that people told you to go see and they were right. And that's why some of you reading this review will be watching Jerry Maguire on some future version of the old movies channel through a drug induced haze wondering if you've crapped yourself. Just remember to shout out, “show me the money!”
Story A
Acting A
Visuals A
Originality/Innovation A-
Enjoyability Grade A
Home Theater/HD Factor A
Overall Grade A (Jerry Maguire is a great story about people and about change and that is, of course, timeless.)
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