Jerry Maguire R 139 min.

I loved this movie. I had started and stopped it so many times, but not this time! I watched the whole movie and it was great. Cameron Crowe knows how to make movies. (Don’t talk about Aloha). 

I enjoy a good voiceover and the film starts with Jerry Maguire talking about how many people exist in this world: “So this is the world, and there are almost six billion people on it”. Of course, there are more people now, but you don’t always think about just how many people are out there. Wow.

The movie was released in 1996 and Tom Cruise was looking good.

Look at that face.

Jerry Maguire is chockfull of wonderful quotes. I wrote down too many to include, but I’ll try to incorporate the best lines.

Jerry is a good talker. He is a sports agent, so his job is to be able to talk a good talk, but I was still impressed.

The moment that sets off the plot off the film is Jerry’s breakdown, or as he says, “Breakdown? Breakthrough.” Jerry proceeds to write a twenty-five page “mission statement” because he is a good guy who wants to change how his company operates.

When he wakes up the next morning, Jerry is terrified because he sent the mission statement to everyone he works with. However, he gets huge applause when he gets down to the hotel lobby.

It is at the airport where the audience finally gets to see the cutest child ever seen.

Dorothy (Renee Zellweger) is frantic because she lost her son. Luckily, the vision that is Jerry Maguire spots him. He’s giving highfives while spinning around on the luggage carousel.

Ray is the cutest child I have ever laid eyes on. He may even be the best part of the movie. Actually, I am certain that Ray is the best part of the movie.

Alas, Jerry was living in a dream and gets fired. Bob Sugar is the man who does the firing. His name sounds like he would be the type to fire his “mentor”. Bob Sugar is the antagonist in the film. He is terrible.

After getting sacked, Jerry hurriedly tries to secure all his clients. Unfortunately, Bob Sugar gets most of them. Jerry loses all his clients because he is busy trying to appease Rod Tidwell. Rod Tidwell has a big personality and wants what he deserves, so he keeps Jerry on the phone until Jerry screams “Show me the money!” sufficiently.

I enjoyed this scene.

So after having lost all his clients, Jerry departs from the office acting like he’s fine. He attempts to recruit people to go with him, but the only person who decides to side with the good guy is Dorothy. Jerry leaves with Dorothy and the office fish.

While Jerry thought he lost all his clients, he gets a happy surprise when Cush, a star football recruit, says he will stay with Jerry. This is really good news, so after leaving Cush, Jerry tries celebrating. He is driving and trying to sing along with songs on the radio, but he doesn’t know the words to anything except for “Free Falling”. Perhaps this is a metaphor for Jerry’s life.

Obviously, our hero can’t be happy for too long, so Jerry discovers that he has been backstabbed by Cush. It looks like the only client Jerry Maguire has is Rod Tidwell. In addition to the loss of Cush, Jerry’s girlfriend is disappointed that he is now a “loser”, so Jerry breaks up with her for being crazy, as he should.

Jerry’s girlfriend doesn’t cry like this:

Jerry’s girlfriend punches him out like this:

Jerry and Rod are waiting for a plane, and Jerry says he’s “cloaked in failure” which is what I say whenever someone asks how I am doing.

Jerry realizes he is in a bad spot, so he gets drunk and decides to go over to Dorothy’s house. She invites him in and while she is getting food together, Ray wakes up and has a chat with Jerry. Jerry and Ray get along swimmingly and it is really too cute.

Jerry receives a call from Rod and Ray picks it up, then proceeds to hand up on him. This kid is perfect.

Jerry Maguire is considered a romantic comedy/drama, so you can guess how Jerry and Dorothy’s relationship plays out. Dorothy really loves Jerry, but before Jerry realizes how much he loves Dorothy, he primarily loves Ray. Dorothy sees this which causes a blimp in the relationship, but don’t worry.

Also, Rod and his wife Marcee have a great marriage. Marcee is always involved in negioations with Jerry, and the couple is the definition of a great team.

Final Thoughts

I love Jerry Maguire. I don’t really like Tom Cruise, but I thoroughly enjoyed his performance in this film. Rod Tidwell is a fun character and reminds me a little of Tracy Jordan from 30 Rock. I’ve said it multiple times, but Ray is adorable and will win you over just like he wins over Jerry. One of the most iconic romantic scenes ever comes from Jerry Maguire, so I’ll leave you with this:

What?

No, I’m not crying. I just have a little something in my eye.