Jerry Maguire - Review

This one by Cameron Crowe is a special film for me because I was so overwhelmed by it that I named my dog Jerry. I had the VCD and the soundtrack and once even thought of buying an original poster of the movie but somehow backed out at the last minute.This 1996 film which won Cuba Gooding Jr. a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award and would always be remembered for the celebration on the stage after winning the Oscar more than the role of the american football player Rod Tidwell. This film gave not one but three immortal one liners:-

1. "You had me at Hello" by the character Dorothy Boyd played by Renee Zellweger towards the end
2. "You complete me" by Jerry played by Tom Cruise in the end soliloquy
   
3. "Show me the money" by Rod to Jerry

This film took sports based movies and placed them intermixed with a janor of serious cinema with a lot of weight in the emotions and not just goose bump speeches and screeching end games. It had the pathos of the Bronx Black with the militant Bro' and their family bonding and the Agent with a heart, which calls for one standing ovation. It had wonderful soundtrack with gems by Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan and gave Hollywood a cute child star in Jonathan Lipnicki who later on starred in the Stuart Little films before inevitably fading away. The movie was another chance for Tom Cruise to nab the Golden Statuette, his best chance after the Born on the fourth of July but missed out to Geoffrey Rush for Shine. It tugged at your heart strings and the love story blossomed without impinging on the storyline and also has great repeat value so I guess don't go for a rental on this one PLEAASSEEE!!!!
Bonnie Hunt plays Dorothy's 'disapproving sister Laurel' with a charm that remains with you after the popcorn is over and the ready to cry Rod is the sweetest character even with all that brawn. Cameron Crowe has always been one of my favorite directors with gems like 'Singles' and a very decent 'Almost Famous' but he has left his imprint on our hearts with a great story and better performance in this one. He then fizzled with Vanilla Sky and Elizabethtown and am eagerly waiting for him to bounce back.
It exposed the underbelly of Professional sports and yet was never too moralistic to become obnoxious. It had Tom Cruise but the camera looked beyond him on some amazing ensemble cast performances to uplift the film out of the lot of ordinary dime a dozen sports based films. It had the heart in the right place and came out as a film with a great story pieced together by gems for moments to cherish like the Jerry-Laurel banters and the Tidwell family bonhomie.
This had the least footage of sports action for a sports based film and did not do very good for the image of the sports agents who came out as hardcore sharks with a moneybag for a heart. I must have seen this one for over 20 times and I even lip sync on many of the scenes when I rewatch it over the years. My dog lived for over 9 years and everytime I shouted his name a frame of the film danced in front of my eyes one more time. This one is in my top ten movie list (which I would share with you one of these days) and definitely worth many a dekko.

Rating: ****1/2