Jerry Maguire
It may sound like another Hollywood film about the IRA but it is in fact a romantic comedy about the sleazy world of sports promotion.
Tom Cruise plays the title character, a sports agent (a sort of American Eric Hall only rather more appealing and without the cigar) who has an attack from his own conscience which precipitates his departure from the highly successful company he works for. The cause of his sacking, a ‘mission statement’ of how the company concentrates too much on making money and should deal with fewer clients on a more personal basis, gains the admiration of a young accountant, Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger), who is also a single mother. She is so impressed with what he writes that she leaves the company with him and they start out with the one client they have left. (Although I can’t help feeling that the fact he looks like Tom Cruise influenced her decision.) Their one remaining client (Cuba Gooding Jr) is an American football player whose career seems to be stalled because of his attitude problem. So desperate is Jerry to keep his last client that he will do almost anything to keep him happy, which results in some amusing scenes as Jerry is forced to scream ‘Show me the money,.....!’ down the phone in the middle of a crowded office. (Decency prevents me from printing the whole quote.) The movie alternates between Jerry’s relationship with Dorothy, and his relationship with the football player.
The romance side of the film is familiar from many Hollywood films - boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back by becoming a better person - but what gives it an edge here is the writer-director Cameron Crowe. He was responsible for the teen-romance film Say Anything and the twentysomething relationship film Singles, and has a strong ability to represent relationships on screen which have a basis in reality. Although the happy ending is never in question it doesn’t have the predictability or staleness that more recent romantic comedies have. There are a few sentimental moments but Crowe’s independent-cinema sensibilities never let these last too long. Even the requisite cute child is not too cute and says bizarre things like kids of his age would.
For once, Tom Cruise relaxes and doesn’t take himself too seriously instead of scowling and looking angst-ridden like he has done in his last few films. The supporting players are uniformly excellent, particularly Gooding Jr. It’s nice (and all too rare) to see a film which delivers on the romance and comedy but always remains fresh and intelligent.
Kati
