Jerry Maguire: 30th Anniversary
This year we're coming up on the 30th Anniversary of one of my favorite movies ever: Jerry Maguire. Written/Directed by Cameron Crowe, released on December 13th 1996 and $273.6 Million on a $50 Million budget. Not only was Jerry Maguire a massive success in the theaters but it also received five nominations at the ‘97 Academy Awards including Cuba Gooding winning Best Supporting Actor and Tom Cruise winning Best Actor In A Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes. I just recently re-watched this film last month and I wanted to discuss why this film still holds up.
Jerry Maguire is a sports agent who after getting fired looks to create his own agency with one client left(NFL player Rod Tidwell played by Cuba Gooding Jr.) and former employer/single mother Dorothy Boyd. Renée Zellweger talked about how before she even booked this role she barely had any money in her account to even make a withdrawal. At the beginning of the film Jerry starts off as a self-centered, egomaniac who only cares about getting paid.
As the movie progresses we do see Jerry soften up a little just because he loves Ray so much. All the quote, “bad” things that happen to Jerry I believe was karma catching up to him for not being there emotionally for his clients and only being there financially for them.
One thing that I love that this movie displays is healthy masculinity. Even though Jerry is there to help Rod get his $10 Million contract, Jerry learns a very important lesson from Rod. As Jerry begins mixing business with pleasure with Dorothy the one thing that prevents him from “walking away” from it so to speak is his connection to her son: Ray. Rod's advice is pretty simple to Jerry: if you're not in love with someone you are with then don't waste your or your partners time. Jerry's advice to Rod about how he can be a more marketable player was also pretty straight forward: don't chase your dreams for money, fame or attention, chase your dreams because of the passion and then the money will follow.
Even though these two drive each other crazy it was really nice to see their relationship develop from just business to an actual friendship.
As far as Jerry and Dorothy's relationship I have a lot to say as well regarding this. Jerry was engaged to Avery Bishop (played by Kelly Preston), however, I wouldn't exactly say that their relationship was based on “love” so to speak. It's not explicitly said in the film but Jerry's dad most likely left him when he was a kid which is probably why he has a problem emotionally connecting with women. It's frustrating to see someone as loving/kind as Dorothy feel neglected because while Jerry loves her son he's having a difficult time trying to fall in love with Dorothy herself.
Rod and his wife Marcee (played by the phenomenal Regina King) have an absolutely beautiful relationship and that's something that Jerry is envious of because he's never really experienced true love before. After Jerry dumps Avery he immediately jumps back into another relationship with Dorothy. I think this was a bad decision on his part because Avery told him before she got dumped was that he doesn't know how to be alone and she was right. Jerry would much rather be miserable with someone than be happy being alone and that happens in reality a lot too.
I can go on and on about why I love this film and why it's still relevant to this day. There are many memorable quotes from, jump in my nightmare the waters warm to show me the money and much more. What does everyone think of Jerry Maguire? If you haven't seen it go out of your way to watch it because you won’t be disappointed.
