Rating: 
Summary: Love and Loyalty
Review: "Without your love,
It's a honky-tonk parade.
Without your love,
It's a melody played
In a penny arcade. "It's a Barnum and Bailey world,
Just as phony as it can be,
But it wouldn't be make believe,
If you believed in me." E.Y. "Yip" Harburg's lyrics to the classic, Depression-era song he co-wrote with Harold Arlen, "Paper Moon," sum up Jerry Maguire, a movie about the redemptive power of love in a crooked world that is just for show. "Jerry Maguire" (Tom Cruise) is a top agent for professional athletes, working for the world's biggest sports representation firm, a butt-kissing and back-stabbing world, where the word "love" gets tossed about as easily as cuss words. And yet, Jerry does have one endearing, enduring quality: Loyalty. Late one night, Jerry has an epiphany, or as he puts it, he doesn't know if it was a "breakdown" or a "breakthrough." He types an inspiring "mission statement" on how agents ought to do their jobs. The mission statement does not have the intended effect, but it does inspire at least one person. (I'm being purposely vague, to avoid spoiling the story.) "Dorothy Boyd" (Renee Zellweger) is an accountant at the firm, who is inspired by Jerry's words. She falls in love with Jerry, but does Jerry love her? Oh, and did I mention, that Dorothy is a "single mother"? Well, actually, she's a widow; calling her a "single mother" is one of the movie's intermittent pc tics. Dorothy's chubby, bright son, "Ray" (Jonathan Lipnicki), who appears to be about five years old, and has been starved for a man in his life, takes to Jerry immediately. The feeling is mutual. (The other pc aspects involve a woman beating the hell out of Jerry, one character referring to a deaf relative as "hearing-impaired," and the conceit of having a black NFL player lecture his white agent on how to love a woman, and on how to respect a "single mother," a conceit which will be particularly jarring to anyone at all familiar with professional sports. At least the movie does have a sense of humor about feminism, and even a little about race, as the black player has Maguire shouting, "I love black people!") "Rod Tidwell" (Cuba Gooding), whom Jerry represents, is an under-sized NFL wide receiver with an over-sized chip on his shoulder. This character gave America the phrase, "Show me the money!," which became ubiquitous for a few months. Most of this two-hour-and-eighteen-minute movie consists of tightly framed, intimate scenes with either Cruise and Gooding or Cruise and Zellweger. "Intimate" means that the actors must carry the scene; there is no distraction to diffuse the drama or cover for poor performers. And as good as the scenes are with Zelleweger and Cruise, the ones with Cruise and Gooding are even more intense. I'm not a Tom Cruise fan, but I have to give the Devil his due. He richly deserved his Oscar nomination as Jerry. This was Renee Zellweger's breakthrough role, in which she displayed the winsome, spunky persona that has since become her calling card in movies such as Bridget Jones' Diary and Cold Mountain. After Cuba Gooding won the Academy Award for best supporting actor as Rod Tidwell, I recall sitting in a Union Square coffee shop in Manhattan, and telling someone that Gooding only got the Oscar because he was black. A big, beefy, middle-aged black man in the next booth heard me and sighed loudly, to express his anger. (No, I hadn't yet seen the movie, but the odds were very much in my favor.) Well, I was wrong. Gooding's role is much meatier than a typical supporting role - almost a lead - and he makes the most of it. But there are many other great players, too. And every role is exquisitely cast, particularly Bonnie Hunt as Dorothy's caustic, feminist, older sister, "Laurel," who hosts a support group of embittered, man-bashing, forty-something women, Regina King in the Alfre Woodard role as Tidwell's wife, "Marcee," and Jay Mohr as Jerry's slimy protege, "Bob Sugar." Beau Bridges and Kelly Preston also shine in smaller roles. Jerry Maguire is not "high concept." There are no car crashes. There is lots of talk. Amazing talk. Director-screenwriter Cameron Crowe wrote one of the best original scripts of the past twenty years. He does here what he has developed a well-deserved reputation for: Showing the world behind the façade (see also Almost Famous) of an apparently glamorous but actually tawdry social milieu (ain't they all?). This movie is for grown-ups. But Crowe choreographs scenes so well, whether involving a mob of people or just two, that they don't come off as "talky." (Besides, unless one is an action junkie, the feeling of "talkiness" is often the result of a bad script.) And oh, the acting. The comparison that comes to mind, is Terms of Endearment, which was the quintessential domestic drama. When TOE came out in 1983, I recall a critic writing that it showcased the best acting you'd ever see in an American movie. That judgment was unfair to American movies; TOE showcases some of the best acting you'll ever see in a movie, period. As does Jerry Maguire. There is not a single clearly flubbed line or wasted scene in this entire movie. The best thing I can say about Jerry Maguire, is that I liked it a lot the first time I saw it, and I loved it, the second time around. The Critical Critic, February 26, 2004
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad...whenever you're not CRINGING!
Review: Like "Vanilla Sky," Cameron Crowe's "Jerry Maguire" also tries to dispense some existential, quasi-Eastern wisdom...but with much more mixed results. Much of the movie truly stretches the viewer's credulity; we are often left wondering, "Is he serious? Now WHY in the world would he/she do THAT?" In other words, the characters are not well-developed enough to make their actions and decisions readily believable. These 2-dimensional cardboard characters also have an unfortunate habit of delivering painfully florid and verbose pseudo-philosophical mini-soliloquys out of nowhere. Cruise is not really as well-chosen for this character as he was in "Vanilla Sky" either---here, he just tries WAY too hard, ridiculously overacting almost in every scene. His permanent, bread-and-butter Alpha-Male swagger never leaves him, even when he's supposed to be at rock-bottom, like at a scene when he shows up at Zelleger's house drunk after losing both his job and his fiance in the same day. Then there is the romance between Cruise and Zelleger's characters, which is the main box-office draw of this film, and its most cringe-triggering device. This part of the script, even more so than the rest of the film, must've been directly written by a bunch of focus groups...it includes just about every abominably cheesy, tear-jerking, schmaltzy cliche in the book. Ruthlessly and shamelessly manipulative, it almost destroys the rest of the film, which is actually not so bad. The Designated Irresistible Kid who plays Zelleger's son IS truly adorable and would've put Maculay Culkin out of a work had he been born about a decade earlier. Him, Zelleger and especially Cuba Gooding Jr. are the main saving graces of this decent but deeply compromised film. Hopefully after this box-office smash, Cameron Crowe will have the clout to go back to making REAL movies, not focus-group-candy like this one.
Rating: 
Summary: It would be a TRULY great film, except....
Review: for the R rating. This film would be truly inspirational for young people. Unfortunately, the nude sex scene and the shot of all those behinds in the locker room screen these kids out. I loved the story of a man who has lead what society views as a successful life, but he wakes up one night and realizes he has a "lifesyle" built on a sleazy charm and shallow values instead of a real life. The story of his courage in sticking with his decision to change, even though it seems that "no good deed goes unpunished", is one that kids should see before setting goals for the rest of their life. It's too bad, really, that Hollywood and Mr. Crowe included those (in my opinion) totally unecessary scenes. They don't add anything to the story and could have been done much more tastefully. I would have given this movie 5 stars if I could have felt comfortable showing it to my kids.
Rating:
Summary: NO WORDS
Review: I wanted to write something really strong about this movie,something that would impress...but the truth is that the movie itself does a pretty good job at impressing without me saying it.It is simply magnific.When i first sow it,i was impressed on how someone could put all this different ingredients in one place and get something that beautiful.It has everything,from comedy,to drama and real life situations.I love the lines that practiclly made history..."you complete me" and "you had me at hello"...And the music...God...I have only respect for Bruce Springsteen and his "Secret Garden".I know there are other movies that touch as must as this one or even more,but i can say holding my hand on my heart that "Jerry Maguire" is ONE of the best movies i've ever seen.Go see it,if you havent done that by now...cry,laugh,and step in every situation once with the characters...and at the end,feel that great feeling going up on yr spin and think "this was a great movie that was worth seeing"...dont belive what i say, just see by yourself.
Rating:
Summary: SHOW ME THE FUNNY ! ! ! !
Review: This movie rocks, and not just for Middle America. The well-hidden edge of this film is gloomy, nasty, bitter, and cuts at every sleazy little phony out there--and that very characteristic is the film's brilliance. Tom Cruise is Mr. Perfect Handsome Guy, except his flaw is that he's got a conscience (sic). And Ole Lucifer is going to make him pay for that, many times over! This movie is sort of a tragedy wrapped in a comedy wrapped in a tragedy. This is one of the three movies (along with "A League of Their Own" and "A Few Good Men") that is on cable TV every four and a half minutes, so there's no need to actually purchase it. But I promise you that if you watch it two or three times, IT WILL MESS WITH YOUR MIND (in a good way). Without a doubt, this is one of the top ten movies of the '90's, and one of those brilliant flicks you probably won't "get" until several years after you view it.
Rating:
Summary: You had me at Renee!
Review: This is a rather profound movie in two respects. First off, it's (basically) a sports movie, but can be described as a chick flick as well. Take a good look around the DVD stores: won't find too many hybrids like that! Secondly, the protaganist is a sports agent, and yet he is actually redeemable. This is extraordinarily remarkable as it's nearly as difficult as making a movie where a loan shark is a hero. Come to think of it, I should say that making a movie where a loan shark is a likeable character is nearly as difficult as making one where a sports agent is a good guy! Nevertheless, they pull it off. Tom Cruise plays an agent whose conscience actually(!) gets the better of him (gasp, sigh!). He begins to think in terms of what's best for his clients instead of merely how he can use them to maximize the size of his wallet. The ultra-adorable Renee Zelwegger plays the one person in the office who stands by him against all the other pernicious sports agents. Cuba Gooding Jr. rounds out the cast as the one athelete who retains the agent after the rest of his life has fallen apart. If you're looking for a feel-good movie, this one is a light-hearted one with a lot of class. If you like both sports movies and romantic comedies, I can't see how you would not enjoy this feature!
Rating: 
Summary: Jerry-rigged?
Review: If only the film had maintained the same level of inventiveness of its opening sequence, this film (or should I say films?)showed promise. Unfortunately, it swiftly becomes a structural nightmare: a romantic comedy nested inside a storyline about a businessman/lawyer who finds his conscience (is that an oxymoron?); a buddy picture (an interracial one, at that!),etc. The talented Mr. Crowe would have done better to remember the admonition of Raymond Chandler: do not mix genres. (Perhaps this is a reason why Chandler's sometime collaborator, Billy Wilder declined to play the small role of sports agent Dicky Fox.)
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing example of bad filmmaking
Review: If anyone wants to learn what you need to do to make a bad movie watch this one. A few examples: 1. Hire Tom Cruise. 2. Hire Cuba Gooding Jr. to play a stereotype (not a character). 3. have a cutesy little kid with glasses as basically "a prop" as another well-informed reviewer noted................ugh! Horrible horrible!
Rating:
Summary: Good comic performances!
Review: A favorite movie of mine, because the story is character-driven and the series of events follow a logical path. The humor embedded in this movie requires some thought, which is really going to leave a lot of people cold. In that respect, most people would rather have the obvious served up to them. Two good examples come to mind: "There's Something about Mary" and "Dumb and Dumber". To it's credit, "Jerry McGuire" doesn't get into that sort of slapstick humor. Like any good story, there's some meaning behind "Jerry McGuire". It was refreshing to see a romantic comedy like this without having to put up with a lot of cross-generational garbage that inevitably gets injected into most films of this type so that the studios and their stockholders can make a quick buck.
Rating:
Summary: This movie STILL sucks
Review: It's even worse now. I was one of the few people that thought 'Singles' was relatively decent, but Cameron Crowe lost all credibility with this sickeningly commercial movie. It's an insult to the history of cinema. Anyone that uses a runt with glasses as a cutesy prop deserves to end their days as a TV hack. This is the most amoral piece of exploitation since . . . Caligula. And further evidence that Cuba Gooding is strictly ham, not an actor.
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