Unfortunately, Crowe’s script tends to be preachy and downslides into a touchy-feely mode that, ironically, detracts from its thematic power. Crowe’s sharp insights into the business side of the sports world, coupled with a truly decent sensibility, team to flesh out a good-hearted story. Jerry and Dorothy soon learn that loyalty is not a trait among Jerry’s spoiled-jock clients, as only a mouthy, second-tier star footballer (Cuba Gooding Jr.) decides to stick with Jerry.Įssentially, Jerry Maguire‘s narrative game plan revolves around Jerry’s struggles to keep his one client and set up an honorable, and yet profitable, business. The only one who sides with him is Dorothy (Renee Zellweger), a staff secretary who quits to work with him. However, unlike talent agencies, whose power-peoples’ behavior can be shaped and softened by in-house psychologists, SMI promptly fires Jerry. Not surprisingly, it’s greeted with the same kind of enthusiasm that any out-of-the-blue personal conversion is regarded. He sees it in the look of a little boy whose hockey-star father has suffered yet another concussion and whom Cruise, with commission signs flashing in his eyes, encourages to get back on the ice as soon as possible.įeverish with insight, Jerry goes home and writes a long memo and drops it in the mailboxes of all his company’s employees. Then one day - klonk - he sees the error of his ways. SMI sports agent Jerry Maguire (Cruise) is not only caught up in this world, he’s been a driving force in shaping it. The athletes are the cash cows, and it’s the agents’ job to milk every last penny out of their short-term sports careers. Louis': THR's 1944 ReviewĪs “plastics” was the defining word in The Graduate, “shoe contracts” says it all in Jerry Maguire, as writer-director Cameron Crowe etches a comprehensive, behind-the-scenes look into the juggernaut jock world where teenage kids become instant millionaires and whose immature whims and excesses drive the lives of all those around him. While it will surely score some big numbers based on Cruise’s star appeal, this smart but decidedly squishy sports-world saga, replete with an old-movie-style love subplot, is likely to have its steadiest fans among women who read Cosmopolitan rather than men who watch ESPN. With Cruise perfectly cast in this penultimate role of wheeler-dealer, Sony should ink a strong opening weekend bonus, but the film’s long-term contract at the box office looks less promising. Tom Cruise gets religion in Jerry Maguire, starring as a slick, big-time sports agent who decides that his high-powered, cutthroat profession needs a more caring and sensitive approach. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review is below: 13, 1996, Cameron Crowe rolled out the 135-minute Tom Cruise-starrer Jerry Maguire, a commercial hit and enduring pop culture staple that grossed more than $270 million in its theatrical run.