Deconstructing Tom Cruise and Rebuilding Him as a Human Being
Added 10/24/2009
At the beginning of "Jerry Maguire," from writer/director Cameron Crowe starring Tom Cruise as the title character, the audience is clued into the fact that they are watching a tear-jerker that has its main character questioning his place in life. Crowe does this by having Jerry, a slick, fast-talking sports agent write a 25-page mission statement criticizing the shallowness and materialism inherent in his profession and distribute it to everyone in his office. Jerry's epiphany is one which he wants to share and broadcast, as if to reclaim his human decency that he surrendered when he became an agent. At the moment when Jerry distributes his own personal tract, Crowe seems to be declaring that the movie will be a Road Less Traveled-kind of exploration of self that finds its protagonist struggling to become the best person he can be; it's as if, having announced his lofty message within the film's first few minutes, he's daring the audience not to cry for the character he has created. Strangely enough, this bold and unorthodox move proves to be, over the next two-and-a-half hours, both the film's saving grace and its biggest vice.
Crowe's canniest and most compelling feat in this film is that he plays off of the audience's consciousness of Cruise's previous roles and screen personas without playing into them by deconstructing him right before our eyes. Jerry's ersatz declaration of principles earns the admiration of his co-workers for a few brief moments before they dismiss the act as a foolishly brave wake-up call to himself in a business where it is necessary to enter the fever-dream world of consumerism as one of the febrile sleepwalkers if one wishes to succeed. As a result, he loses his job and the majority of his clients in humiliating fashion.
Trying to keep his newfound integrity intact while scraping for his dignity, Jerry desperately searches for as many pillars of stability as he can find. He musters a respectable amount through his relationships with his hopelessly smitten, single-mother secretary, Dorothy Boyd, (played with doe-eyed sadness by Renee Zellweger) and Rod Tidwell, an arrogant wide receiver (a splendidly scene-stealing Cuba Gooding, Jr.) who proves to be Jerry's only loyal client. He clings to them for moral support, while still trying to act like the smooth character he was not so long ago; he becomes alternately self-absorbed and self-pitying. Most of the time, when Jerry goes overboard with his spells of introspection, someone, usually Rod, says something to snap him out of them, and it is usually a fairly necessary reality check. Crowe manages to let Jerry voice his indignation quite frequently while making sure that the audience doesn't roll their eyes too much at his lamentations because someone onscreen usually does it for them.
Crowe's quirky knack for romantic comedies illustrated in earlier efforts, such as "Say Anything..." and "Singles," is on display here as well. The relationship between Jerry and Dorothy pans out to be a tragi-comedy of errors that finds each of them leaning on the other for support. The two lovers, like those of his earlier films, are people with big hopes and dreams for true love compromised by the harsh realities of their everyday lives. They are people who, at a glance, seem as though they will succumb to the Capra-esque, devil-may-care whims when given the right chance. Unlike other filmmakers, who follow the all-too-familiar machinations of saccharine-sweet Hollywood romanticism, Crowe lets them have their moments of joy and love, only to bring them crashing back down to earth to struggle with the same dilemmas that ordinary people face in relationships. He shows us the pregnant silences and the awkward moments that the characters would do anything to change if they could. Crowe's dialogue and direction for moments such as these are remarkably incisive. Thankfully, "Jerry Maguire" has its share of them, proving that this gift is as intact as ever.
Undoubtedly, after watching Jerry Maguire, some viewers who accepted Crowe's dare not to cry will walk away with their cynical attitudes unchanged. Indeed, there are moments when the drama becomes a little too touchy-feely and the film veers into the clichés of the average romantic comedy. But, for every moment that it spends pulling at the wrong heart-strings, "Jerry Maguire" has a few that pull at the right ones. It was also Cruise's best role since his underrated turn in "Rain Man." He steps up to the challenge of lampooning his screen persona and attempting to show his soul quite nicely. If nothing else, "Jerry Maguire" should be remembered as the first (but hopefully not the only) film in which he showed that there was a human being lurking behind that priceless smile and enticingly narcissistic swagger.
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This is a Classic Movie
Added 10/22/2009
Jerry Maguire is a classic movie not only because of classic lines like "show me the money" or "you had me at hello." It is a classic because it has an inspiring message for everyone competing in the rat race. While Cruise was nominated for best actor and the film was nominated for best picture, Cuba Gooding Jr. fittingly won the Oscar for best supporting actor. He played pro football player Rod Tidwell, who like Jerry Maguire, his agent, is a cocky competitor. This attitude gets in the way of him playing with his heart and being the authentic person he was meant to be in his vocation. In Tidwell's case, it's football. For Maguire, it's being a sports agent. In your vocation, are you being authentically yourself, competing with a set of principles that guard your heart? Or, is it all "show me the money"? Has your lack of principles and drive to win caused you cut corners such that your conscience has been seared? In other words, has the rat race made you a rat? Jerry made the soul searching leap of faith that turned his life around and upside down. As a result, he was rejected, embarrassed, and defeated by his "closest" friends. But in the process, he discovered two new real friends (Dorothy Boyd, his assistant, played by Renee Zelwigger, and Tidwell). Together they made it to freedom. What a great flick!!!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Jerry McGuire
Added 6/13/2009
the person who sent this emailed me when it went out. Thnaks so much great copy
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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"Old Tucson" vs. "New Tucson"
Added 5/13/2009
This seems to be yet again another example of Hollywood's affinity for the way we do things out here.
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a good movie
Added 2/14/2009
A good Tom Cruise movie before he got so weird and became the "superstar" celebrity of Scientology. DVD quality is much better on blu-ray than on the pervious DVD versions.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Deconstructing Tom Cruise and Rebuilding Him as a Human Being
Added 10/24/2009
At the beginning of "Jerry Maguire," from writer/director Cameron Crowe starring Tom Cruise as the title character, the audience is clued into the fact that they are watching a tear-jerker that has its main character questioning his place in life. Crowe does this by having Jerry, a slick, fast-talking sports agent write a 25-page mission statement criticizing the shallowness and materialism inherent in his profession and distribute it to everyone in his office. Jerry's epiphany is one which he wants to share and broadcast, as if to reclaim his human decency that he surrendered when he became an agent. At the moment when Jerry distributes his own personal tract, Crowe seems to be declaring that the movie will be a Road Less Traveled-kind of exploration of self that finds its protagonist struggling to become the best person he can be; it's as if, having announced his lofty message within the film's first few minutes, he's daring the audience not to cry for the character he has created. Strangely enough, this bold and unorthodox move proves to be, over the next two-and-a-half hours, both the film's saving grace and its biggest vice.
Crowe's canniest and most compelling feat in this film is that he plays off of the audience's consciousness of Cruise's previous roles and screen personas without playing into them by deconstructing him right before our eyes. Jerry's ersatz declaration of principles earns the admiration of his co-workers for a few brief moments before they dismiss the act as a foolishly brave wake-up call to himself in a business where it is necessary to enter the fever-dream world of consumerism as one of the febrile sleepwalkers if one wishes to succeed. As a result, he loses his job and the majority of his clients in humiliating fashion.
Trying to keep his newfound integrity intact while scraping for his dignity, Jerry desperately searches for as many pillars of stability as he can find. He musters a respectable amount through his relationships with his hopelessly smitten, single-mother secretary, Dorothy Boyd, (played with doe-eyed sadness by Renee Zellweger) and Rod Tidwell, an arrogant wide receiver (a splendidly scene-stealing Cuba Gooding, Jr.) who proves to be Jerry's only loyal client. He clings to them for moral support, while still trying to act like the smooth character he was not so long ago; he becomes alternately self-absorbed and self-pitying. Most of the time, when Jerry goes overboard with his spells of introspection, someone, usually Rod, says something to snap him out of them, and it is usually a fairly necessary reality check. Crowe manages to let Jerry voice his indignation quite frequently while making sure that the audience doesn't roll their eyes too much at his lamentations because someone onscreen usually does it for them.
Crowe's quirky knack for romantic comedies illustrated in earlier efforts, such as "Say Anything..." and "Singles," is on display here as well. The relationship between Jerry and Dorothy pans out to be a tragi-comedy of errors that finds each of them leaning on the other for support. The two lovers, like those of his earlier films, are people with big hopes and dreams for true love compromised by the harsh realities of their everyday lives. They are people who, at a glance, seem as though they will succumb to the Capra-esque, devil-may-care whims when given the right chance. Unlike other filmmakers, who follow the all-too-familiar machinations of saccharine-sweet Hollywood romanticism, Crowe lets them have their moments of joy and love, only to bring them crashing back down to earth to struggle with the same dilemmas that ordinary people face in relationships. He shows us the pregnant silences and the awkward moments that the characters would do anything to change if they could. Crowe's dialogue and direction for moments such as these are remarkably incisive. Thankfully, "Jerry Maguire" has its share of them, proving that this gift is as intact as ever.
Undoubtedly, after watching Jerry Maguire, some viewers who accepted Crowe's dare not to cry will walk away with their cynical attitudes unchanged. Indeed, there are moments when the drama becomes a little too touchy-feely and the film veers into the clichés of the average romantic comedy. But, for every moment that it spends pulling at the wrong heart-strings, "Jerry Maguire" has a few that pull at the right ones. It was also Cruise's best role since his underrated turn in "Rain Man." He steps up to the challenge of lampooning his screen persona and attempting to show his soul quite nicely. If nothing else, "Jerry Maguire" should be remembered as the first (but hopefully not the only) film in which he showed that there was a human being lurking behind that priceless smile and enticingly narcissistic swagger.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
This is a Classic Movie
Added 10/22/2009
Jerry Maguire is a classic movie not only because of classic lines like "show me the money" or "you had me at hello." It is a classic because it has an inspiring message for everyone competing in the rat race. While Cruise was nominated for best actor and the film was nominated for best picture, Cuba Gooding Jr. fittingly won the Oscar for best supporting actor. He played pro football player Rod Tidwell, who like Jerry Maguire, his agent, is a cocky competitor. This attitude gets in the way of him playing with his heart and being the authentic person he was meant to be in his vocation. In Tidwell's case, it's football. For Maguire, it's being a sports agent. In your vocation, are you being authentically yourself, competing with a set of principles that guard your heart? Or, is it all "show me the money"? Has your lack of principles and drive to win caused you cut corners such that your conscience has been seared? In other words, has the rat race made you a rat? Jerry made the soul searching leap of faith that turned his life around and upside down. As a result, he was rejected, embarrassed, and defeated by his "closest" friends. But in the process, he discovered two new real friends (Dorothy Boyd, his assistant, played by Renee Zelwigger, and Tidwell). Together they made it to freedom. What a great flick!!!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Jerry McGuire
Added 6/13/2009
the person who sent this emailed me when it went out. Thnaks so much great copy
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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