Flick of The Day: Jerry Maguire

Tom Cruise has had a storied career both on and off the screen, playing roles as diverse as a disabled Vietnam vet in Born on the 4th of July, an Irish peasant in Far and Away, lawyers, racing drivers, fighter pilots and secret agents. Up until recently he was untouchable at the box office, delivering consistent profits for everyone. However perhaps his best roles have been those very few where he has pushed himself as an actor such as today's flick of the day, Jerry Maguire, a potent mixture of comedy, romance and the vacuous nature of the corporate world.

Jerry Maguire

Written and directed by Cameron Crowe, a flick of the day favourite with Singles, Say Anything and the great  Almost Famous, this is a tale of a self centred sports agent, Jerry Maguire played by Tom Cruise, who having sold his soul decides to grow a heart with terrible consequences for his career. After writing a preaching memo about the future of his agency in the dead of night, he soon finds himself out of work, single and with a solitary client. This is the egotistical big mouth football star Rod Tidwell played by a career best Cuba Gooding Jr. In an oft parodied scene, he requests Jerry to show him the money. Jerry's only other support is an idealistic single mother Dorothy Boyd played by Renee Zellweger who follows Jerry out of the agency because she believes in him. Jerry has to try and put his life back together while doing the best for Rod and becoming romantically entangled with Dorothy. Along the way he learns how to be a better man then he ever was when on top of the world.

The real selling point for this movie is its heart. Jerry falls hard, his wife leaves him and his friends abandon him and it is only through this callous betrayal that he learns something about himself. It is an unusually nuanced performance from Cruise, giving Maguire a soulful edge. All round the cast is excellent though. Cuba Gooding Jr is as good as he has ever been as the always over the top Tidwell, the kind of irritating whiny professional sportsman we have becomes used to seeing. Zellweger makes the most of her girl next door role as the single mother who goes against her practical nature to help a man she believes in and harbours secret feelings for.

Jerry Maguire: I'm finished, I'm fucked. Twenty-four hours ago, man, I was hot! Now... I'm a cautionary tale. You see this jacket I'm wearing, you like it? Because I don't really need it. Because I'm cloaked in failure! I lost the number one draft picked the night before the draft! Why? Let's recap: Because a hockey player's kid made me feel like a superficial jerk. I ate two slices of bad pizza, went to bed and grew a conscience! 

 Rod Tidwell: Well, boo-fucking-hoo

Crowe's script perfectly juggles the different aspects of its story from the romance between Jerry and Dorothy to the drama of the ups and downs of professional football.

Special mention has to go to young Jonathan Lipnicki as Dorothy's son Ray. He steals almost all of the scenes he is in and there is a real spark to the conversations he has with a lonely Jerry. 

Jerry Maguire: The fuckin zoo is closed, Ray. 

Ray: You said fuck. 

Jerry Maguire: Uh... yeah... I... 

Ray: Don't worry. I won't tell.

As the film moves toward a feel good and heartfelt resolution, we are left with the believe that Jerry has learned to be a better person. After all, his only real crime was to tell the truth and look where it gets him. It's a telling example of how vicious the modern world is for the individual who steps out of the corporate line.

Ultimately, the film was a massive success for all involved giving Cuba Gooding Jr his only Oscar win and yet another nomination for Cruise. A fine film, it takes a different look at the world of professional sports and the lives of the people involved.  The ending is neither trite nor overly sentimental and it makes the best of its constituent parts. I define anyone not to find the final climax compelling viewing.

Flick of The Day: Boyz 'N The Hood

Yesterday we looked at a tale of life in the Irish ganglands, Between The Canals. Today, we look at somewhere much more associated with gang violence and its effects, South Central Los Angeles and director John Singleton's debut film about the trials and tribulations of 3 young black males growing up on the streets of South Central. 

Boyz N the Hood (2-Disc Anniversary Edition)

Groundbreaking on its release in 1991, Boyz N The Hood was one of the first films to document the exploding levels of gang violence in the inner city ghettoes of America in the late '80s and early '90s. Following in the footsteps of Spike Lee's seminal Do The Right Thing, Singleton explores the lives of three young men from when they meet as children in 1984 to adulthood in the early '90s. Tre Styles, played by Cuba Gooding Jr as an adult in a performance that makes you wonder how he ended up making films like Boat Trip and Snow Dogs. We meet him as smart mouth child who can't stay out of trouble and so his mother forces him to move in with his father Furious, the incomparable Laurence Fishburne. Furious is a strong father figure, something lacking in the lives of Tre's two best friends Doughboy and his brother Ricky. This becomes evident early on and sets the tone for the rest of their lives. The film then moves forward 7 years. Doughboy is played by Ice Cube, in a performance of surprising depth. 

It becomes obvious early on that the course of the character's lives are unlikely to change and the message that is drilled home is that the lack of a father figure leads to the kind of dissolution and drug abuse that pervades not just American cities but ghettoes the world over. Tre is a good student headed for College, Ricky is an up and coming football star and Doughboy is a drug dealer and gangster. The film manages to convey what its like to live in South Central with the frequent sound of not too distant gunfire and the constant menace of gang violence. As the friends sit on their stoop and pass the day, they are always watching the passing cars and pedestrians, always on the edge.

If the film suffers from anything it is from too many ideas. It tries to sandwich all the troubles and strife of black inner city life in the early '90s. At one point, Laurence Fishburne discusses at length the problems of gentrification in urban areas. He often seems to be stuck as the character who has to raise all of these issues from racial bias in standardised testing to the perils of teen pregnancy. That said, it doesn't feel too forced and the film overall looks and feels realistic with the dialogue true to life in particular. 

Tre Styles: I get a discount on clothes, and shit. You like? 

Doughboy: Nigga, you look like you selling rocks! 

Chris: Yo, Tre' you be slinging that shit? 

Tre Styles: No, I don't sell that shit! 

Doughboy: You couldn't anyway! Pops will kick yo' ass! You know I'm out the pen. I'm gon' keep my ass out this time.

Overall, this is a fine film, that doesn't lose anything by being issue driven like so many films that come across as overtly preachy.  In Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr and Laurence Fishburne are three excellent performances, that drive the film forward. The message of the film is a good one too, if only people would take it to heart. Well worth a look.