If you want to take a break from the frigid air of a Montreal winter, go to see Jerry Maguire; it will be sure to warm your heart. If you're like me, you're a little tired of going to see big name stars in overly hyped, big time busts. Combine that with the fact that sports movies are rarely impressive,
(Necessary Roughness?!? The Program?!?) and I have to say that my hopes were not too high for this movie. Let me tell you, I was pleasantly surprised. The title character, played by Tom Cruise, is a sports agent at the top of his business, and at the bottom of humanity. He works for Sports Management
International as a ruthless devil procuring the largest contracts and endorsement deals he can muster, at the expense of personal well-being and old- fashioned love of the game. The movie begins when one night, in a fit of passion, he has a revelation and writes a mission statement about how the business can be altered to include humanity. His plan focuses on reducing the number of clients to produce higher quality relationships with them. He then distributes it to all his colleagues before realizing what a big mistake he made. His boss fires him promptly. Only one client out of his previous 72, Arizona Cardinals wide reciever Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.), remains faithful. Ironically enough, his only concern is money. Only one former colleague, Dorothy Boyd (Renee
Zellweger), joins Jerry when he forms a new company. His memo inspired her. Her five-year-old son, Ray (Jonathan Lipnicki), develops a huge crush on Jerry and is the deciding factor in convincing Jerry to marry Dorothy on impulse after he breaks up with his fiance, Avery (Kelly Preston). The movie tracks the trials of his relationship with Dorothy, and Rod's ascent to stardom. Jerry is not a typical role for Tom Cruise. He's accustomed to playing, and we're used to seeing him in, macho, heroic type roles, (Mission Impossible,
A Few Good Men, Days of Thunder etc. . .). In