Jerry Maguire (R)
AFI Catalog; IMDb; Rotten Tomatoes; Sony Pictures; TV Tropes; The Uncool; Wikipedia
streaming sites: Amazon; Google Play; iTunes; Movies Anywhere; Vudu; YouTube

This came out in 1996, but I didn't see it until 2020. (Seriously? 1996? I didn't think it was that long ago.) I bought it to watch on Valentine's Day, simply because it was on sale with some other DVDs in Walmart's Valentine's Day section. (For me, the choice of which DVD to get was either this or "Ghost," which I had seen once before. I still need to see it again, but I figured I should probably get this one, since I hadn't seen it before.) What I knew about it was a few famous lines of dialogue, and that Tom Cruise played a sports agent named Jerry Maguire, who had a client played by Cuba Gooding Jr., and a romantic relationship with a woman played by Renée Zellweger. That's pretty much it. I wasn't quite sure if I should put my review in the romantic section (or rom-com), or sports, or drama, but I went with "serio-comedy" because... I guess because Wikipedia called it a "comedy-drama." (Though that was in between "romantic" and "sports film," so it was't that helpful. But ultimately, the thing about this movie, I think, is that it is roughly equal parts about Jerry's romantic relationship with Zellweger's character (Dorothy Boyd); and his professional relationship/friendship with Gooding's character (Rod Tidwell).

The other thing I feel compelled to say, before getting into the plot, is that I didn't finish it the night I started it. I got too tired (and maybe a bit too drunk), so I decided to go to sleep, and finish watching it the next day. But I didn't do that. More than a week went by before I finished it (the last half hour or so, I think) on February 23. Every day I tried to make myself finish it, and every day I failed, because of my anxiety and/or depression, etc. Which was really frustrating. And by the time I did finish it, I didn't remember a lot of details of what I'd watched on Valentine's night, including how much I actually liked it. So I was forced to sort of guesstimate my rating. I think three smileys seems about right, but I'm sure there were moments in the movie that I would have rated with a heart. So, whatever.

Anyway, one day Jerry Maguire decides to write a "mission statement" for how he thinks the agency he works for should operate. (Everyone else calls it a "memo.") Pretty much everyone loves what he wrote, but he ends up getting fired over it, because businesses care more about money than people. (A fact that seems even more timely, watching the movie in 2020.) He kind of makes a scene at the office, asking who will come with him as he strikes out on his own. Only one person does: Dorothy. Then Jerry has to try to get as many of his clients as possible to leave the agency and keep him as their agent. It looks like one star athlete (played by Jerry O'Connell) will do so, but he ends up staying with the agency (apparently encouraged by his father, played by Beau Bridges). Ultimately, Jerry's only client is an up-and-coming football player, Rod Tidwell. And as I said, a friendship develops between them. Meanwhile, romance develops between Jerry and Dorothy. And Jerry is also very fond of Dorothy's young son, Ray (Jonathan Lipnicki). There are some other important characters, including Jerry's former protege, Bob Sugar (Jay Mohr), who was the one that delivered the news Jerry was fired, and now becomes a rival. And there's Rod's wife, Marcee (Regina King). And Dorothy's sister, Laurel (Bonnie Hunt). And... very likely some other characters were more important than I remember them being. I dunno.

So... um... you know, drama happens. Romance happens. Sports stuff happens. And there's a happy ending. I don't know what else to say, except it's a good movie. And someday I hope to watch the whole thing in one night.