After a sudden realisation of his moral vacuity as a sports agent managing 72 clients, Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) writes a memo to the rest of the company, giving them a few home truths and suggesting a more caring way of working.
He is promptly fired and sets out to make a living on his own, with just mercurial NFL wide receiver Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.) on his books and his only support coming from smitten agency accountant and single mother Dorothy (Renée Zellweger). Jerry gradually rediscovers his soul.
The idea was originally conceived with Tom Hanks in mind. However, director Cameron Crowe spent four years developing the project and by then, in Crowe’s words, “Hanks was no longer a 35-year-old man. By the time he got it, he was almost 40 and had two Academy Awards and wanted to direct.”
After talking around it, the famously affable star turned it down.
The film’s key is Cruise’s charisma and innate likeability. These shine through whether he is verbally sparring with the ebullient Gooding Jr. during the “show me the money” sequence, connecting with precocious five-year-old Jonathan Lipnicki (who plays Dorothy’s cute son Ray), or somehow pulling off the cheesiest dialogue when he tells Zellweger’s Dorothy, “You complete me.”
Jerry Maguire
Tom Cruise Rod Tidwell
Cuba Gooding Jr Dorothy Boyd
Renée Zellweger Avery Bishop
Kelly Preston Frank Cushman
Jerry O’Connell Bob Sugar
Jay Mohr Marcee Tidwell
Regina King Tyson Tidwell
Jeremy Suarez Laurel Boyd
Bonnie Hunt Ray Boyd
Jonathan Lipnicki Chad
Todd Louiso Bill Dooler
Mark Pellington Dicky Fox
Jared Jussim Keith Cushman
Benjamin Kimball Smith Anne-Louise
Ingrid Beer Scully
Jann Wenner Wendy
Nada Despotovich Bobbi Fallon
Alexandra Wentworth Tee Pee
Aries Spears Jan
Kelly Coffield Alice
Alice Crowe
