I still remember the fuss "Jerry Maguire" made when it came out back in '96 and I still remember the first time I saw it and wondered what the big deal was.
I respect Cameron Crowe and I think he has good intentions. "Almost Famous" is a really, really good chronicle of its era. It had interesting characters who I felt for.
"Jerry Maguire" is cold, distant, and frankly, rather boring. Clocking in way past its limit, it's basically about a loser sports agent Maguire (Tom Cruise) who suddenly finds all his friends and co-workers and even family turning against him as he nears middle-age.
The moral is effective - don't let your life be ruled by materialism -- but it's hardly a subtle one. Even Rene Zellweger's character is a huge cliché, being the female love interest who is pure, good-natured, sweet, and represents everything Jerry doesn't have in his life. (His current fiancée in the film is portrayed as a materialistic fraud.) The whole yuppie culture thing is kind of over and "Jerry Maguire" would have worked a lot better during the '80s, a decade Crowe seems more comfortable with (he penned "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" after hanging out at a real high school).
There's something about this film I've just never been able to warm up to.
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