Movie: Jerry Maguire

[amedia]

Amazon Unbox offered Jerry Maguire for free, so we downloaded it a few days ago and watched it last night. We'd never seen it, and I knew it was the source of a couple of famous quotations ("Show me the money" and "You had me from hello"), so we kinda shrugged and said, "Well, it's free, why not?"

I learned a lot from this movie. Renee Zellweger is a better actress than Tom Cruise is an actor, and so are Bonnie Hunt and Kelly Preston. Cuba Gooding, Jr. can act CIRCLES around Tom Cruise. The little boy who played Renee Zellweger's son and the little boy who played Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s son are both better actors than Tom Cruise. TROY AIKMAN (the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys at the time) is a better actor than Tom Cruise.

Cuba Gooding, Jr. really brought life to this movie. When he was onscreen, it lit up. When he wasn't... well, Bonnie Hunt, who played the heroine's sister, had some excellent moments. The scene where Tom Cruise's fiancee (Kelly Preston) breaks up with him is notable for her fire and passion (not to mention his blankness). Regina King, who played Cuba Gooding's wife, was so good you almost didn't notice how good she was - she went from bitchy and abrasive to strong and sympathetic so subtly that I found myself rooting for her before I realized it.

The movie had an excellent soundtrack, including Bob Dylan's "Shelter from the Storm" over the closing credits.