I'm not letting YOU get rid of me...how bout that?

Sorry fans that it's been so long. Things just weren't clicking in the idea department. Then it all became clear over the weekend. I was sitting there on Sunday, when one of, if not the greatest sports movie of all-time, came on.


JERRY MAGUIRE

Sure you may argue, Field of Dreams, Miracle, Hoosiers, are better, but to me, this was the essential Tom Cruise movie. It was his turning point of going from serious leading man to clinically insane movie star.

The movie features a great soundtrack, bolstered by the hits "Free Fallin" by Tom Petty and "Secret Garden" by the Boss, Bruce Springsteen.

Cruise plays the part of Superagent-gone bust Jerry Maguire. He evolves from being a superficial person; managing multiple clients, taking advantage of GMs, and dating Kelly Preston (severely underrated in the hotness department) to someone on the verge of insanity. After losing the #1 Draft Pick on the day of the draft, he is then dumped by his fiance (Preston), writes a Mission Statement, and proceeds to quit his job as well. Maguire decides to manage one client (Rod Tidwell) and begins to date his secretary (Renee Zellwigger), who has that homely look going for her. She supposedly is playing someone who is 26, but looks more like 46.

Cuba Gooding Jr. was definitely a one-hit wonder in this film, portraying the superstar wide-receiver Rod Tidwell. One of the biggest laughs for me is when he finally gets rewarded a deal of $11.2 Million over 4 years. Really?? A star receiver only gets $2.8 million/year? Can you even name one film Cuba was in after this? He won an Oscar for this performance and then lived off his fame from this film for the rest of his life.

I've seen the film probably about 30 times, since two of my old roommates would play the movie constantly, and what's not to love about it? It's alot like Shawshank Redemption in that you automatically get caught up in it, not matter how many times you've seen it.

Both the monologues and lines in the movie are classic:

"You had me at hello"
"Show me the money!!"
"You complete me"
"It's not a memo, it's a mission statement"

and my personal favorite...

"I don't like BLACK people??? I AM Mr. Black People"

It's a movie both men and women can enjoy, which is very difficult to achieve considering it essentially is a sports/romantic film.

What's even more impressive is that Tom Cruise pulls off the character so well, you almost forget he's Tom Cruise. And that my friends is no small task.