Jerry
Maguire: 20th Anniversary Edition
(1996/Sony Blu-ray w/CD)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: B Film: B
Director
Cameron Crowe and Tom Cruise have made two very different films
together. The first obviously being Jerry
Maguire
(1996) and the second being the highly underrated Vanilla
Sky
(2001). For being a sports film, what works in Jerry
Maguire
is the fact that the movie is barely about sports at all and more
about romance. Highly quotable, if this is a rom com that you
haven't gotten around to seeing or haven't seen since the '90s, this
edition will remind you that it is well worth visiting again.
Like
many films by Crowe, the soundtrack is spot on as are the
performances and cinematic style, though this one I feel is one his
strongest aside from Almost
Famous
(2000). Tom Cruise ignites the screen here, as both a character who
is a jerk and as a character who is pretty lovable as well. What
also works is his onscreen chemistry with Renee Zellweger (back when
she looked normal and not like a plastic surgery failure), an Oscar
winning performance by Cuba Gooding Jr., and the adorable young
Jonathan Lipnicki to name a few.
Jerry
Maguire (Cruise) is a dedicated sports agent who is both hardworking
yet reckless. Engaged to a beautiful woman (Kelly Preston) yet
starting to get sick of the politics of the big league stars, he soon
loses his job and his fiance when he writes a mission statement that
was a bit too honest. Desperate to keep his clients, Jerry opens up
his own firm, with only one other employee: Dorothy Boyd (Zellweger)
- who is a single mom with a cute little boy. Ushering his star
football player client (Gooding Jr.) to a new level of fame, Jerry
soon finds himself in love with new friends and a new handle on life.
The
new 4K Restoration of the film is a much cleaner and detailed look at
the film as opposed to previous releases. I remember watching this
back on VHS back in the day, so it's nice to finally see it the way
the filmmakers intended. Presented in 1080p high definition with a
widescreen aspect ratio in 1.85:1, the film also comes with a new
English lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that balances the
excellent soundtrack with the loud roars of the football stadium
scenes with the more intimate ones. There's also a UV digital copy
of the film included.
New
Special Features include:
CD
soundtrack of the film
Jerry
Maguire: We Meet Again
3-Part Retrospective
Nearly
60 Minutes of Deleted & Extended Scenes
Photo
Gallery
Archival
special features include:
Picture-in-Picture
Visual Commentary featuring Tom Cruise, Renee Zellweger, Cuba Gooding
Jr. and Cameron Crowe
Rehearsal
Footage with Commentary
Additional
Deleted Scenes with Commentary
My
First Commercial with Rod Tidwell
Drew
Rosenhaus: How to Be a Sports Agent
Archival
Making-Of Featurette
Music
Video: "Secret
Garden"
by Bruce Springsteen
Theatrical
Trailer
Packed
with great extras and a nice new 4K HD restoration, Jerry
Maguire
has never looked or sounded better than it does here, though an
actual 4K Blu-ray has not yet been announced. This still impresses.
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
