Jerry Maguire

Details At A Glance

General
Extras
Category Drama Theatrical Trailer(s) No
Rating Other Trailer(s) 1
Running Time 133 minutes Commentary Tracks None
RSDL/Flipper No/No Other Extras None
Region 4    
Distributor Columbia Tristar    
RRP $34.95    

 
Video
Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame No MPEG 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Dolby Digital 5.1
16x9 Enhancement
Soundtrack Languages English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
English (MPEG 5.1)
English (MPEG 2.0 surround-encoded)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio 1.85:1    
Macrovision Yes    
Subtitles English 
Cantonese
Italian
Greek
Hebrew
Polish
Czech
Hungarian
   

Plot Synopsis

    Jerry Maguire tells the story of Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise), a sports agent who has a moment of truth after one of his clients, a hockey player, has his fourth concussion of the season and the hockey player's son abuses Jerry. Jerry reacts by producing a mission statement where he concludes that more personal attention is needed and less emphasis on the money - "Fewer clients. Less money." He distributes this to all of his work colleagues.

    Consequentially, Jerry is sacked, and the race is on to keep his clients. He retains one client, Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding, Jr). He leaves his office with Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger), a secretary and single mother, who read Jerry's mission statement and was inspired by it.

    Jerry now chases after his most desirable client, Tom Kaufmann, who is just about to break into the big time via the NFL draft system. Tom's father agrees to continue to have Jerry represent him, and shakes on it.

    Next, we go to the NFL draft, where Tom Kaufmann is pinched from under Jerry's nose by his arch-rival Bob Sugar (note the initials). Jerry's girlfriend (Kelly Preston) leaves him as a result of this.

    Dejected, Jerry goes to Dorothy's house and the first inkling of a relationship appears. Jerry also has a heart-to-heart with Dorothy's son, Ray Boyd (Jonathan Lipnicki). Before we continue with the plot, I have to comment on Jonathan Lipnicki. He is the most natural and cutest boy I have ever seen in any movie. He effortlessly steals every single scene that he is in, and always looks totally natural and unpretentious doing so. Jerry and Dorothy gradually develop a relationship which culminates in them sleeping together.

    Simultaneously with this, Jerry is negotiating with the Arizona Cardinals on Rod Tidwell's behalf, but the initial offer is very very low. Dorothy decides to go to San Diego where a job is available for her. Jerry cannot bear to let her go, so he proposes to her, she accepts and they get married. Promptly after they get married, Jerry begins spending a lot of time on the road with Rod Tidwell (he is "great at friendship, bad at intimacy"), and Dorothy finds herself alone again. She is unhappy about this, and offers Jerry a divorce.

    We then reach the climax of the movie, which is the final match of the season between the Arizona Cardinals (whom Rod plays for) and the Dallas Cowboys (who Tom Kaufmann plays for). Rod distinguishes himself, and as a result of this, Jerry sees the light and returns to Dorothy and they live happily ever after.

Transfer Quality

Video

    This is a very good DVD transfer. It is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, 16x9 enhanced.

    Shadow detail, especially early on in the movie is a little lacking. I also thought there was a little too much edge enhancement used at times. Other than these minor quibbles, the movie was razor sharp throughout.

    The colour is bright and clear throughout, though occasionally I felt that scenes were a little oversaturated.

    No MPEG artefacts were seen.  I only saw one minor print artefact.

Audio

    There are several audio tracks on this DVD. The default audio is MPEG 2.0 channel, surround encoded. Also present are a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack (which I listened to) and an MPEG 5.1 soundtrack, all in English.

    Dialogue was always clear and completely intelligible, and never drowned out by the music.

    The music was very enjoyable, and suited the movie perfectly. In fact, I enjoyed the music so much that after I had seen this movie for the first time, I went out and bought the soundtrack, which I hated when I listened to it. The second time I watched the movie, I once again loved the music, so I conclude that the music and the picture complement each other perfectly.

    The surround channels were often used for music and atmosphere, with activity during most of the movie. Occasional sound effects were also present in the rear channels. The surround audio was extremely effective in pulling you into the on-screen story. The .1 channel did not get much of a workout except to support the music.

Extras

    There are no extras on this disc except for the standard Columbia Tristar teaser trailer.

Summary

    I enjoyed Jerry Maguire. The story is basically entertaining, and quite funny at times, and a little bit romantic, though I can't say that there was a great deal of chemistry between Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger. The supporting cast, particularly Jonathan Lipnicki, Cuba Gooding, Jr and Bonnie Hunt (Dorothy's cynical sister), do an excellent job with their parts.

    The video quality is very good, up there with the best of the Columbia Tristar releases, and the audio quality and use of surrounds is excellent for a non-special effects movie.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras nil
Plot
Overall

Michael Demtschyna
17th September 1998

Review Equipment
DVD Pioneer DV-505, using S-Video output
Display Loewe Art-95 95cm direct view CRT in 16:9 mode, via the S-Video input. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials.
Audio Decoder Denon AVD-2000 Dolby Digital AddOn Decoder, used as a standalone processor. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials.
Amplification 2 x EA Playmaster 100W per channel stereo amplifiers for Left, Right, Left Rear and Right Rear; Philips 360 50W per channel stereo amplifier for Centre and Subwoofer
Speakers Philips S2000 speakers for Left, Right; Polk Audio CS-100 Centre Speaker; Apex AS-123 speakers for Left Rear and Right Rear; Yamaha B100-115SE subwoofer