Jerry Maguire (1996)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
The story
Jerry Maguire is a slick 35-year-old sports agent working for Sports Management International (SMI). After a confrontation with a player's son triggers an epiphany about the lack of personal connection in his business, Jerry writes a mission statement advocating for more caring relationships with his clients. This decision leads to a fallout with his management, who attempt to fire him. In response, Jerry and his protégé, Bob Sugar, race to contact Jerry's clients to see who will stay. This sets off a series of events where Jerry must decide which clients to keep and how to navigate his professional and personal life as he attempts to build a new agency from the ground up.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After a fallout with his management, Jerry Maguire decides to start his own agency, keeping only a few clients, including the disgruntled Rod Tidwell. He also finds a companion in Dorothy Boyd, a single mother. While Jerry focuses on Rod's career, he faces challenges with his former fiancée, Avery, and eventually begins a relationship with Dorothy. Despite the lack of a large roster, Jerry and Rod grow closer, moving from a professional to a personal bond. Amidst the struggle to secure a contract for Rod, Jerry and Dorothy face a potential separation. However, after a dramatic on-field moment where Rod survives a serious injury and secures a massive contract, Jerry and Dorothy reconcile. The film concludes with Jerry and Dorothy together, and Rod's success confirmed.
- First release year
- 1996
- Runtime (minutes)
- 138
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Cameron Crowe
- Writers
- Cameron Crowe · writer
- Cast and characters
- Tom Cruise · Jerry Maguire; Cuba Gooding Jr. · Rod Tidwell; Renée Zellweger · Dorothy Boyd; Kelly Preston · Avery Bishop; Jerry O'Connell · Frank "Cush" Cushman; Jay Mohr · none; Bonnie Hunt · none; Regina King · Marcee Tidwell
- Genres
- sports; romantic comedy-drama
- Themes
- personal relationships; integrity in business
- Premise and plot tags
- sports agent; romance
- Source material / true-story basis
- Inspired by an experience involving sports agent Leigh Steinberg and a 28-page memo written at Disney in 1991 by Jeffrey Katzenberg.
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews for its performances and screenplay, and it gained a cult following with several catchphrases entering popular culture.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 77 · scale: 100 · review count: 28
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Supporting Actor · win; Academy Award · Best Picture · nomination; Academy Award · Best Actor · nomination; Academy Award · Best Original Screenplay · nomination; Academy Award · Best Film Editing · nomination; Golden Globe Award · Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy · win; Screen Actors Guild Award · Best Supporting Actor · win
- Production trivia
- The film was inspired by a 28-page memo written at Disney in 1991.; The character Rod Tidwell was partially modeled after Charley Taylor.; The film's screenplay was voted the 66th greatest ever written in a poll by the Writers Guild of America in 2006.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…