MJB SCRIPT REVIEW | JERRY MAGUIRE

“𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿?” | 𝗠𝗝𝗕 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 - 𝗝𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗬 𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗨𝗜𝗥𝗘

That Tom Cruise poster. Renee Zellweger dropping into everyone’s hearts. Jonathan Lipnicki robbing Macauley Caulkins cute kid crown. Cameron Crowe landing squarely in the big time. That’s right, it’s the big swinging 90’s classic; JERRY MAGUIRE

Plot in a nutshell: When a sports agent has a moral epiphany and gets fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent agent. His only supporters; a smitten colleague and his only client, an arrogant footballer.

I remember seeing the poster and thinking “hmmm, this looks like a vanity project.” Nothing about it suggested anything other than smugness. But, I am a huge Tom Cruise fan (as are multi millions of others) and I went to see it anyway.

Dude.

What a film.

But what really caught me was the script. It was just so heartwarming and real and it was trying so hard. Effort was there in spades. So I’m really intrigued to finally take a look at this gem. Let’s hit the field and see what creates a touchdown…

So, what did I learn from JERRY MAGUIRE?

1. Dialogue - You can see the characters as they talk. Literally see them. The dialogue carries all the drama of this piece (as it should), but cleverly performs the double act of wrenching at your heart strings and keeping you on familiar, human turf. We’ve all done conversations like this, or heard people talk like this. Some of the lines are just perfect (“Used to be first class meant a better meal. Now it means a better life”), adding subtext, whilst keeping you utterly involved. You’re hearing a line, but seeing everything around that line.

2. Actors - This is dialogue you hope you get to play one day. You get sent a script, it reads like this and you know you’ve landed. Real, heartfelt and with so much direction woven into the lines. You will find the heart of these characters and be able to plum depths with a knowing grin that you’re gonna be just fine. Keep this script as a reminder of what you should be looking for. Set the bar high. That’s where the great performances come from.

3. Action Directions - Pelt along like a freight train, carrying every inch of the story. Like a bodybuilder in a gym, the action directions do all the heavy lifting here to support the effortlessly playful dialogue. We need to get from A to B to hear more dialogue, so the AD’s take a supporting role, but do it. The story is here (my last couple of reviews have had the stories carried by the dialogue) and you almost feel like the characters dialogue is in response to the action directions. It’s a perfect synergistic relationship between the two.

4. Action Directions 2 - there is a wonderful action direction on p.43; “Much of the talk in this women’s group will be improved by our actresses”. I assume that it is alluding to improvisational work, but I’m still trying to get my head round that one. It’s a bold move to put a line like that in action directions, but if you have faith in your production company and whoever is involved, why not?

5. Story - what this story does right (fans of Save The Cat, prick up your ears) is that it gets into it within the first 10 pages. No mucking about. Clean, clear message. This guy is an asshole and he’s just had a wake up call. He throws a pitch he shouldn’t and the rest of the script is aftermath. Touch of God, inspirational, don’t-think-just-do, once in a lifetime action. Then proverbial turds flying at proverbial cooling system. It writes itself. You imagine doing something revelatory to change the world around you for the better and what would then ensue. It’s normally the reasons that we don’t do something crazy, but what we think would happen if we did. And then how do you survive it? Outrun it? Learn from it? Grow from it? Beat it? Lose to it? Inspirational.

6. Finale - It’s underdog powerhouse time. This is familiar territory, but it’s what the audience wants. The mastery of the writing skill here is the build up to the finale. The finale takes care of itself. To be fair, we get two finales for the price of one (take that every other romcom) with both the boys scoring the dream ending they need and the nervous lovers finally submitting to what they know is right. But we wouldn’t have arrived here without the masterful journey from the previous hundred pages. So that in itself is a major lesson in writing for a finale.

There’s a scene that runs from pages 106 to 111. It’s Jerry doing everything he can to stop Dorothy leaving, but in the wrong way. Not being honest, but trying every trick in the book to make things work superficially. Even going so far as to make a marriage proposal. The writing gets so clever here. You can tell it’s all veneer. You can tell this guy is terrified. And you can tell that Dorothy‘s character is hanging on to what she thinks, what she hopes, is the future. No matter how unsteady it has been for the entirety of the script. And she gives him plenty of opportunities to exit along the way. But he doesn’t. Because he knows what’s here is something more special than he could ever have hoped for. This guy is searching for honesty and this woman has it. In spades. With love to boot.

This script isn’t about being great. It’s about being magical. Telling a love story that really touches you. Creating moments of honesty that we all wish we had in our lives. Just speak plainly and get to love who or what you want to love. Scripts like this are rare. Such incredible writing as this, you’d be a fool not to commit…

Link to the script:

https://thescriptsavant.com/movies/Jerry_Maguire.pdf