Almost There: Renée Zellweger in "Jerry Maguire"
Wednesday, March 11, 2020 at 10:30AM 
Throughout Oscar history, 15 films have conquered nominations in all acting categories. 1936's My Man Godfrey was the first and David O. Russell's American Hustle is the most recent example. Many didn't deserve such honors, their bountiful Oscar haul being mostly a matter of awards buzz rather than undeniable excellence. That said, there are also movies that got tangentially close to this feat and deserved it but didn't get it. Upon rewatching Jerry Maguire (currently streaming on Netflix), I was surprised to realize Cameron Crowe's seminal comedy was one of those productions which deserved to enter that exclusive club of Oscar champions…
Unfortunately, only the men of Jerry Maguire managed to get some attention from the Academy. Tom Cruise got his second nomination for Best Actor (which he should have won), while Cuba Gooding Jr. was victorious in the Best Supporting Actor race. Left behind were Renée Zellweger and Regina King, whose performances added humor and necessary pathos to this delightful comedy full of memorable catchphrases like "Show me the money". Both women would go on to become Oscar champions, but their lack of acclaim for this film still stings.
King, in particular, was completely ignored during the season. Part of the trouble stemmed from some major cases of category fraud. Looking at the Best Supporting Actress line-up, we find two leading ladies in Juliette Binoche and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. The actresses of The English Patient and Secrets & Lies were put in the supporting category mostly to avoid internal competition from their costars. Seeing as Kristin Scott Thomas and Brenda Blethyn were nominated for Best Actress, it's easy to understand the studios' fraudulent strategy - it worked.
Speaking of category fraud and internal competition, Regina King's lack of buzz can also be attributed to the categorization of Renée Zellweger's performance in the same movie. While she's an arguable lead next to Tom Cruise, Zellweger was campaigned as supporting and even nabbed herself a SAG nomination in that category. If she was Oscar-nominated, she'd likely be in supporting, killing any dreams of Jerry Maguire belonging to the list of films with nominations in all acting categories. Still, one can dream and Jerry Maguire is one of those films that make us dream, lose ourselves in romantic follies and believe anything is possible.
It's a delightful piece of terminally charming cinema, capable of melting even the most cynical of hearts. It does this through a cocktail of incoherent morality, lofty themes and tonal registers which somehow work together when all's said and done. Cameron Crowe got much praise for this, but the actors deserve even more applause. They're pitch-perfect and, as the title of this article suggests, Renée Zellweger is especially brilliant. She's the first among equals and, since she was closer to the nom than Regina King, she's the one we're celebrating today.
The first time we see Renée as Dorothy Boyd, she's little more than a background extra, watching on as Jerry Maguire burns his career as a sports agent to the ground with the publication of an inflammatorily sincere mission statement. She works at the same office as him and, when he leaves to start his own agency, she's the only one that follows. There's a hint of romantic attraction going on, but Zellweger makes it clear that most of all, Dorothy is inspired by her new boss. They have great chemistry together, first as friends and later as the perfect couple. Whether flirting or sharing a domestic moment in bed, we love to watch them.
Zellweger is equally great when sharing scenes with her on-screen son and protective older sister. In just a few dialogues, the actress suggests an entire life lived outside the margins of the narrative, hinting at a painful past with the tiniest hint of sadness in her eyes. It helps that she gives the most naturalistic performance in the movie. Cameron Crowe's camera understandably loves to gaze at Renée Zellweger's expressive face, allowing her silent reactions to add shades of meaning to comedic scenes. There's a moment when she's watching a wedding video that's utterly devastating thanks to Zellweger's modulation of tone, keeping things light while painting Dorothy as a complex person with a troubling interiority. She makes sweet Hollywood humor have a sharp edge of reality.
Her last two big scenes, a break-up and a tearful reunion are incredible showcases for this singular mastery of tone. Recalling an earlier scene when Jerry appeared drunk at her house, Dorothy is awkward but loveable, her honesty shining through each one of her lines and pleading looks. However, while the first scene made us giggle, this one is like a gut punch, all the more affecting because of Zellweger's resolute refusal to make a melodrama out of the heartbreak. And then there's the iconic climax and that unforgettable line "You had me at hello", which miraculously feels more real than schmaltzy. That's the Oscar clip right there and a wonderful clip it is.
Renée Zellweger may have won her little golden men with showy bits of transformative acting, but she's also amazing here, keeping things simple and tonally weird. In Jerry Maguire, she's the platonic ideal of a rom-com heroine, making a silver screen love affair seem both relatable and spectacular, making humor born out of aching humanity and a desperate desire for simple happiness. Honestly, she had us at hello.
Reader Comments (38)
LOVE her in this. So many wonderful performances that it's hard to hate her being a two-time winner, despite winning for the wrong performances.
Loved this article, it was criminally how Zellweger and King were ignored. Out of curiosity, which of the 15 did you not think were deserving the acting noms
I will never understand how she couldn't even get nominations for two of her three best performances (Jerry Maguire, Nurse Betty), while she gets two Oscars for probably the two worst Oscar nominated performances of the last 20 years.
she made a part that could have just been a bland blonde gal into something so endearing and special! She is the best!
I liked Zellweger in this a lot. She did a very fine job.
Ben -- it is a really strange thing about her Oscar history. I feel sometimes like Amy Adams is in a similar boat. no nomination for ARRIVAL or ENCHANTED and other times she sails to a nomination with ease while doing nothing special at all (DOUBT / THE MASTER / VICE)
Claudio -great write up. i love her in this movie, too.
Marianne Jean-Baptiste definitely was fraud. Binoche? That's a stretch and a half. She's the main character, of the ones who ONLY appear in the frame story of The English Patient, but 1. That frame story is around 20% of the movie and 2. Even that frame story is still mostly not about her character. It's still primarily about Fiennes.
I miss Bonnie Hunt.
Z -- Of the 15, I don't think Mrs. Miniver, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Johnny Belinda, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Coming Home, Silver Linings Playbook or American Hustle deserved the 4 nominations. In all those films, there's at least one nod that seems rather unjustifiable to me. It's a matter of personal taste and subjective performance appreciation, of course. On the opposite end of this matter, I think A Streetcar Named Desire, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Network are the most deserving movies in this particular club of Oscar champions.
NATHANIEL R -- Thank you.
Volvagia -- Technically speaking, Juliette Binoche and Kristin Scott Thomas have similar screen times, both in the 40+ minute camp. If Thomas is considered a lead, I think Binoche has to be too, both because of screen time and narrative structure. Still, it's certainly a more debatable than Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who I'd actually nominate over Blethyn in the lead actress category.
In any case, I appreciate all the feedback. Thank you so much.
I think Renee Zellweger is great here. I still think King is best in show between both actresses, but Zellweger's layered naturalism is terrific.
Amy Adams was terrific in The Master. Far better than the hammy and cringeworthy Anne Hathaway in that terrible Les Mis movie.
Marianne Jean-Baptiste is a supporting player in Secrets and Lies. What are you talking about? Her character just projects Brenda Blethyn's personal drama. She is what we call in theatre terms "a ladder character".
And to say that Tom Cruise should have won the Oscar over Geoffrey Rush in Shine... Well, sounds just like ageism to my ears. Should Cruise win just because he is pretty?
You guys are losing touch with reality.
Jerry Maguire, next to Little Miss Sunshine, are the two films people seem to love but I just don't get at all. I even prefer Silver Linning Playbook than them.
These 'Almost there' pieces are wonderfully written and are easily becoming my favourite posts in this site (with the Marion Cotillard one being my favourite favourite!). I assume this series is restricted to actresses, but I would love to see one piece talking about both the Rupert Everett and Julia Roberts snubs for 'My best friend's wedding'. It still stings to me.
Regarding 'Jerry Maguire', I do not know how close were both Zellweger or King to an actual nomination, but I agree with those saying that Zellweger should have been nominated for this and for 'Nurse Betty'. She was probably much closer to nail one of the slots for the last one.
Mariza -- To me, Secrets & Lies is a narrative shaped by Marianne Jean-Baptiste's characters search for her birth mother in the aftermath of her adoptive mom's death. Her character arc defines the structure of the film more than the other characters who mostly react to the chaos she brings upon their lives. Even considering screentime, Blethyn and Jean-Baptiste are both in roughly 43% of the film. Again, if you consider Blethyn lead, I don't understand how Jean-Baptiste can be considered supporting.
I don't think Tom Cruise should have won because he's pretty, but because he gave the best performance out of the five nominees. Sure, Rush's role is much more challenging than Jerry Maguire, and showier too. However, I think Rush approaches the role in a rather superficial manner, falling victim to his film's shallowness and lack of curiosity about its lead's interior life. I'm saddened that you think this is ageism on my part. If it came off that way, I apologize. That said, I won't say Rush deserved the award just because he's older than Cruise.
I'd like to think I'm not losing touch with reality, just the same. Thanks for the feedback.
bonobo -- Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you like this series. Also, Almost There is not exclusively about actresses, even though my latest choices might have suggested differently. Next week, I'll write about a male actor in a Best Picture-winning to change it up a bit.
Maybe you need to do a quick reading of "Mike on Mike". There you'll find Leigh's take on Marianne Jean-Baptiste character. You fail to recognize what role is the more meaningful for dramatic purposes. It's just like saying that the main character in The Glass Menagerie is Tom Wingfield and not Amanda Wingfield. Tom is more in the play than his mother - but the character of the mother is where the drama relies on. You watch the play to see Amanda.
About Tom Cruise x Geoffrey Rush... Just watch the career of those two men, in the screen and in the stage, and then decide for yourself who could be the superficial one.
Mariza -- I think plays and films can have more than one lead role and The Glass Menagerie is a good example of that. We obviously have different definitions of what constitutes a leading character and different manners of seeing Secrets & Lies (thanks for the recommendation of "Mike on Mike", by the way - I'll look for it and try to read it, sounds fascinating). In any case, I appreciate your smart argumentation and great references. Thank you.
Regarding Cruise vs Rush, I was talking about their individual performances from the 1996 Best Actor line-up, not their careers as a whole. If you loved Rush's performance in Shine, I'm glad you got more out of it than I did.
As always, thanks for the feedback.
For me it's one of those Star is Born moments,were you sit there and see this actress going on to be a bigger star..
No with the heat of a thousand suns. Renee is always Renee, and I don't know why she has won the Oscar twice.
I remember when I watched the movie I thought: "What a gorgeous woman" because i prefer "athypical" beauties instead of prototypical ones.
Is such a shame how many actresses succumbs to the exigencies to fill in a beauty standard and doing modifications with their bodies and specially their faces because that changes can afect their work. But in general i'm not partidary of cosmetic surgery for vanity purposes.
But lefting aside my issues with beauty, Zellweger is charming and lovely in this. I don't perceive her character as lead but wihtout a doubt the role is crucial for the story and her facial expressions are tender.
Claudio, excellent article as always!
Renee is magnificent here, and she didn't get an Oscar nomination, but she was so charismatic and refreshing and exciting that Jerry Maguire launched her entire career, and I've gotten so much deep joy from so many of her performances since (absolutely including JUDY). Sometimes it's better to not get a nomination, which can be a dead end.
Tom Cruise absolutely should have won Best Actor for the movie. He's infinitely better than Geoffrey Rush, a talented actor who I would argue is borderline bad in Shine.
I think Juliette Binoche is also one of the most deserving supporting Oscars ever. Being in 40 minutes of a 162-minute film seems supporting to me...and moreover, her work in that movie is inspired and divine. She goes from being a ghost to a full-blooded human right before our eyes, and her ability to effectively withhold is in full, glorious force. Sublime acting!
Claudio, I love your choices on fully-deserving and not-as-deserving all-category nominees. I agree one hundred with you.
How do you calculate screentime? Is there a source for this kind of info? I am curious about it because I saw Secrets and Lies again a few times ago and I remember Brenda being in much more of the film than Marianne.
cal roth -- For Academy Award-nominated performances, Matthew Stewart's Screen Time Central is a wonderful resource. He has timed nearly all of the nominees, from 1927 to 2019. Here's the link: https://www.screentimecentral.com/
According to his count, Blethyn only has 38 seconds of screentime more than Marianne Jean-Baptiste. Duration-wise, she's the fifth-longest performance of all time to be nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category.
Of course, screen time isn't everything, but it sometimes helps to have an objective element to judge rather than narrative relevance, which can be a tricky affair varying from viewer to viewer.
This performance was....... ok.
I liked Regina King better, although understandably it’s a much small part.
you lost me at "which he should have won"
Just your daily (sporadic) reminder that Renée Zellweger is a two-time Academy Award winning Actress.
Thanks for this - I definitely will rewatch now ! I wasn't a big fan of the movie in that particular Oscar season back then, as I had/have a bit of a problem with Cruise ...feeling he is always so overambitious and never *real* - but I love to give it a try after this fine review ! One of the most interesting things for me with movies is lately how my perception changes over the years ...
Renee has such a weird idiosyncratic endearing charisma, that when it's used in the right way (Nurse Betty, Chicago, Bridget Jones, Down With Love, Empire Records) you can't take your eyes off her. But when it's overkill (errrrr.... Cold Mountain) it's unbearable.
Everything about her is gorgeous in Jerry Maguire, she lifts the character out of Cameron Crowe's usual 'manic pixie dream girl' troupe, and makes it look easy.
Shout out to Bonnie Hunt in this movie who does a lot with a little.
Best episode oh Horror Actressing ever
I would have nominated Bonnie Hunt over Regina King in Best Supporting Actress. And Zellweger would have been on my Lead Actress ballot. Remember though how brutally competitive Best Actress was in 1996.
Great article!
My first thought is how often I forget how prevalent the lack of dual leading role nominations has been since Thelma & Louise. The noise from the Rooney Mara/Alicia Vikander year was louder, but, in hindsight, its effect in other years is also pretty strong.
My second thought is nostalgia for those early SAG Awards years when film categories had a majority of nominees not get Oscar nominations. Zellweger received a well-deserved nomination, along with Marisa Tomei for Unhook the Stars and Gwen Verdon for Marvin's Room.
But, generally, Jerry Maguire was sadly overlooked by a lot of awards bodies during the year of "Sundance by the Sea." I definitely think it should have also received a SAG ensemble nomination for its talented and well-used ensemble, right down to those who likely wouldn't have been part of the category, including very 90s performers Aries Spears, Ali Wentworth, My So-Called Life creator Winnie Holzman, and Phenom's Angela Goethals as another tennis player. It's really a beautiful time capsule of that time.
And I still think that the screenplay was robbed of the Oscar win. At least Cameron Crowe managed to get what I consider a consolation prize 4 years later for Almost Famous before he apparently tanked his film career with Aloha.
I'm so grateful that JUDY has reminded so many people of Renee's great early work. I loved her in JERRY MAGUIRE and wish she had been able to sneak in; the Oscar nomination would have aged very , very well.
Speaking of '90s Renee: I always preferred her to Meryl in ONE TRUE THING. She gave that (admittedly schmaltzy) movie so much more depth and weight than other actresses could have in that role.
I am prepared to be descended upon with daggers, but I am totally allergic to this movie. Violently so. Even my beloved Regina King annoys me in this cringe-fest. The most insufferably cute dialogue of all time. It killed me at hello. Sigh.
Claudio-thanks for pointing out the website screen time central.
As expected, for Mahershala Ali/Green Book has the record at an hour and six minutes for his ‘Supporting’ role. His blatant category fraud gets radio silence/crickets...
For me, the question isn't amount of screen time, as it is impact. I know that's very vague, but for me whether a performer should be considered "Lead" or "Supporting" has more to do with whether I feel the film was centered on them or not. I know that means arguing about intangibles, but that's my take.
Oh, NURSE BETTY. I wonder if the movie was just so tonally strange (I walked out during the scalping scene, went back in when it was over) and technically a comedy, that the Academy couldnt embrace it. They’ve never nominated Neil LaBute, have they?)
This is one of those movies that I definitely loved the more times I watched it, after finding it merely pleasant the first time. Its sincerity is its strength, and Renee Zellweger really was a fantastic embodiment of that quality.
I remember a college friend of mine falling madly in love with her after this movie - I don't blame him. I kind of did, too.
And yes, Regina King was aces, too.