We admit it – we didn’t think too much of Jerry and Dorothy’s chances in the beginning. We were with Dorothy’s disapproving sister Laurel on this one: Jerry Maguire is a slick good-looking salesman that would be just as happy with a gardening tool. But as time wore on these two started to grow on us.

Although Jerry is a cutthroat professional sports agent who spends his day squeezing every dime he can out of team managers and commercial endorsements, underneath it all he does genuinely care about people. If he didn’t he would not have been as moved as he was by the appeal from his injured client’s young son to stop his father from playing, and he certainly would not have been compelled to write a manifesto urging more personal management of his company’s clients. Or been fired for doing it. He realizes he wants a closer relationship with the athletes he represents, and to connect with them as people, not just products.

It is this Jerry, the vulnerable idealist, that Dorothy Boyd both falls in love with and quits her job for. And while he does feel a fondness and an attraction for her, unfortunately the other Jerry, the one that thinks he should be with an Avery, not a Dorothy, is still rearing its ugly head from time to time, and it takes a while before Jerry realizes what a gem she really is. Dorothy believes in him; Avery, his trophy fiancee, doesn’t.

On a whim he marries her, but it’s really her son Ray that he’s fallen for, not her. That or the idea of shared expenses for his fledgling and nearly bankrupt company. Dorothy initially believes it can work, but after a few short weeks realizes she needs more out of a husband than just a father to her kid. Fortunately for Jerry, there comes a moment when he finally opens his eyes to what he’s about to lose before it’s too late.

The only other person that believes in him is his sole remaining client Rod Tidwell, a football player, and it is the love and support of these two people that sustain Jerry and help him become the person he was meant to be. As his professional relationship with Rod becomes more personal he begins to take an interest in all of his needs, not just the financial ones. Seeing the deep bond that Rod shares with his wife Marcee makes him realize what he wants in his own life. And when Rod takes a serious hit during a game, it shocks him into comprehension: there is love in his life that he can’t afford to lose.

So while Jerry and Dorothy didn’t have us at hello they did get us at goodbye. Seeing them walking hand-in-hand in the park with Ray gave us a sense of their lives together going forward, and we see it working. There is mutual love and respect, and the sense of teamwork that will come from building a company together that they believe in. Jerry adores Ray and will be a great father to him. They will remain close friends with Rod and Marcee. And who knows, maybe even Laurel will eventually come around.

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Filed under: 4 Reels • Retro Reel

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