Writer/director Cameron Crowe - who made the moving teenage romance Say Anything - here successfully balances one of the best performances of Tom Cruise's career with a clutch of superb supporting turns. Add a witty and tear-jerking script and the result is an unusual romantic comedy drama. Cruise plays Jerry Maguire, a sports agent who, guilt-ridden one night about how he and his colleagues treat sports stars as commodities, produces a mission statement that costs him his job. Cruise's relationships with his sole remaining client (a marvellous, Oscar-winning turn by Cuba Gooding Jr), the woman who stands by him (Renee Zellweger) and her adorable son (Jonathan Lipnicki) bring an infectious warmth to the film, which introduced the world to the catchphrase: "Show me the money!".

Jerry Maguire used to be a typical sports agent: willing to do just about anything he could to get the biggest possible contracts for his clients, plus a nice commission for himself. Then, one day, he suddenly has second thoughts about what he's really doing. When he voices these doubts, he ends up losing his job and all of his clients, save Rod Tidwell, an egomaniacal football player.