"The Jerry Maguire" is a masterpiece filled with "love and trust" by Cameron Crowe, the extremely pure film director.

A “quite amazing” song selection technique that shows off your sense of style

When discussing Cameron Crowe, we must also mention his skillful use of music. Jerry MaguireSpringsteen 's ``Secret Garden'' (1995) is famous for being used as the theme song for ``The Agent'' (it plays twice in the movie at important points in Jerry and Dorothy's love road). There are many other impressive scenes as well.

Bruce Springsteen “Secret Garden” MV

For example, in the first half, there is a scene where Jerry, who has just left the company, is about to seize his first Being There. He joyfully gets into his car, and at first the radio is playing The Rolling Stones ' " Bitch " (71), but as he changes channels, he comes across Tom Petty 's "Free Fallin' (1989)." "Yes, I'm free!" they sing along. This is a famous song that has been covered by John Mayer and Guns N' Roses. However, Jerry still has a lot of trouble ahead of him...

Tom Petty "Free Fallin" MV

In the second half, Chad (Todd Louiso), a child care worker who has been taking care of Dorothy's son, is a jazz enthusiast, and Jerry, who is about to bond with Dorothy, is joined by John Coltrane in a Miles Davis combo. I give him a cassette tape containing a live performance in Stockholm in March 1960, during his last days as a musician. It's hilarious to hear a hard and thrilling performance playing in the bedroom, which sounds completely out of place.

It's also funny to see Rod, who plays Cuba Gooding Jr., humorously sing Marvin Gaye 's " What's Going On " (71) at Jerry and Dorothy's wedding, and the Bob Dylan song that plays at the ending. ``A Place from the Storm'' also permeates (originally included on the 1975 album ` `Blood Tracks ''. A different version was used in the film, and was later released on the 1997 album ``The Best of Blood''. (included in "Bob Dylan "). And, of course, the music and accompaniment by Nancy Wilson are also wonderful.

Bob Dylan ``A Place from the Storm''

Cameron Crowe's style is that he doesn't use the flashy hooks of Quentin Tarantino, but he uses his brilliant and tasteful song selection skills to match the emotion and meaning of the story. is. The songs he uses are neither too maniac nor too popular, and many of them follow a moderate attitude of simply presenting "good songs."

Among the young film directors who look up to Cameron Crowe as a mentor is Ken Ninomiya, director of ` `Tonkatsu DJ Agetaro .'' His works ` `Limit of Sleeping Beauty '' (2017) and `` Chihuahua -chan'' (2019) are strongly influenced by Crowe's ``Vanilla Sky '' (2001), including their structure.

If the current Cameron Crowe is truly suffering from a slump, I hope he can make a bright comeback with the ``love and trust'' of talented successors and devoted fans. While I look forward to the bright new work to come, I now want to enjoy the richness of ``The Jerry Maguire'' once again.

Text: Naoto Mori

Film critic, writer. Born in Wakayama in 1971. He is the author of ``Cinema Garage: Children in the Ruins'' (Film Art Publishing), and edited ``Movies of the Zero Years+'' (Kawade Shobo Shinsha), among others. He regularly writes for magazines such as Weekly Bunshun, Asahi Shimbun, TV Bros., Men's Nonno, Kinema Junpo, Eiga Hiho, and Cinema Today.

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