Star power; In the old days movie stars were given vehicles for showcasing their talent. Carrying a movie, putting bums on seats, headlining, whatever you want to call it, the movie star movie is few and far between these days. That is, movies that are good.
Erin Brokovich and Jerry Maguire are two examples of the star movie. Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise are about as big as it gets in the world of mainstream Hollywood and both have lead characters who account for the vast majority of screen time and both have supporting actors to bounce off in Albert Finney and Cuba Gooding Jr. The underlying themes of both movies are love, friendship and doing the right thing.Both films benefit hugely from the direction of Steven Soderbergh and Cameron Crowe(who also wrote Jerry Maguire).
These two films are what I call proper movies.Big stars in big roles performing under an independent sensibility within a Hollywood movie. The beauty of both is that by having such big stars in the leads a large audience is guaranteed and perhaps part of that audience will be able to enjoy the films with a deeper appreciation than comes out of the usual multiplex fare.
Theresa Dallavale: Okay, look, I think we got off on the wrong foot here...
Erin Brockovich: That's all you got, lady. Two wrong feet in fucking ugly shoes
Jerry Maguire: I'm finished, I'm fucked. Twenty-four hours ago, man, I was hot! Now... I'm a cautionary tale. You see this jacket I'm wearing, you like it? Because I don't really need it. Because I'm cloaked in failure! I lost the number one draft picked the night before the draft! Why? Let's recap: Because a hockey player's kid made me feel like a superficial jerk. I ate two slices of bad pizza, went to bed and grew a conscience!
Rod Tidwell: Well, boo-fucking-hoo
