We all have those scenes in movies that get us every time. The ones that hit us where it hurts and drum up emotions we didn’t know we had. For actor Jake Gyllenhaal the scene that makes him cry every time is in Jerry Maguire. Yet, it’s not the scene at the end that has all the characters crying, but rather one a few minutes before that shows how much another couple in the film is in love.
The scene takes place near the end of the film while Tom Cruise’s title character is on the sidelines of the football game with his client, Rod Tidwell, the role that won Cuba Gooding Jr. an Oscar. Tidwell takes a massive hit in the endzone which knocks him unconscious. This leads to Jerry calling Tidwell’s wife Marcee, played by Regina King, in order to keep a line of communication open and make sure that she stays calm. Only she’s not calm. She’s in hysterics because her husband may be seriously hurt. The line that puts Gyllenhaal over the edge comes here where King says, "You don’t understand. This family doesn’t work without him."
While the movie is about the budding relationship between Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger, the one portrayed by King and Gooding Jr. is a huge part of the film. The two young lovers look at King and Gooding's long marriage and see something they would both like to have for themselves one day. The love the two characters have for each other is deep and clear. This is what makes such a scene so powerful, when it looks like, if only for a moment, what they have may be gone.
In the interview with W Magazine, Gyllenhaal gets very emotional talking about the scene so you can see how it gets him worked up. He says the combination of King’s delivery along with Cruise’s attempts to keep her calm is what does it for him. Check out the interview below.
It’s an interesting choice for a scene because it’s not the one people remember. If people think of the football game at the end of the movie they don’t think about the hit, and the aftermath of it, so much as the touchdown dance that occurs immediately following the scene, once it’s discovered that Rod Tidwell is ok.
Then, of course, there is the oft-quoted scene that follows that one, where Jerry Maguire races home to try and save his own relationship.
Is Jerry Maguire one of the movies that makes you cry? Let’s get emotional in the comments below.
