Everyone has had a moment of clarity. Probably several.

You wake up in the middle of the night and suddenly you know what you should be doing with your life. You should get back into that relationship. You should start that business. You should write that novel. You should take that trip. You should get a dog.

We know, as rational human beings, that the decisions we make in those moments are not to be trusted. We know how silly we look in hindsight. We cringe, thinking about it.

So what should we do? Common logic tells us that we should train ourselves to recognize those moments and guard against the stupid commitments we might make when we’re just a little bit out of our minds.

Jerry Maguire, Cameron Crowe’s meandering, post-modern romantic comedy, begs otherwise. It suggests that those moments are the only moments where we can truly be happy.

What’s funny about this thesis is that Cameron Crowe’s movies are known for their sentimental charm, yet Jerry Maguire is about a world where everyone is dishonest and malicious and lacking integrity. The script has an incredibly high density of characters smiling and staring into each others eyes and telling malicious lies. It is the happiest, funniest movie about dishonesty that I have ever seen. It’s this obscure tone which makes the movie feel fresh underneath the cliche’s of some fairly standard romcom moments.

And it’s the nihilism intrinsic to this tone that makes the suggestion that people should trust their illogical impulses acceptable. If you believe that people are good and generally well-intentioned, I don’t think you can agree with the message of Jerry Maguire. You could enjoy the movie and be entertained by it, but you would have to look at the final act, where Jerry decides to commit to Dorothea even though they aren’t particularly happy together, where Rod gets a big contract to continue playing football despite suffering multiple concussions, and where Laurel continues her morose, man-hating shrill women’s support group, as a melancholy end to a story about people not quite living up to their potentials. The characters smile and laugh and hug each other, but it doesn’t mean those decisions are good. They’re just moments when everything seems to make sense.

What else is there?

Tom Cruise is perfect for this role. He is basically playing the character that we have all accepted as his modern personality. A guy who could realistically jump up on Oprah’s couch in a moment of passion and glee and creepiness. He is only barely sane. He cackles. He kicks a wall. He steals a fish.

One of the things that I’ve realized while watching all of these movies is how important “good chemistry” is between actors. Cuba Gooding, Jr. stole the show and won the academy award for his part in Jerry Maguire, but I can’t imagine his performance would have worked, monologues and bellowing in all, without Cruise screaming right alongside him. It must take humility to be as willing as Cruise is in this film to portray a hero who is morally inferior to another protagonist.

But seriously, you’re telling me that Rod Tidwell is catching 110 balls for 1500 yards a year and he can’t get a contract? Someone get Cameron Crowe a sports consultant.

Next: Eye’s Wide Shut