What the Opening of Jerry Maguire Reveals

A couple weeks ago, I finished Cameron Crowe’s new book The Uncool: A Memoir. It’s a more personal account of his teenage music journalist days in the 1970s that inspired Almost Famous, which won Best Original Screenplay in 2001. I was surprised that the majority of the memoir focuses on Crowe from ages 14 to 21. The way it moves from music journalism, lightly touches on early screenplays and then jumps to the Almost Famous musical adaptation on Broadway left me wanting more. So I started reading Cameron Crowe scripts starting with Jerry Maguire. 

What I love about Jerry Maguire is that it’s a story about new beginnings pretending to be a sports movie. When Jerry loses everything, his job, his clients and his identity, we do not watch a long tragic fall from grace. It’s more of a forced reset. He has to stumble forward with fewer resources but a much clearer sense of what matters. It reminds us that starting over usually begins with losing the version of ourselves that no longer fits.

So, let's dive into the first ten pages and see how Crowe sets a new beginning in motion.

Jerry Maguire's First Ten Pages

The pages begin with a unique introduction. We start above the world before zooming in on the sports world. All of this unfolds alongside a Jerry Maguire voice over that exists only in the first ten pages. (Interestingly, the last inner monologue we hear is “I was 35. I had started my life.” And right after that, it’s foreshadowed that he’s about to be fired. More on that to come.)

We cycle through athletes from different sports. Then we see the lead character fully in his world and in his element, both at the NFL owners’ meetings and inside the offices of Sports Management International. Jerry is on top of the world.

Suddenly, Jerry is walking with an athlete in handcuffs. Reporters fire questions at the arrested client and our main character immediately reveals where he stands morally. He is the guy who defends an athlete with implied felony level crimes. He is the guy who prevents clients from signing certain trading cards. He is the guy who normalizes concussion protocols to a kid’s dad.

Not exactly likable. The kid’s rightful “fuck you” jolts Jerry awake and triggers a moral awakening, or a moral breakdown, depending on how you look at it.

Jerry then writes a Mission Statement, not a memo, arguing that the sports management industry has lost its soul. Instead of treating players like assets, he argues for restoring humanity to the business. The entire company praises him like the prodigal son, including Bob Sugar, an agent at SMI and a representation of everything Jerry is walking away from. The praise ends with two coworkers gossiping about his obvious and inevitable firing.

Great foreshadowing. The pages then shift to a still employed Jerry Maguire riding first class while talking with an attractive seatmate over champagne. Meanwhile, we are introduced to our two other pivotal characters, Dorothy Boyd, an admirer of Jerry’s Mission Statement and her cute beyond words son, Ray.

That is a lot to cram into the first ten pages. World building, main and supporting character introductions, the inciting incident, a clear display of theme, foreshadowing of the rising action and the introduction of our antagonist, all before Jerry is fired.

Most scripts I read would either start with the firing on page two and lose steam quickly, or take 20 pages to do what Jerry Maguire does in 10. As a reader, these ten pages successfully have me wanting to read to the end, despite the 130 plus page-count (perks of being a writer/director). By page ten, I'm left wondering: 

• How will Dorothy and her son aid Jerry Maguire on his journey?
• Will Bob Sugar stop Jerry from fulfilling his new purpose?
• How will Jerry react when he gets fired? How will he respond?
• And most importantly, will Jerry stick with his newfound integrity and conscious from The Things We Think and Do not Say mission statement?

And also, think of all the things we haven't done:

• Met Tidwell
• Met Dorothy's sister, Laurel
• Dorothy and Jerry haven't even spoken on screen yet.
• Gotten the directive from Tidwell to get 4 years, 10 million contract. 

While it’s incredible how much Crowe packs into the first ten pages, the script also smartly holds back characters and obstacles that will keep the story engine moving. Remember, the first ten pages are about everything that comes before everything falls apart. Your job is to tell the reader exactly what they need to know to get up to speed as quickly as possible and nothing more.

Take some time to read through the beginning of the script you're working on and ask yourself: are you utilizing every word in your first ten pages?