Good or great movies deliver all kinds of payoffs. They don't need a big feel-good finale -- they can end quietly, modestly, shockingly, in a way that reaffirms the basics or like an Antonioni film. We all understand that this feel-good finish (from a film that opened a bit more than 25 years ago) is obviously not "real" -- it's a bowl of emotional showbiz soup. But it works, and if it had somehow opened last October or November (what contemporary movie star in his 30s could play the Tom Cruise role?) it would almost certainly be the leading Best Picture contender. Just ask Sid Ganis or Rod Lurie. It hit me just now that the only 2021 Best Picture contender that delivers something even close to what Jerry Maguire had (and obviously still has) is King Richard.
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