19
movie-star looks, are overweight and ill-kempt. When Jerry returns to her (during the meeting of the
group), all the women get up and cheer for romance
=
s
A
happy end,
@
clearly the victor over the
embittered man-bashing sessions they are used to (implying that a little romance would cure any
woman of her man-hating phase). Relying as it does on a negative stereotype of feminism to
highlight the film
=
s own faith in relationships and marriage, Jerry Maguire may be considered a
A
backlash
@
film.
On the up side, the film has a single mother heroine, brave enough to leave the husband she
loves because of her refusal to compromise by living with a man who dodes not love her. Also at no
point does Maguire think twice about marrying a woman with a young child (not his). Third, the film
also offers a warm and egalitarian model of a black family, the supportive team around Maguire
=
s
successful client. Overall, unlike the fantasy romances of Pretty Woman and Sleepless, Maguire
contends with some harsh earthly dilemmas in the world of cutthroat economic competition, and with
the evolution of various forms of relationships, ranging between sex, falling in love, long term
commitment, and the belated realization of enduring love and commitment.
The Mid-Life Crisis Film: Genre of the 90’s?
At 90’s end Hollywood may be showing signs of readyiness to dip its fingers in the murkier
waters of the complex relationships between middle-aged men and women, (not only a middle-aged
man and a nymphette in her twenties). A far cry from the idealized romance of Pretty Woman is a
film chosen by the renowned critic Roger Ebert for his
A
Overlooked Film Festival
@
in 2002 is
Wonder Boys (2000), a tale of male mid-life crisis which deals with complex adult relationships
quite realistically for Hollywood. Based on the novel by Michael Chabron, the film features Frances
McDormand as a mature romantic heroine, a rare bird for Hollywood. The story contrasts a female
college student
A
crush
@
on her professor with a relationship he has with a woman his own age, the
Chancellor of the College at which he teaaches. The professor rebuffs his student
=
s crush in a gentle
Convention