Show me the...

One of my favorite past times is looking for a deal at Target or any other big box retailer. I love to rummage through the $3 bin of CDs or meticulously scan the $5 DVD rack. I’ve convinced myself that as my wife is busy buying a bunch of things that we may or may not need, if I can somehow find a hidden treasure, at a reduced price then everything is even. This lets me feel like I have settled the score and sometimes even swung it in my favor, although it really just ends up as $250 for Target, $5 for me. Or really, just $255 for Target.

It was one such Saturday of bargain hunting where I came across a $5 price tag on Jerry MaGuire, one of the greatest movies of all time. This had to be a typo, I thought to myself. I just could not believe that Jerry MaGuire was listed for $5. I was so happy that I stuck the DVD up my shirt, so that no one else would be able to take it from me before I checked out.

After spending an hour or so with the store security explaining to them that I had, in fact, planned on buying the DVD, I was on my way home to watch it. Jerry MaGuire shows the true genius of taking my two favorite things, sports and chick flick movies, and combining them.

Now there are movies you could quote and there are movies you should quote. Movies that you should quote teach you something. Jerry MaGuire is that movie. It displays the lessons of life so clearly and accurately, that its lines should be memorized, sewn on a pillow or carried around in a wallet. I mean, if you are a fanatic or something.

Take, for example, Renee Zellweger’s monologue in the kitchen, after she goes out on a date with Jerry. She is standing by the sink, pouring herself a cup of coffee and is in the process of explaining her relationship to her well meaning, if not completely judgmental sister, when she says, “I love him! I love him for the man he wants to be. And I love him for the man he almost is.”

This could be one of the most beautiful lines ever written. All women believe that men have their share of inadequacies. However, the best women love their men for those inadequacies and see unprecedented potential in them as individuals, providers and lovers. I LOVE her for saying this. I LOVE her for having hope and for her faith in the person she loves, who may be just a little flawed.

And while this is a great line, the show gets even better.

Months later, after doubting their entire relationship, Tom Cruise (because men have inadequacies) busts into their family room which is now filled with a group of 30 divorced women and proclaims his deep love for his wife in a series of passionate phrases that climaxes with, “I love you. You... you complete me.”

In truth, nothing could be more fulfilling. When you find an individual who truly completes you, you have everything. Finding that person who is there for you and makes up for your weakness, is the most important aspect of life. I love this line and I love my wife for fulfilling this role in my life.

But almost better than his line is her response when she says, “Shut up, just shut up. You had me at ‘hello.’" Which translates into, I have been here for you, I will always be here for you and I will never stop being here for you. There is nothing more loving than someone who loves you unconditionally. This is the type of person who sees everything, your light and your dark, and still loves you regardless of the dark.

But maybe the best is Cuba Gooding Jr.'s search of Kwan. A word he created to express his search for true happiness and true love. The entire package, the worth of everything. He says, “Some dudes might have the 'coin,' but they will never have the 'Kwan.' It means love, respect, community, and the dollars too. The entire package. The Kwan.”

We should all be so focused on our desire to find the ultimate Kwan. Because when we achieve that true sense of happiness and love, we find that we are able to give others this amount of love and everyone around us begins to see life in a better light and becomes more loving in return.

Plus, how much better does life get, when someone SHOWS YOU THE MONEY!

And, maybe the best line in the entire show is below….

Ray: D'you know that the human head weighs 8 pounds?
Jerry Maguire: Did you know that Troy Aikman, in only six years, has passed for 16,303 yards?
Ray: D'you know that bees and dogs can smell fear?
Jerry Maguire: Did you know that the career record for hits is 4,256 by Pete Rose who is NOT in the Hall of Fame?
Ray: D'you know that my next door neighbor has three rabbits?
Jerry Maguire: I... I can't compete with that!