Favorite Cameron Crowe Film

[damien22]

After seeing Jerry Maguire, I have seen all of Cameron Crowe's films, save Elizabethtown, which I haven't heard much about. I think its interesting that all of his films are about love, but all have very different stories behind them.
Say Anything... is a classic teen love setup done to perfection. A teenage boy falls in love with a girl that is in a different group of friends, and lets nothing get in the way of him being with her, not her overprotective father; not the fact that they come from different crowds; not his not-so-great-looking future; not her intimidating future and smarts.
I don't remember much about Singles besides the fact that I did like it and I liked how it showed many different people's love lives in one film.
In Jerry Maguire, the sports agent main character says what he feels, wishes he hadn't, gets fired, breaks up with his fiancee, finds out that his best left client has left him for the man who fired him, and is left with just one client, who he doesnt really want to work with. Through all of this, he finds love with someone he barely knew before his troubles, and is only able to keep his spirits up because of his love for this woman and her child.
In Almost Famous, a 17-year-old boy, William, inspired by his sister's love for rock music, breaks away from his overprotective mother to go on tour with a rock band and write an article for Rolling Stone. What was supposed to be a weekend ends up being months on tour, and during it William learns the true spirit of rock music and falls in love with a beautiful groupie, Penny Lane, who we find out is actually his age and is sort of in the same experience as he is.


***SPOILERS FOR VANILLA SKY***
In Vanilla Sky, David Aames, a successful magazine publisher, has what appears to be a great life. Tons of money, tons of friends, and a beautiful girlfriend, Julianna. At his birthday party, he meets a new woman, Sofia, and immediately falls in love with her. He can't help but try to see her and be with her as much as possible, and he ends up realizing that what he has with his current girlfriend means nothing to him. When Julianna finds out about his new love, she can't take it and drives a car with her and David in it off of a bridge into a brick wall. After this, we watch a collection of touching, confusing, and sometimes horrific scenes, and during all of them neither the audience or David knows if they are real or fake, or what is happening. At the end we find out that all these things were part of something called a Lucid Dream, what David was put into after the car accident. This Lucid Dream should be David's version of paradise, his just went wrong. Although he only met her a couple times, David's thoughts after his "death" were all about Sofia. He realizes that he can't go on living a fake life, so, in a very well done climax, he "falls" back into an actual life.


For me:
1. Say Anything - 9/10
2. Vanilla Sky - 9/10
3. Almost Famous - 9/10
4. Jerry Maguire - 8/10
5. Singles - 8/10

[Buck Turgidson]

Almost Famous, Say Anything, Singles and Fast Times At Ridgemont High (Directed by Amy Heckerling, but featuring Crowe's script of his own book of his own experiences, so I consider it a "Cameron Crowe film") tower above those other two.

I wish he'd stop answering Cruise's telephone calls.

[Philip Marlowe]

For me it's Elizabethtown call me crazy or something else but Jerry Maguire would most likely be next closely by would be Almost Famous.

I haven't seen Singles, but i'm extremely intrested.

[Buck Turgidson]

Singles is a nice film that's become sort of a period piece, as bound up as it is with the early '90's Seattle Grunge scene. I don't write that as a pejorative, just as a matter of context.

(Blow Up gets it's vibe from the late 60's Swinging London period that was as important, and as fleeting, and it's justly considered a timeless classic, in spite of the specificity of it's setting)

The film is carried, IMHO, by the great Campbell Scott and the story of his character's relationship with Kira Sedgewick's character. Most of the other storylines are, to me at least, sort of ancillary to that. The rest of the cast is generally solid (with Bridget Fonda turning in the best supporting performance, again, IMHO) but Matt Dillon almost scuttles the whole thing with his overbroad playing of a clueless musician.

Having said that, it's still one of my favorite of Crowe's films and one that I revisit from time to time, with enjoyment.

[ilovemovies]

Almost Famous is EASILY his best.

Elizabethtown is easily his most underrated. I love that movie.

And Say Anything is easily his most overrated and weakest. I was kind of disappointed with that movie. Didn't really care for it that much. Especially the subplot involving the dad from Frasier.

And I do love Jerry Maguire. Easily his second best.

Vanilla Sky is great too.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen Fast Times at Ridgemont High or Singles. But I definately intend to.

And Crowe is easily one of my favorite filmmakers and I always anxiously await his next movie.

1. Almost Famous 10/10
2. Jerry Maguire 8/10
3. Elizabethtown 8/10
4. Vanilla Sky 8/10
5. Say Anything 6/10


Oh, and his commentary for Almost Famous (which includes a few other people, including his mother) is one of the most purely enjoyable commentary tracks I have ever listened to on a dvd.

[JackassFan]

1) Jerry Maguire
2) Almost Famous
3) Vanilla Sky

[ScaryFreak1827]

It's a tie between ALMOST FAMOUS and VANILLA SKY

[FilmKing2000]

1. Almost Famous - 10/10
2. Jerry Maguire - 8/10
3. Say Anything... - 8/10
4. Vanilla Sky - 7/10
5. Elizabethtown - 5/10

[The FamilyJulas]

Almost famous is in my top 20 (or it's 21 or 22 i can't remember). Say Anything is one of the best teen 80's flicks (my favorite guilty pleasure genre). I did not like Jerry Maguire. I was never really one for chick flicks.

[blankpage]

As it's in my top 20, I, of course, am going with Almost Famous.

The rankings look like this:

1. Almost Famous (10/10)
2. Jerry Maguire (8/10)
3. Vanilla Sky (8/10)
4. Say Anything...(7/10)
5. Elizabethtown (6/10)

[Hucksta G]

Almost Famous (10/10)
Vanilla Sky (10/10)
Jerry Maguire (10/10)
Say Anything (9/10)
Elizabethtown (9/10)
Singles (8/10)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (8/10)

[PSU80]

Vanilla Sky without question. One of my favorite films, ever.

[RandalGraves]

Elizabethtown

[Lazy Boy]

Almost Famous, followed by Say Anything...

[notchreturns]

Originally posted by Lazy Boy
Almost Famous, followed by Say Anything...

Yeah.

Vanilla Sky and Jerry Maguire are pretty lame on repeat viewings. Singles was fun and I haven't seen Elizabethtown.

If we're counting Fast Times then it'd be right after Almost Famous.

[ParanoidAndvoid]

1. Almost Famous - without a doubt
2. Vanilla Sky
3. Say Anything
4. Jerry Maguire

[Cronos]

Jerry Maguire

[powersauce]

best - Almost Famous
favorite - Jerry Maguire

I also like Say Anything... as well.

[DarkKnight81]

VANILLA SKY

[sarah1980]

Say Anything

[Shockwave]

ALMOST FAMOUS and ELIZABETHTOWN are my two favorites of his by far.:cool:

[Ayz]

I love Elizabethtown. I hope we get to see that directors cut someday soon. Call me curious.

[CletusHorniblow]

3-way tie between Fast Times, Almost Famous and Vanilla Sky.

[zeppelin]

I haven't seen Elizabethtown or Singles, but here's my ranking of the 4 I've seen:

1. Almost Famous- ****
2. Jerry Maguire- *** 1/2
3. Say Anything- ***
4. Vanilla Sky- **

[Jedi]

I am not a big fan of his (especially after totally ruining one of my all-time favorite films OPEN YOUR EYES with the lame Tom Cruise remake Vanilla Sky) but I have to say that Almost Famous was amazing to say the least so it's gotta be my favorite.
Elizabethtown wasn't as bad as critics made it sound like but it wasn't great either.
And the best thing about Jerry Maguire was Renée Zellweger's scene-stealing, heatwarming performance. Man, I just don't like Tom Cruise I guess. :D