Underrated Moments in Film

To take a break from all the holiday madness, I recently took comfort in TNT, one of many cable stations that decides to run a mainstream movie and replay it 3,000 times in one weekend. Examples of movies run into oblivion include The American President, Shawshank Redemption, and, most recently, Jerry Maguire.

As much as I'll be the first to acknowledge how far the strong have fallen a la Tom Cruise, watching movies like Born on the Fourth of July and Jerry Maguire compel me to give credit where credit is due: his performance in both movies is masterful and do not rely on his looks alone, the very thing that carried his early movies.

In fact, Cuba Gooding Jr. as Rod Tidwell in Jerry Maguire also showed some acting acumen, but the Oscar really should have gone elsewhere, but not to Tom Cruise either.

Below is a clip from the show that might not readily come to mind when you consider the film's most memorable moments. Clearly, Jonathan Lipnicki as the adorable little son, the "You had me at hello" line, and "show me the money" are all easy quotables. However, at least to me, the scene below, played by one of the most underrated actresses around, Regina King, was one of my favorites. Why?

The message is simple, though not everyone gets it: Nothing is more important than family.