Not a total waste of time, but...

Rating: Null/10 (28 September 2003)

I recently saw "Jerry Maguire" on NBC. While it was not the worst movie I have ever seen, it is probably the worst with a pro-football based theme that I can remember. It was predicatable and woefully saccarine.
This was the movie which coined the phrase "SHOW ME THE MONEY!" back in '96, which I found almost immediately irritating. Tom Cruise (Jerry Maguire) was his usual over-emoting self. Renee Zellweger's character (Maguire's love interest, Dorothy) was revolting. Cuba Gooding Jr, (Maguire's only remaining client, the cocky Rod Tidwell) was annoying throughout. That little kid (Dorothy's son), although cute, seemed awfully stoic for a youngster when saying goodbye to Maguire when he and his mother were about to move out of Jerry's life.
The bright light here was Jay Mohr's excellent portrayal of a sleazy, aggressive, backstabbing fellow sports-agent. Mohr's portrayal was so good that I found myself wanting to come through the screen an wring his neck -- and this even though I found no emotional attachment to Cruise's character.
[possible spoiler warning] ..probably not necessary since this movie was so transparent.
The writing and acting was so bad, the outcome so predictable. Tidwell gets k.o.'d after scoring the winning touchdown, and the world holds its breath. After sufficient nail-biting time, he leaps up, does and end-zone jig, climbs up the side of the stadium, etc...pretty good for someone who just sustained a near-concussion.
Tidwell gets his long sought $12.8mil contract(or something like that, the obscene salaries of these guys was about the only believable aspect of this film). He then hugs everyone in sight and weeps.
Maguire enters a ladies divorce support group with Dorothy in attendance and says to her something like "You will not get rid of me, I won't let you go!" (something that would get many men a restraining order, and their girlfriends a stay at a battered woman's shelter). Dorothy, of course, takes him back, and they live happily ever after... la la la!
Sports fans, you can do much better. Ditto romance lovers.
3 of 10 *s