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I watched “Jerry Maguire” two weeks ago. The movie came out in 1996 and I remember it being a sensation. This film launched the career of Renee Zellweger and earned Cuba Gooding Jr. an Oscar. I thought this movie was terrible and I don’t recommend it at all.

“Jerry Maguire” is a romantic comedy which is not my favorite genre. But that’s not the problem because there are a few romantic comedies I enjoy. This movie is just bad and relies heavily on stereotypes. Cuba Gooding Jr. had a famous line in this film: “SHOW ME THE MONEY!”. He played an NFL player seeking a new contract named Rod Tidwell.

The problem is that his character screamed and jumped around throughout most of this film. Rod was a father and husband in a demanding, dangerous and uncertain career. There were opportunities to give Rod depth and dimension but the role was cartoon like. Rod had a son that was terribly behaved and tore rooms up with no explanation. The boy didn’t speak. In contrast Zellweger’s son was presented as precocious and cute with comical one liners.

This role was degrading and one of the worst depictions of a Black man I’ve ever seen. This nonsense earned Cuba Gooding, Jr. critical acclaim and numerous awards.

Women didn’t fare much better in “Jerry Maguire”. Renee Zellweger was a young single mom named Dorothy who made irrational decisions to follow her lover instead of looking after her young son. Her character was silly and not smart at all. Bonnie Hunt played Zellweger’s divorced sister. Bonnie’s character and her friends were divorced and the film depicted them in a very demeaning and disrespectful way.

Tom Cruise was the lead Jerry Maguire. Jerry is a sports agent that established his own agency. He wasn’t a good agent. Jerry wasn’t smart or assertive. His character wasn’t interesting and had no merit but he had human satellites that followed him to their own possible detriment.

The movie is nearly thirty years old but I don’t think I would have enjoyed in it 1996. The movie is just bad and there is nothing about it that I can say was done well. “Jerry Maguire” was made during Tom Cruise’s prime and that was the draw of the film.

The popularity of this film speaks volumes about the the stardom of Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise’s bright light isn’t enough to make this movie enjoyable. Regina King played Rod’s wife and was the only somewhat likeable adult character in this film. Regina King is solid but her work wasn’t enough to pull “Jerry Maguire” together. If you’ve never seen “Jerry Maguire” I wouldn’t bother.