First of all, the idea that a guy can go to law school and just become a highly paid, highly visible sports agent is ludicrous—even if he looks like Tom Cruise at 34 (Tom is incredibly short by the way).

But the biggest problem with this film is Jerry’s interactions with Dorthy and Ray. In the beginning we see that Jerry is “great with Ray” and initially this is what really attracts Dorthy to Jerry. There is even a scene where Dorthy is telling her sister Laurel that she can’t leave Jerry because “he loves my kid.” In this scene we see that Jerry is falling apart and is oddly distant from Dorthy—which raises huge red flags. The next moment Jerry and Dorthy are getting married. Dorthy, and especially Ray be damned.

Then there is the reality scene—the one where Jerry is down in the dumps and gets wasted and is talking to Ray—and Ray asks to go to the zoo and Jerry says the fucking zoo is closed. This is the real stepfather interaction. All of the anger and disappointment and rage of being a failed man. But it’s almost cute. In the film we cannot hate Jerry, we have to see him as this sympathetic character, so they whitewash him. In his lowest moment he seems so relatable and nice like he wouldn’t hurt a fly even if he’s “off.” But in reality, in these moments, that’s when the stepfather comes after the child. That’s when the stepfather tells the child that he is worthless and won’t amount to anything—he doesn’t even know when the fucking zoo is open! Or maybe the stepfather invites the child to the bedroom for an unsolicited game of orangutan buffoonery. But in Jerry Maguire we don’t see this. The film ends with the family walking happily in the park and Ray is swinging in the arms of Dorthy and Jerry like a monkey. The monkey games are not a joyous event IRL. Everything is better and happy now.

Folks, folks, folks. This is complete tripe. There is nothing that mom can do to make the divorce and her new relationship with some strange man good for the kids. There is no happy ending. The trip to the zoo is not joyous or momentous, and it does not end with finding the next Roger Clemens.

Jerry Maguire (1996) is one of the most insidious and awful films of the 1990s. It’s so dangerous it should be banned and Tom Cruise should be locked up for making it.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5673841&forum_id=2).#48612302)