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How others will see it. This film is carefully packaged to appeal to almost everyone in America. Men have the sports angle, and the uber-competitive business world. Women can put themselves into the position of Zellweger, who gambles her future on super hunk Cruise, despite his absence of cash flow. Women also have endearing tyke Jonathan Lipnicki, who steals every scene he's in.
How I felt about it. Jerry Maguire is a decent movie, but there are moments in it I disliked, and it's best to get these off my chest. Kelly Preston is Cruise's fiancee, and when he breaks up with her, she responds by beating him up. That's assault and battery where I come from, but in Hollywood, it's apparently intended as comedy.
Also, it's great that Cruise does the right thing, but he's doing them for the wrong reasons. He marries Zellweger because his client tells him he shouldn't be shoplifting pootang. He returns to her because Gooding got a generous contract. But, I suppose it's better to do the right thing for the wrong reason than to do the wrong thing for the right reason. Zellweger does the latter when she sends Cruise packing because he doesn't make google eyes at her like she does for him.
One final unhappy thought. Lipnicki is a movie kid, never selfish or whiny. No, he smiles his head off for the whole film, aside from a shot or two of him looking sad when Cruise looks like he's getting sent to the minor leagues. The kid is a charmer, but does he resemble a real kid? I don't think so.
Jerry Maguire was a box office smash, but its affect on Cruise's career was marginal. He was already near the top of the game, and the film kept him there. But Jerry Maguire was huge for Zellweger, who promptly became an A-list Holywood actress. Gooding also had a career boost, courtesy of a Supporting Actor Oscar, but he squandered his gain on bad film choices.
Culturally, the movie's contribution was the catch phrase, "Show me the money!" Everone likes money, but Gooding doesn't want to do what it takes to get it, such as riding a camel or playing nice with the media. His football career turns when he's not in it for the money, much as Zellweger's romantic success comes when she decides that Cruise's commitment trumps his lack of lust. In other words, the big payoff isn't the goal, after all. It's the work to gets there that counts.