Jerry Maguire Quotes

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Source: Jerry Maguire

Speaker: Rod Tidwell

Show me the money!

Context

This line is spoken by Rod Tidwell, played by Cuba Gooding, Jr., in the film Jerry Maguire, directed by Cameron Crowe (1996).

Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is a sports agent. He has the ability to show his clients some money—you might even say the money. Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) isn't thrilled with Jerry's performance as his agent, and he wants Jerry to convince him to stay on as a client. He has a simple way for Jerry to convince him to stay: "Show me the money."

It's not just about money, though.

It's 95% about money and 5% about making Jerry prove that he'll pretty much do whatever Rod tells him to do. Desperate to keep his client, Jerry, too, screams out "Show me the money!"

And so, a cinematic moment ripe for parody was born.

Where you've heard it

Maybe someone wants a raise or you owe them ten bucks for a pizza. Or maybe they just want to be obnoxious. 

Or it could be that Cuba Gooding, Jr. wants another movie role after Boat Trip or Snow Dogs. 

Those are all valid reasons why someone might yell at you to show them the money.

Additional Notable References

  • Cuba Gooding, Jr. pulled this one out during his Oscar acceptance speech.
  • If you live in Missouri and have unclaimed property, you can go to showmethemoney.com to search for it.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

"Show me the money!" got overused so fast, everyone was screaming "Stop showing me the money!" by the end of the month.