Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is a glossy 35-year-old sports agent working for Sports Management International (SMI). He writes a mission statement about perceived dishonesty in the sports management business, "The Things We Think and Do Not Say: The Future of Our Business." Management sends Bob Sugar (Jay Mohr), Jerry's protégé, to fire him. Jerry and Sugar call all of Jerry's clients to try convincing them not to hire the services of the other. Sugar secures most of Jerry's previous clients. Jerry speaks to Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), one of his clients who is disgruntled with his contract. Rod tests Jerry's resolve through a very long telephone conversation, culminating in the famed "Show me the money!" scene. Meanwhile, . Frank "Cush" Cushman (Jerry O'Connell), a superstar quarterback prospect from Southern Methodist University expected to be number one in the NFL Draft, also stays with Jerry after he makes a visit to the Cushman home. Leaving the office, Jerry announces that he will start his own agency and asks if anyone is willing to join him, to which only 26-year-old single mother Dorothy Boyd (Renée Zellweger) agrees. Jerry is dropped by Cushman and breaks up with his disgruntled fiancée. He then turns to Dorothy, becoming closer to her young son, Ray (Jonathan Lipnicki), and eventually starts a relationship with her. However, Dorothy contemplates moving to San Diego as she has a secure job offer there. Jerry concentrates all his efforts on Rod, now his only client, who turns out to be very difficult to satisfy. Over the next several months, the two direct harsh criticism towards each other with Rod claiming that Jerry is not trying hard enough to get him a contract while Jerry claims that Rod is not proving himself worthy of the money for which he asks. Jerry marries Dorothy to help them both stay afloat financially and to keep her from moving away. He is emotionally and physically distant during the marriage but is clearly invested in becoming a father to Ray. Although Dorothy loves Jerry, she breaks up with him because she believes that he does not love her. Before the start of a Monday Night Football game between the Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys, Sugar tries stealing Rod, but Rod and Jerry rebuke him. The two reconcile soon after. Rod plays well but appears to receive a serious injury when catching a touchdown. He recovers, however, and dances for the wildly cheering crowd. Afterwards, Jerry and Rod embrace in front of other athletes and sports agents and show how their relationship has progressed from a strictly business one to a close personal one, which was one of the points Jerry made in his mission statement. Jerry then flies back home to meet Dorothy. He walks in and, in front of her friends, says "Hello." He then speaks for several minutes, telling her that he loves her and wants her in his life, ending with the statement, "You complete me." Dorothy's reply to Jerry is, "You had me at 'hello.'" Rod later appears on Roy Firestone's sports show. Unbeknownst to him, Jerry has secured him an $11.2 million contract with the Cardinals allowing him to finish his pro football career in Arizona. The visibly emotional Rod proceeds to thank everyone and extends warm gratitude to Jerry. Jerry speaks with several other pro athletes, some of whom have read his earlier mission statement and respect his work with Rod. The film ends with Jerry, Dorothy, and Ray walking in the park and stumbling across a Little League Baseball game. When the ball lands near them, Ray throws it back. A surprised Jerry then comments on his natural throwing ability (and possible future in sports), much to Dorothy's dismay.

Taking place almost exactly after Critters 3, Charlie McFadden places the last two remaining Crite eggs inside the preservation capsule as instructed by Ug. Charlie is somehow also locked inside and sent into space, where he remains in hibernation until a salvage ship finds the pod in the year 2045. The crew (which includes Captain Rick, Fran, Bernie, Al Bert, and young Ethan) reluctantly report the discovery to the Terracorp Council, upon discovering their old logo on the side of the pod. They then go to an abandoned Terracorp station to await the arrival of the council. The station is actually on its last legs and will blow up within a month or so. Furthermore, the station is controlled by a computer called Angela, which only takes orders if given the opposite instruction: working on the flawed logic that the crew are not authorised to have access and it should do the opposite of what they command. A selfish Rick however decides to open the pod early, freeing Charlie but also letting loose two young Crites which kill Rick and escape, while the crew constantly bicker about where to go from there. After a close call in a waste disposal unit, Charlie and Ethan are rescued by Bernie. Charlie learns from the others that he is no longer in 1992, and that everybody he knew on earth is now dead. Ethan finds a lab coat containing a keycard. But just like Rick earlier, Bernie strays from the group, takes the keycard with him and is then killed by the now adult Critters inside a pharmacy room. Following an attack from a lone Crite, Charlie carelessly uses an antique gun to kill it, but ends up deactivating the ship with only one bullet remaining. From then on, the crew are sitting ducks. Ethan then dashes off to search for the remaining Crite, shouting at Al Bert. Terracorp arrives shortly thereafter, but they are not there to negotiate payment. They simply want the Crite eggs returned to them. Ug, now a corrupt businessman going by the name Counselor Tetra, kills an uncooperative Al Bert, and threatens to kill Fran next unless the eggs are returned. Charlie is upset, barely accepting that his old friend has now become a traitorous villain. Tetra sends his guards to find the Crites, but the nuclear reactor begins a 10 minute self-destruction sequence. Ethan lures the guards into a room full of genetically altered Critters, which kill the guards. After killing the lead Crite, Ethan is threatened by Tetra at gunpoint. Charlie re-appears and shoots his former friend without any hesitation. With the Critters now extinct, Charlie, Ethan and Fran take Ug/Tetra's ship and begin their delayed flight back to Earth.