Its humor is successful and unsuccessful by turns, and although Comedian Carl Reiner is the director, the instinct here is to give most of both credit and blame to Martin.
The Jerk (1979)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:29
Fresh:24
Rotten:5
Average Rating:6.4/10
Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Navin Johnson, a none-too-bright white boy raised by a family of black sharecroppers, somehow manages to reach adulthood without ever discovering he was adopted. His parents finally tell him the... Navin Johnson, a none-too-bright white boy raised by a family of black sharecroppers, somehow manages to reach adulthood without ever discovering he was adopted. His parents finally tell him the truth on his birthday and, shocked by the news, he decides to head off to the big city to seek his fortune. Although he embarks on his odyssey with Candide-like optimism, Navin soon learns the cruel ways of the world as his crazy invention--a device to stop one's glasses from sliding--leads him from rags to riches and back to rags. Steve Martin is riotous in this no-holds-barred broad slapstick comedy, with Bernadette Peters playing his accepting love interest. Jackie Mason, M. Emmet Walsh, and Bill Macy are excellent in small roles, but the focus is always on Martin, who is at his goofy best in a film loaded with hysterical sight gags and a dog whose name cannot be said on television. [More]
Starring: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Catlin Adams, Mabel King
Starring: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Catlin Adams, Mabel King, M. Emmet Walsh, Dick Anthony Williams, Dick O'Neill, Maurice Evans, Pepe Serna, Carl Gottlieb, Jackie Mason, David Landsberg, Carl Reiner, Bill Macy, Helena Carroll, Ren Woods, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee
Director: Carl Reiner
Director: Carl Reiner
Producer: David V. Picker, William E. McEuen
Screenwriter: Steve Martin, Carl Gottlieb, Michael Elias
Story: Carl Gottlieb, Steve Martin
Composer: Jack Elliott
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Reviews for The Jerk
An artless, non-stop barrage of off-the-wall situations, funny and unfunny jokes, generally effective and sometimes hilarious sight gags and bawdy non sequiturs.
If only he could have satisfied himself with this area of expertise, people would still talk of Steve Martin as one of the kings of comic cinema.
The comedy runs out of steam when the jerk makes good, but laugh for laugh it's probably a better investment than 10.
The whole thing is uneven and slight, but the highlight moments guilty-pleasure us with the sort of stupid-funny that's 'LOL' quotable afterward.
While The Jerk is an extremely episodic little movie, that's a malady easily forgiven -- simply because the episodes are so damn funny.
We get the sense at times that the cast and crew arrived at a location, found the script bankrupt of real laughs, and started looking around for funny props.
The laughs aren't steady, but they're persistent, and the film moves fast enough to compensate for its unevenness.
Martin's one-liners are pretty funny, very dry, and awfully quotable.
Latest News for The Jerk
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After kicking off her movie career in Superbad as the high-school hottie throwing the cool party, Emma Stone is rapidly carving a niche for herself as a young actress with good... More...
November 17, 2005:
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A fresh press release from Universal informs us that there will soon be a "Bring It On 3" to enjoy, but also reminds us that, hey yeah, there WAS a direct-to-video... More...
July 12, 2005:
Trailer Bulletin: Shopgirl
MovieWeb.com is the first to offer the classy and amusing trailer for "Shopgirl," a grown-up romantic comedy starring Steve Martin ("The Jerk"), Claire Danes... More...
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