The Jerk

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Melissa L @Agent99 Aug 14 It was okay, but I can't help but feel that it's a little racist. See more Landon J @Minxsykitty Jul 29 Just like the last Martin movie I watched "The Man with two brains" this feels like such a disappointment. Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad. Not just boring, but painfully crass. No redeeming qualities. See more R T @crillovision Jul 3 The team of Carl Reiner and Steve Martin made four comedies that are near pitch perfect in both yok deliveries and concepts hitherto unexplored. The Jerk started off the parade and is probably the best introductory flick for a new to the screen comedian I can think of, although Dangerfield's "Easy Money" is in the same league. The title character embodies the onstage Martin - you know the guy with the arrow through his head. He is the perfect fool and throughout never flinches from going full bore. There are so many original catch phrases throughout but my favorite is still "It's not about the money - it's about the stuff". I suspect most comedians having the success Martin had with this would have run with the same type character in follow-up films but next for him and his director was the brilliant "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid". The rest of his career has always been involved in almost highbrow comedy by comparison but here he shines in antics straight from vaudeville or silents. See more Melissa M @Lisey Jun 21 Navin Johnson is a poor black child. On his birthday he gets his favorite meal a tuna fish sandwich 2 Twinkies, Tab & the truth. That night he hears big band music. He decides he wants to go out into the big world. His family tells him the difference between shinola & you know what. While staying at a fleabag motel he finds a dog that is more clueless than him. His 1st job is at a gas station. After an offbeat conversation with an inventor & run in with a gun toting maniac who Navin thinks hates cans. He runs away with the circus. He meets Patty who helps him find his special purpose. After his offbeat meet-cute with Marie. They have a on again off again relationship. Navin goes from rags, to filthy rich, back to rags but with a bigger shack. The movie has some gratuitousness, the n word, & cat juggling. But it also has Navin donating money to stop cat juggling, Marie & Navin's silly serenade to each other, The Thermos Song, Navin's humble narration of how he became The Jerk. See more Ricky M. @RT93491117 Apr 28 Had a weird Forest Gump vibe. Half decent movie though. See more Phil H. @PapercutsAndJumpcuts Feb 18 The Jerk is basically Steve Martin asking how long pure stupidity can stay funny… & then proving the answer is “a very long time, but not forever.” The movie runs on jokes that shouldn’t work and somehow keep escalating instead of wearing out. Martin’s Navin isn’t innocent so much as immune to self-awareness, the ol’ SNL template… which turns every setback into momentum. Some bits absolutely date themselves, but the rhythm never does. And the comedy comes from commitment, not cleverness. It’s not deep, it’s not tidy, & it absolutely doesn’t care… which is exactly why it still (mostly) lands. See more Read all reviews

The Jerk

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