Themes: Saintly Fools, Big Break, Fish Out of Water
Main Cast: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Catlin Adams, Mabel King, Richard Ward
Release Year: 1979
Country: US
Run Time: 94 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Carl Reiner directs Steve Martin (who co-wrote the script with Carl Gottlieb) in this gag-laden comedy about an idiotic white man, raised by a poor family of black sharecroppers, who doesn't realize he's not black. Navin R. Johnson (Steve Martin) is told the horrible truth when he finds himself instinctively tapping his feet to an easy listening tune on the radio, instead of a low-down blues. His mother (Mabel King) tells him he's white and Navin takes to the road (in a World War II bomber helmet and goggles) to start a new life in St. Louis. A filling station owner, Harry Hartounian (Jackie Mason), give Navin his first break, hiring him to pump gas. One day at the station, Navin has a brainstorm, concocting an invention called "The Opti-grab," a combination handle and nose-brace for eyeglasses. But Navin runs into trouble when a crazed killer (M. Emmet Walsh) picks out his name at random from the telephone book and tries to kill him. Navin escapes to a traveling carnival, where he wrangles a job as the "guess-your-weight" man. At the carnival, he discovers his sexual nature, thanks to stunt rider and S&M enthusiast Patty Bernstein (Catlin Adams). But Navin meets the beautiful Marie (Bernadette Peters) and he quickly falls in love. In the meantime, the "Opti-grab" has taken off and soon Navin is a millionaire. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Steve Martin became famous for being goofy. As the majority of '70s comedians were reveling in the newly discovered freedom to make explicit commentaries on society and politics (Richard Pryor, George Carlin), Martin became a sensation simply because he had happy feet and wore an arrow through his head. He was not a silly man, but he had an appreciation for the absurd, not unlike the members of Monty Python. Before evolving into a formidable writer (Roxanne, L.A. Story, Bowfinger, and Picasso at the Lapin Agile) The Jerk captured Martin at the peak of his silliness. There are precursors to The Jerk (Jerry Lewis' work comes to mind) and there are films that it obviously influenced (Dumb and Dumber). While the best bits from this film could easily be used in those other films (it does not require much work to imagine Jim Carrey covering his behind and his privates with small poodles as he runs around naked), it is the essential sweetness in Martin's characterization that sets this film apart from both its forbears and its imitators. One can see the aggression that Carrey and Lewis direct toward themselves and, occasionally, their audience. Carrey beating himself up in both Liar, Liar and Me, Myself, and Irene is a good example of this tendency. Martin's performance never winks at the audience; there is no sense that Martin the actor knows this is funny material. He is confident that all the humor will stem not from his lack of mental capabilities, but because he is a saintly fool who always attempts to do the right thing. Whether saving cans or getting a proper dinner at a fancy restaurant for his true love, Navin's motives are pure. He may not have a brain, but he has a big heart. The film is a success because it's screamingly funny without degrading its characters or its audience, and it's sweet without being bathetic, sentimental, or maudlin. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Dick Anthony Williams - Taj; Bill Macy - Stan Fox; M. Emmet Walsh - Madman; Dick O'Neill - Frosty; Maurice Evans - Hobart; Helena Carroll - Hester; Jackie Mason - Harry Hartounian; Carl Reiner - Himself; Lillian Adams - Tillie; Alston Ahern - Bride; Domingo Ambriz - Father De Cordoba; Kimberly Cameron - Disco Party; Alfred Dennis - Irving; Richard Foronjy - Con Man; Elizabeth Macey - Disco Party; Ken Magee - Carnival Rube; Maurice Marsac - French Waiter; Lenny Montana - Con Man; Pepe Serna - Punk No. 1; Trinidad Silva - Punk; Ren Woods - Elvira; Carl Gottlieb - Iron Balls McGinty; David Landsberg - Bank Manager; Fred Lerner - Con Man; Brownie McGee - Blues Singer; Sonny Terry - Blues Singer; Joe Lynn - Voodoo Dancer; Clete Roberts - Announcer; Debbie Evans - Stunts; Frances Williams - Grandma Johnson
Credit
Peter Macgregor-Scott - Associate Producer, Penny Perry - Casting, Theadora Van Runkle - Costume Designer, Newt Arnold - First Assistant Director, Carl Reiner - Director, Bud Molin - Editor, Jack Elliott - Composer (Music Score), Del Acevedo - Makeup, Bob Thomas - Camera Operator, Jack T. Collis - Production Designer, Victor J. Kemper - Cinematographer, William E. McEuen - Producer, David V. Picker - Producer, Carl McEuen - Producer, Richard C. Goddard - Set Designer, Joe Hubbard - Set Designer, Henry Millar - Special Effects, Charles M. Wilborn - Sound/Sound Designer, Michael Elias - Screenwriter, Carl Gottlieb - Screenwriter, Steve Martin - Screenwriter
In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted The Jerk the 48th greatest comedy film of all time. This film is #20 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies" and #89 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs. Premiere magazine voted Steve Martin's performance of Navin Johnson #89 on their list, "The 100 Greatest Performances of All Time." It has an 83% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film begins with Navin R. Johnson (Martin), a homeless bum, directly addressing the camera and telling his story. He is the adopted white son of African American sharecroppers, who grows to adulthood naïvely unaware of his obvious adoption. He stands out in his family not just because of his skin color, but also because of his utter lack of rhythm. One night, he hears a Lawrence Welk tune on the radio and his feet spontaneously begin to move with the urge to dance; he sees this as a calling and decides to hitchhike to St. Louis, from where the song was broadcast. On the way, he stops at a motel, where a dog wakes him up by barking at his door. Navin thinks the dog is trying to tell him there's a fire and decides to name the dog "Lifesaver." He wakes up the other hotel guests to rescue them, but when everyone realizes it was a false alarm, one man angrily suggests he call the dog "Shithead", which he does.
Navin gets a job (and a place to sleep) at a gas station owned by Mr. Harry Hartounian (Mason). He's thrilled to find that he's listed in the local phone book, as his name is "in print" for the first time. Not long after, a gun-wielding lunatic (Walsh) randomly flips through the phone book and picks "Johnson, Navin R." as his next victim. As the madman watches through his rifle scope, Navin is fixing the slippery glasses of a customer, Stan Fox (played by Bill Macy), by adding a handle and a nose brake. Fox offers to split the profits 50/50 with Navin if he can market the invention, then leaves. The crazed sniper tries to kill Navin, but fails, hitting the oil cans in the station window and a soft-drink machine. Navin assumes that the gunman is out to shoot the cans— "there's something wrong with these cans! He HATES these CANS!"
The lunatic chases him to a traveling carnival. Navin climbs into a truck to hide, but the truck drives away; Navin ends up getting a job with SJM Fiesta Shows as a weight guesser. While employed there, Navin meets a daredevil biker woman named Patty Bernstein (Catlin Adams) and has a sexual relationship with her, finally realizing what his "special purpose" (his euphemism for penis) is for. He then meets a woman named Marie (Peters) and arranges a date with her. Patty confronts them, but Marie knocks her out cold. While courting, Navin and Marie walk along the beach and sing "Tonight You Belong to Me", with Navin playing the ukulele and Marie on the cornet. Navin and Marie fall in love, but Marie decides to leave him because of his lack of financial security. She writes a note and slips out while Navin is in the bath singing his new song, "I'm Picking Out A Thermos For You."
Navin soon finds out that his glasses invention, now called the Opti-Grab, is selling big and he's entitled to half of the profits; his first check is for $250,000, though Navin initially believes the total to be just $250. He finds and marries Marie, and they hire a live-in butler and chambermaid, despite living in a small apartment. The next check is for $750,000, which he uses to buy an extravagant mansion. Navin doesn't stay rich for long, though, as director Carl Reiner (playing himself) files a class action lawsuit against Navin, claiming that the invention caused his crossed eyes and the death of a stunt driver. Nearly ten million other people have the same complaint and join the lawsuit. Navin is forced to refund $1.09 to every Opti-Grab customer (he is seen hand-writing each check), which bankrupts him. He is also forced to write a check to 'Iron Balls McGinty', a nemesis who had previously physically attacked Navin at his home, due to McGinty's involvement in the lawsuit.
Depressed, he leaves abruptly wearing nothing but his robe and his pants around his ankles. He claims that the only things he needs to survive are the TV remote control, a paddle-ball game, some matches and a few other items. Living on the streets, he trades all of these items for a thermos, catching the story up to where the movie began. Marie contacts Navin's family, who've carefully invested the small sums of money he sent home throughout the film and become wealthy themselves. They find him (in the first place they look) and pick him up off the street, he and Marie move back home in a "bigger house" (the same old shack, with new rooms added-on and a ten-foot front door), and they live happily ever after. The story ends with the entire family dancing on the porch and singing 'Pick a Bail of Cotton', a old negro spiritual popularized in the 20th century by folk singer Leadbelly.
An unsuccessful sequel, The Jerk, Too, was made for television with Mark Blankfield. The story revolved around Navin traveling to Los Angeles to attend his pen pal's wedding.
Bill Murray filmed a cameo, but it was cut. On an episode of Saturday Night Live from December 15, 1979, Murray reviewed the film, saying he felt the film was "missing something".
In the Freaks and Geeks episode "The Little Things", Sam Weir takes Cindy Sanders to see The Jerk on their first date together, only to discover she doesn't find it funny. A clip of Navin getting shot at in the gas station is shown. In another episode, "Smooching and Mooching", Bill Haverchuck does an impression of Navin in the "cans" scene. Earlier in the episode, Weir calls The Jerk "the perfect film", also commenting that Stripes is "only half good".
The film can be seen playing in the background of the Ranger barracks in Black Hawk Down.
The famous scene of Steve Martin only covered by his dog is shown in the film Whip It.
