The Jerk (1979)
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The Jerk Movie Review
The Jerk is a 1979 comedy film directed by Carl Reiner and starring Steve Martin. It’s a flawed, but overall very good comedy flick.
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“First they didn’t have the bamboo umbrellas for the drinks,
and now snails on the food, two boobs!“
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Navin believes he was born a poor black child in Mississippi. He is, however, actually white. Upon figuring this out, he heads north to St. Louis to find himself. After landing a job at a gas station, Navin is excited to discover his name printed in the new phone book. This ratification of his existence leads him from one misadventure to another – as he invents gadgets, dodges bullets, joins the carnival and seeks love in the arms of beautiful Marie.
This is a very uneven movie, so uneven in fact that it could be both quite weak and exceptional in one scene after another. That is somewhat expected from most comedies so I ultimately gave it a bit of a pass for that.
My main problem with the film is that it never really cashed in on its amazing premise. Yes, there are some great jokes here and moments where this premise was utilized to the fullest, but overall the movie ditched that white man believes he is black story for another story, and I was personally a bit disappointed with that.
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As for that other story, I mostly really liked it thankfully enough. Yes, we have seen many times before and after a stupid man making a fool out of himself in comedies, but Steve Martin made Navin genuinely likable with his terrific, very believable performance. He’s great here, and the character is more endearing than annoying, at least for the most part.
I also found Bernadette Peters as Marie Kimble Johnson really superb and charming in the role. The other characters are also fine, but these two are the most important and the most likable of the bunch. I loved their romance, and some of their interactions are so terrific that they made the film quite breezy and fun.
I did find some things here absolutely ludicrous such as the more outlandish storylines typical of its era and not really all that funny to begin with. Those include some of the more supporting characters who are just there to be pointless or annoying as well as some gadgets and firing bullets sequences which were too ludicrous for me to get into them properly.
But this uneven movie benefits from a couple of truly outstanding sequences that make it a good film in the end. I did like the beginning which utilized on the family wonderfully and I also really liked the ending too, but the standout for me has to be that truly exceptional dinner sequence.
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All of the two’s dates are superb, there is no doubt about it whatsoever. But this one takes the cake as the finest, most charming sequence of the bunch, not to mention the funniest. The line about snails really cracked me up, and this is the pinnacle of a stupid man humor which showcases that when done right, it can be quite hilarious.
The dialogue is also solid, and the direction is good too, but The Jerk’s pacing is quite bad, and the structure is overall unpolished and very uneven. The whole film is uneven, but the charm and good humor are there for the most part.
The Jerk is a highly uneven movie which can be weak in some not so funny sequences and it never fully utilized on its amazing premise, but there is no denying the fact that when it works, it really works. Steve Martin is excellent in the main role, and the romance I found very charming. The humor is also very good along with the dialogue. The highlight has to be that exceptional and hilarious dinner sequence.
