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Dancing_P [ 8.0 ]
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The thing that strikes me most about Steve Martin's early work is how he manages to make the films completely his. As brilliant as the work of his counterparts (Bill Murray, Chevy Chase... maybe even Dan Aykroyd) at the time can be, it's not impossible to see other people in these guys' roles. Steve Martin, however, makes it look like he's the only guy who ever could've been considered. The Jerk was Martin's first vehicle (he had cameoed in a couple of other films prior, already being somewhat famous from his TV appearances) and while parts of it have dated pretty badly, it's still a very funny movie to this day. Navin R. Johnson (Steve Martin) was born a poor black child in rural Mississippi; on his 18th birthday, his mother reveals to him that he is not their natural-born son and that he must make his way in the world alone now. So the naive Navin sets out into the world to find fame and fortune, working at a gas station and carnival until finally striking it rich. Obviously, this is not going to win any awards for originality despite the ludicrous concept of Steve Martin (perhaps the whitest guy in showbiz) as a guy so dumb that he doesn't realize he's white. But I'll be damned if Martin doesn't make it work. He manages to make the character completely ridiculous without making fun of his naiveté; this is Martin's show all the way. The humor has aged surprisingly well (although this movie features the most awkward trick shot this side of Ed Wood) despite the usual stigmas that come with a once-shocking film.
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kcremer [ 8.0 ]
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Steve Martin is great, and this has to be the funniest dog I've ever seen in a movie. There's a scene where Martin tells his dog (aptly named Shithead) to sick a would-be attacker. The dog sicks Martin instead. The timing of the two is perfect in all their scenes together.
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DokBrowne [ 6.5 ]
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I like its absurdist tone, its willingness to break the rules of traditional comedies, but I think it might have been funnier if I'd seen it a lot sooner than the end of 2005. Like, say, back in the '80s, before "The Simpsons" and other films and TV shows co-opted Carl Reiner's sense of humor in a much funnier way. Has some funny moments, and some that you can appreciate for their clever stupidity, but still, it left me wanting more most of the time, and while this may be the worst nitpick in the history of movie criticism, I have to admit that I was disappointed for the fact that Steve Martin was NOT a jerk, only an idiot. Comedies about jerks are (conceivably) funnier than ones about retards
Bernadette Peters is hot, though
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Love_Spoon [ 7.0 ]
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I'm going to be honest here and say that I only saw the Jerk once, right when it came out. However, I remember that it was one of the funniest movied I can remember watching. Steve Martin is an idiot, raised by black sharecroppers who don't realize thathe's not black. His situation is revealed when he begins to tap his toes to easy listening music rather than the blues. He leaves his adopted family and goes to work in St. Louis as a gas pump attendant, when he has a brainstorm and invents the Opti-Grab, a handle/nose-brace for easily removing eyeglasses. However, crazed killer (M. Emmet Walsh) picks out his name at random from the telephone book and tries to kill him. Navin escapes to the carnival, where he becomes the weight-guesser. He is awakened sexually by a fellow carnie, but falls in love with the beautiful Marie (Bernadette Peters), while the Opti-grab finds its market and makes him a millionaire. Quite racy, but at times hilariously funny.
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s_rocketship [ 8.5 ]
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Steve Martin plays the pathetic idiot, Navin Johnson. He moves away from his black sharecropper parents to find his meaning in life once he disovers that there is more to life one night while listening to an easy listening station. The plot only gets more ridiculous from there, but the movie gets funnier. I assume that people who don't like this movie either a, haven't got a sense of humor or, b, have only seen it once. This is a movie that gets funnier every time you see it. There are several immortal scenes in this movie: when a psychopath tries to kill martin at the gas station where he lives and works as well as many others.
If you haven't seen this movie, I suggest watching it three times.
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| Weighted Rating | : 6.6 |
| No. Ratings | : 17 | |
| No. Reviews | : 10 | |
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