The Jerk
Director: Carl Reiner Run Time: 94 min. Format: DCP Rating: PG Release Year: 1979
Starring: Bernadette Peters, Catlin Adams, Jackie Mason, Steve Martin
THE JERK was a poor black sharecropper’s son who never dreamed he was adopted.
Comedy is the art of making people laugh without making them puke. – Steve Martin
Naive bordering on idiocy, Navin’s charm and perseverance take him far away from his poor Mississippi farmhouse and into the glitz of Hollywood. Not only does he discover his “special purpose” bumbling through the country but he gets the dog and the girl and, quite by accident, creates an invention that makes him a millionaire. But as we all know, money doesn’t buy you anything but grief and poor loveable Navin finds out the hard way. Plus, this is Steve Martin at his best – doofy, funny, a little bit dirty and totally adorable.