Review: The Jerk (26th Anniversary Edition) (B-)

Jerk, The (1979)
Directed by Carl Reiner
Starring Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Mabel King, M. Emmet Walsh, Carl Reiner
MPAA: R
Grade: B-

Review by Bobby Nashville

One of my old school favorites, The Jerk is one of those "wacky Steve Martin films" that you are either going to love, or totally hate. Steve Martin's comedy has been a bit more refined these days, but back in 1979, he was truly doing everything he could to live up to the "wild and crazy guy" reputation.

The Jerk is full of silly one liners, wacky shenanigans and all around tom foolery. In other words, it's not the thinking man's comedy. Martin plays Navin R. Johnson, a weird, absurdly stupid white man that was "born a poor black child". The story is simple: complete idiot has nothing, idiot gets girl, idiot gets rich, idiot loses girl, idiot tries to get it all back. The storyline is actually not important. The entire film is a simply a structure that exists only for Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters to riff jokes over and of make eyes at each other.

I enjoyed watching the 26th Anniversary Edition of the Jerk again, but it is starting to feel a bit dated (as all wacky comedies do). For Steve Martin fans, this is a must own. For those that can take or leave his comedy, its worth a rent and of course, if you are not a Steven martin fan, you should probably steer clear.

One final note - this DVD contained a very cool feature where you can learn to play the ukelele. Cool!