The Jerk (1979)
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A naive man's life takes a series of absurd turns as he navigates a path from Mississippi to Los Angeles.
The story
Navin Johnson, a naive man raised in Mississippi by black sharecroppers, discovers he is adopted on his birthday. After finding he can dance perfectly to a specific style of music, he decides to travel to St. Louis. Along his journey, he encounters various odd jobs, including working as a gas station attendant and a weight guesser at a traveling carnival. During these adventures, he meets a daredevil motorcyclist and a cosmetologist. After a series of comedic mishaps and a brief period of wealth, Navin finds himself facing legal trouble and financial ruin, eventually returning to his roots.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Navin Johnson, the white adopted son of black sharecroppers in Mississippi, grows up unaware of his origins until his mother reveals he is adopted on his birthday. After discovering he can dance perfectly to champagne-style music, he travels to St. Louis, adopting a dog named 'Shithead' along the way. He works as a gas station attendant, where he accidentally destroys a church, and later becomes a weight guesser at a carnival. There, he meets Patty Bernstein, a daredevil motorcyclist, and Marie Kimble, a cosmetologist. After a brief romance with Marie ends due to his lack of financial security, Navin travels to Los Angeles. He eventually meets Stan Fox, an inventor who pays him $250,000 for a profit share on a device called the Opti-Grab. Navin marries Marie and lives extravagantly until a class action lawsuit filed by Carl Reiner and millions of customers leaves him broke and penniless. After a final argument with Marie, Navin returns to his adoptive family, who have become wealthy. They take him and Marie to live in a larger version of their old shack, where Navin finally dances to folk songs with perfect rhythm.
- First release year
- 1979
- Runtime (minutes)
- 95
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Carl Reiner
- Writers
- Steve Martin · story; Carl Gottlieb · story; Steve Martin · screenplay; Carl Gottlieb · screenplay; Michael Elias · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Steve Martin · Navin Johnson; Bernadette Peters · Marie Kimble; Catlin Adams · Patty Bernstein; Jackie Mason; M. Emmet Walsh; Maurice Evans; Carl Reiner · Carl Reiner, the Celebrity; Sharon Johansen · Mrs. Hartounian
- Genres
- comedy; adventure
- Themes
- Identity; Class mobility; Naivety
- Tone and mood
- Comedic; Crude; Absurd
- Premise and plot tags
- Comedy; Road Movie; Fish out of water
- Franchise connections
- The Jerk
- Reception
- The film was a major financial success and received mostly positive critical reviews, though some critics found it to be heavy on gags.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 82% · review count: 44; Metacritic · score: 61 · review count: 14
- Production trivia
- Steve Martin's first starring role in a feature film.; The film's title grew out of conversations between Martin and Reiner.; The film was praised by Stanley Kubrick, leading to a meeting to discuss Eyes Wide Shut.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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