The Jerk (1979)

I'd never seen this movie but have saw it sitting on video store shelves for nearly two decades now. I mistakenly thought the premise was that Martin was some sort of jerk, maybe an egoist, loudmouth, etc. In fact, that's not (quite) the case, Martin plays essentially the most gullible, naive man I've seen in cinema. From the first scene I knew I was in for something different, as Navin R. Johnson (Martin), now a bum living on the street, began retelling his story stating, "It was never easy for me. I was born a poor black child." For those that don't get the inherent humor, or have never seen Steve Martin, he's about as white as rice.

They don't make comedies like this anymore. Nowadays, they'd (most likely) toss Seth Rogan or someone into the lead role, add in some contemporary music to boost soundtrack sales, boost up the foul language and toilet humor, etc. But here, they allow the film to rely on Martin and his immense comedic strengths. His timing is suburb. From the moment he hitchhikes away from his Mississippi home, everywhere he lands, from working as a gas station attendant, to traveling with a carnival, losing his virginity in a trailer to a punk rock stunt woman, we are kept interested and laughing by Martin's portrayal of lovable loser Navin.

It doesn't have the emotional heft of Martin comedic gem Planes, Trains & Automobiles, which I recently watched and wrote about, but does offer a hefty dose of quality laughs and moments. Navin's first love Marie (Bernadette Peters in a fantastically understated and cute performance) helps anchor the second-half of the film. As stated before, the film doesn't offer much in the way of an emotional punch, but there is one scene I found quite beautiful, as Navin (playing the ukulele) and Marie walk along the beach at night singing "Tonight You Belong to Me", ending sweetly with Marie doing a cornet solo.