Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

ChampDavSlim The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

BlackJack_B I remember seeing Steve Martin in his "Wild & Crazy" mode with the arrow through his head as a kid. Over the years, Martin has mellowed quite a bit and has focused more on music (he has been to Ottawa Jazzfest the last two years) than acting, directing or writing movies. The Jerk hearkens back to his days as "Wild & Crazy" Steve and remains laugh-out loud funny.I sometimes wonder what kind of personality Navin Johnson has. Is he an idiot savant, does he have Asperger Syndrome, is he bored with life and lives recklessly to tolerate it or is he just a parody of Steve Martin himself? He's a difficult character to define and that what makes his character cool. You don't know what you're getting with him. In today's movies with one-dimensional characters, Navin Johnson's personality is rich with development.The film, about Navin's crazy experiences with independence, finding love and making a fortune is a laugh riot from start to finish. It still remains relevant because it avoided topicality. Bernadette Peters looks as delicious as ever and it's good to see the likes of Bill Macy and the fine Blues duo of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee in the cast. It still has that vibrancy like it did in 1979.If you long to see the Steve Martin of old, his sparkling debut as a leading man is the film to see. Highly recommended.

edwagreen Imagine that Steve Martin, raised by a black family, has to have the family tell him that he is not biologically theirs. Really? How asinine can this become, especially when he has a dog named Stupid who is anything but that.The film picks up with the entry of Bernadette Peters and how the two go from a rags to riches way of life, only to lose it all.There are some funny situations with Jackie Mason and a lunatic who pulls Martin's name out of the phone book at random with the intention to kill him. Some groups who advocate for mentally challenged people may find the film offensive.

SnoopyStyle Navin Johnson (Steve Martin) is down and out. He tells the story of his life. He grew up as a poor black boy with his black family. He's a clueless naive manic idiot who goes to the big city St. Louis. He gets a job at the gas station from Harry Hartounian (Jackie Mason). It's a random series of crazy events. He invents a way to support glasses and salesman Stan Fox (Bill Macy) goes 50-50 with him. A madman (M. Emmet Walsh) is after him for no good reason. He escapes to join the carnival as Guess Your Weight. He's taken by rough stunt bike rider Patty Bernstein (Catlin Adams) but he falls for sweet Marie (Bernadette Peters). Marie runs away and he ends up in L.A. That's where he reconnects with Stan Fox and finds out he's wildly rich.It's ridiculous and it's even funny. Steve Martin is putting all his skills of performance and writing to work in his first feature starring role. It's like half of 'Dumb and Dumber'. That's really my only wish. I wish he had another comedian to play off of. It would be even better if he was a comedy duo. He's funniest when Bernadette Peters is with him. This is completely ridiculous and stupid. That's where most of the humor comes from.

eblien Didn't find this funny or charming at all. Steve Martin who is so great in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, great comedian, great timing and all, so I thought I might like this. But The Jerk seems to be more old-fashioned 1940's American wee-he silly kind of humor that I do not understand at all.If that's your cup of tea then go ahead!Minor spoiler: Something that boggled me was why this jerk person seemed to alter between mildly dumb to complete and utter retard? It was like he started out a real complete nonfunctional retard then moved into a phase where he was just mildly immature, back and forth, and then at the end a complete retard again? Was that part of the humor?None of the movie made any sense to me. Very old fashioned even by 1979. Not funny.