As a 1970s stand-up comic, Steve Martin had practically everyone in America using the catch phrases "Excuuuuse me" and "wild and crazy guy." He went on to become a screenwriter, playwright, novelist, and art collector, although he's undoubtedly best-known today as a movie actor. I think some of Martin's most memorable performances have been in "Roxanne" (1987), "Grand Canyon" (1991), and "Bowfinger" (1999).
But the most hilarious Steve Martin movie for me is still "The Jerk" (1979), which was his first starring role in a feature-length film. Directed by Carl Reiner, "The Jerk" is number 89 on AFI's list of America's 100 funniest movies. And it's more than just a laugh-out-loud comedy?it also has a sweet romance between the characters played by Martin and Bernadette Peters.
I must warn the unwary that the humor in "The Jerk" is extremely silly. For example, Martin's character says about that romance, "I know we've only known each other for four weeks and three days, but to me it seems like nine weeks and five days." He also tells his new love he wants to say to her something that's always been difficult for him to say, then recites the tongue twister, "I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit."
In "The Jerk," Martin plays the protagonist, Navin Johnson, who has been brought up by sharecroppers. After his foster father explains to him the difference between horse manure and shoe polish, Navin sets out on his own to find his destiny and has a series of adventures.
The movie doesn't have much of a plot, and I would characterize its narrative structure as episodic.
On his journey, Navin takes any job he can get, and for a while, he works at a carnival. ("For one dollar, I'll guess your weight, your height, or your sex.") He gets into a sexual relationship with a dominatrix-like motorcycle daredevil (Catlin Adams), who has his name tattooed among many others on her derriere. But he finds the love of his life when he meets the cosmetologist Marie (Bernadette Peters).
One day while Navin is working at a gas station, a customer has trouble with his spectacles slipping down and curses, "Damn these glasses." Mistakenly believing the customer to be using the imperative mood, Navin intones at the eyeglasses, "I damn thee!" But this turns out to be a fortuitous encounter for Navin because it leads him to invent a glasses handle called the Opti-Grab that eventually makes him a millionaire.
"The Jerk" has been out on DVD for some time now, but the 26th Anniversary Edition is somewhat better than the earlier version. One enhancement is that the audio has been restored and made available for the first time in 5.1 Surround Sound. There are also two new bonus features, although I found both of them only mildly interesting.
The first extra is "Learn How to Play 'Tonight You Belong to Me'," which consists of four segments: "Tune Ukulele," "Play Lesson" (2 min. 50 sec.), "Play Along with the Ukulele Gal" (1 min. 13 sec.), "Play Along with the Jerk" (1 min. 56 sec.). The idea here is that the viewer can learn to play and sing "Tonight You Belong to Me," which is performed by Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters in the movie.
The other bonus material is "The Lost Filmstrips of Father Carlos Las Vegas de Cordova" (4 min. 15 sec.). This is the continuation of the sequence in the film where a priest tries to get the millionaire Navin to donate money by showing him footage of cat juggling. The additional footage documents other atrocities, including fish teasing, plant abusing, and pet dressing.
Below I've listed the details for "The Jerk" (26th Anniversary Edition) DVD.
DVD Details:
Release Date: July 26, 2005
Feature Run Time: 1 Hour 34 Minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1), Color
English Dolby Digital 5.1
French Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
English Captions for the Hearing Impaired
Spanish Subtitles
French Subtitles
Learn How to Play "Tonight You Belong to Me"
The Lost Filmstrips of Father Carlos Las Vegas de Cordova
Original Theatrical Trailer
Production Notes (text)