Review of The Jerk (1979) by Edith N — 01 Jul 2009

Not as Funny as I Remember.

Steve Martin is notoriously uneven when it comes to his movies. What's interesting is that everyone seems to think so. It doesn't matter whether you're big into [i]The Three Amigos[/i] and think [i]Shopgirl[/i] is a pretentious piece of crap, or you love [i]LA Story[/i] and wish he'd stop making those damned [i]Cheaper by the Dozen[/i] movies. I'm not sure I ever met anyone who simply didn't like anything he'd done. I'm also pretty sure I've never met anyone who likes all of it, either. It's probably to do with the wide range of movies he makes. (I thought everyone wished he'd stop making those damned [i]Pink Panther[/i] movies, but it seems the first one was successful enough to spawn a sequel. What's wrong with you people?) Of course, regardless of what any of us think, the man's career is older than I am, and he's still going. So I guess, as I've said about other people, changing your image can help. Only he doesn't, entirely--someone only familiar with his stand-up days would not be terribly surprised that he was doing some of the movies he's still making.

In this one, he is Navin Johnson, who owes his origins to one of Steve Martin's stand-up bits. Navin was born a poor black child. Only in the bit, he was actually black and [i]decided[/i] to become white. Navin has, so far as we can tell, been adopted and just doesn't know it. Or anyway, that's the only scenario that even approaches making sense. At any rate, he finds out that, no, he isn't black. So he goes off to find his "special purpose." He is sparked on this journey by the discovery of elevator music. Eventually, he goes to Los Angeles. (He says St. Louis, but that's clearly just a starting place.) He works for Jackie Mason at a gas station for a while. Then, he works for a carnival, where he encounters a skanky daredevil (Catlin Adams, I think) who pretty much takes advantage of his stupidity. Which is easy to do. And he ends up with Bernadette Peters instead. He is also the inventor of the Opti-Grab, a little thing that keeps glasses from slipping off. This makes him a lot of money.

The funny thing is that I'm not usually one for "laughing at" comedies. The career of Will Ferrell is almost entirely a void to me; I just don't think his lunatic man-child act is worth paying any attention to. Yet Navin is amusing to me in this movie, and I'm trying to figure out why. Part of it is probably that I was familiar with the bit first. ("So I became a TV weatherman.") Part of it, possibly, is that I know that Steve Martin isn't really like that, that I've seen him being intelligent in other things. However, I'm not sure that's enough. Possibly it's that Navin is so innocent. He isn't spending all that time making bodily-function jokes--oh, he's delighted to find his "special purpose," but it's, again, an innocent joy. He shows delight that what's-her-name has added his name to the list of people tattooed on her backside. He doesn't consider the facts that shows about her. (I'm inclined to distrust anyone who tattoos the name of someone who isn't a parent or child on any part of their anatomy, and especially so quickly.) He is not hateful; part of his problem is that he's too trusting.

The movie's a little overdone in places, and part of that is that we [i]are[/i] supposed to be laughing at and not with. Carl Reiner, who directed the movie, even steps in himself as someone to laugh at. Mostly, Navin moves among a world of straight men. People do take advantage of him, but it doesn't even feel as though any of them are laughing at him. (Part of it is that they're goggling at him instead!) However, once you get cross-eyed Carl Reiner, we know that we're supposed to be laughing at all the silly people instead of viewing someone who just isn't going to belong in any world ever. (One rather suspects his family knows that, but once he made his decision, they let him go through with it.) Roger complains that we are not laughing at the logic of the movie but at the silly props, and there are places where he's right. This moment signals a lengthy example.

I liked this movie a lot when I was younger. I am pleased to announce that it has aged better than [i]Popeye[/i], in that I'd willingly watch it again--especially in weather like this, where I'm not much for thinking. (It's a habit I picked up from my mother, one of the few I've felt worth keeping.) I'm not sure I'm glad I bought it, and I may pass it on to someone else, if anyone's interested, but it was nice to see it again. If you're a fan of early Steve Martin, though, I have to recommend going and tracking down the stand-up instead. A lot of the same jokes are there. He tells them better, though, and the fact that Steve Martin is an intelligent guy underneath it comes through much more clearly, even when he was just that guy with the arrow through his head. I invite you, for a moment, to consider "King Tut." Stupid novelty song? Oh, I don't think anyone would argue with you there. On the other hand, how many stupid novelty songs are there about ancient history, even if the information is uneven at best?