Review of The Jerk (1979) by Felice M — 14 Nov 2015

Comedy is a very sensitive thing, in that if it doesn't make you laugh, it's absolutely worthless. Thankfully, this film manages to deliver in terms of off-the-wall laughs with generally few exceptions.

The film's premise is rather sketchy, and it certainly lags a bit at the beginning, but this is overcome with a solid script, and what follows is a well-played rags-to-riches story that sends up some of the more obvious clichés of that age-old narrative, almost to the point of it being self-aware of the thing it's poking fun at.

The acting is pretty good, or at least good enough that Steve Martin makes for a very convincing moron, and an annoying one too. Many of the supporting characters have their own quirks, including the insane sniper (turned private detective), the butler, the unfortunately named dog, and the main character's entire adoptive family, and although they don't always perform well in the film, they are a pretty entertaining ensemble on their own.

Somehow I had the assumption that a lot of comedies from this film's era would look pretty cheap, but this one had really good production values for a film of such a modestly low budget, although I can't remember when that was important in a comedy film.

Besides, with a laugh-ridden script, this film could go a long way despite a shaky start. It is pretty odd that they decided to give the film a somewhat obligatory happy ending, but at the very least it wasn't particularly ham-fisted.

Despite its flaws, you can count on it delivering a simple-minded yet sophisticated slice of comic cinema.