Film
The Jerk
- Comedy
- Light-hearted
Steve Martin's debut film is a dizzyingly inventive comedy about a naive man who discovers he's adopted, gets rich by accident, and learns that happiness isn't what he thought. It's innocent and anarchic at once—slapstick that trusts you to find the absurdity funny without explaining the joke. For anyone who loves comedy that swings for the fences.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy pure, unbothered idiocy, the kind where a man who believes every absurd thing completely keeps wandering into trouble with a deadpan face.
Skip it if you want a tight plot or steady escalation, since this is loosely strung together sketches that sometimes coast on a single gag for too long.
What it asks of you: At 94 minutes it moves briskly, and it wants you to laugh at the nonsense rather than wait for a story to tighten around it.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Singin' in the Rain1952
The template for joyful, unashamed physical comedy. Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor move through the frame like they're having the time of their lives, and the happiness is contagious. Pure cinema.
But It's seventy years old and in Technicolor splendor—if you're in the mood for something that looks contemporary, this won't help.
Being There1979
Peter Sellers as a man so innocent he's mistaken for a genius. Like The Jerk, it's about naivety colliding with the world's assumptions, but darker and sadder. Quietly devastating.
But It moves slowly. There are no big laughs, just a creeping sense of unease beneath every scene.
Tropic Thunder2008
Anarchic, ridiculous, and genuinely inventive about satire and excess. It commits to its absurdity the way The Jerk does, with Robert Downey Jr. doing career-best work in a role that shouldn't work.
But It's aggressively loud and might feel dated in its specific targets. Some people will find it exhausting rather than funny.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Jerk
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie1976
Both films follow a man through his own blindness, but one finds it comic and the other finds it tragic. Same DNA, opposite poles.
John Cassavetes' weird, hypnotic film about a nightclub owner who gets in over his head. It's got the same loose, improvisational energy as The Jerk, but it's sad and small instead of broad and bright—the same structure pointing at something completely different.
But It's deliberately unglamorous and the sound design is sometimes difficult. It doesn't explain itself and it doesn't build toward anything satisfying in the traditional sense.
More like this (8)
Support Your Local Sheriff!1969
James Garner in a Western comedy that prizes warmth and sweetness alongside the gags. It knows how to be silly without punching down, and the whole town feels like a place worth spending time.
But It's a Western parody that doesn't have the cultural cachet of The Jerk, so it can feel a little thin if the premise doesn't grab you immediately.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?2000
The Coen Brothers at their most playful, following three escaped convicts through a mythic, musical South. It's got the same picaresque structure and the same faith that style can carry you through anything.
But The musical numbers and the deliberate artificiality of the whole thing won't appeal to you if you want naturalism or a traditional plot.
Scrooged1988
Bill Murray's Christmas Carol remake is genuinely inventive and genuinely silly. It cares about its characters while it's making fun of everything, which is exactly what The Jerk does.
But It's a Christmas movie, so you're locked into a season. Also, it's uneven—some bits land better than others.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen1988
Terry Gilliam's visual extravaganza about a man telling increasingly impossible stories. It's naive and earnest and completely unhinged, with a heart underneath all the madness and special effects.
But The plot is secondary to the look and feel of each scene, so if you need a tight narrative, you'll find it frustrating.
Wet Hot American Summer2001
An ensemble comedy about a summer camp that mines absurdity from specificity. It's clever without being smug, and the cast all seem to be having genuine fun, which is infectious.
But It's very much a product of its era and sensibility. If you don't like scattered, joke-every-five-seconds comedy, it'll feel exhausting.
The Pink Panther1963
Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau—physical comedy at the highest level. The gags are intricate and the whole film moves like a Swiss watch, every pratfall perfectly timed.
But The humor is very specifically physical. If that's not your language, no amount of craft will convince you.
PlayTime1967
Both use comedy to show someone's relationship to the world they live in. Tati's hero is destroyed by modernity; Martin's is transformed by it. Both are about innocence meeting systems.
Jacques Tati's masterpiece about a man navigating a gleaming, airless modern city. It's visual comedy as architecture—every frame is a playground of gags layered over each other. Completely unique and endlessly rewarding.
But There's almost no dialogue and it's three hours long. Some people find it cold or tedious rather than clever. You need patience and a certain kind of attention.
Welcome to Marwen2018
Both films are about men constructing elaborate fantasies to survive. In The Jerk it's about becoming something you're not; here it's about recovering something you lost. Both are tragedies dressed as comedies, or comedies dressed as tragedies.
Robert Zemeckis' deeply strange film about a man with trauma and his elaborate toy world. It's sincere and weird, sad and goofy at the same time, and it trusts the audience to sit with uncomfortable contradictions.
But It's genuinely bizarre and uncomfortable. Some of it is beautiful and some of it is nearly unpleasant. It's not a comfort watch—it's asking you to think about meaning and masculinity in ways that don't resolve.
People
Cast
Steve MartinNavin R. Johnson
Bernadette PetersMarie Kimble Johnson
Catlin AdamsPatty Bernstein
Mabel KingMother
Richard WardFather
Carl GottliebIron Balls McGinty
Bill MacyStan Fox
M. Emmet WalshMadman
Dick O'NeillFrosty
Maurice EvansHobart
Helena CarrollHester
Directing
- Carl ReinerDirector
Writing
- Carl GottliebScreenplay
- Michael EliasScreenplay
- Steve MartinScreenplay
Production
- Peter Macgregor-ScottAssociate Producer
- Geno HavensCasting
- Penny PerryCasting
- David V. PickerProducer
- William E. McEuenProducer
Recommended by
Def Comedy Jam, Which Way Is Up?, We're No Angels, Down to Earth