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The Jerk (1979)



Steve Martin's first movie features him as the wild and crazy guy from his comedy show, not Steve Martin the actor. That's my main issue with this one, I think. He screams and yells throughout the movie, and it's just annoying to watch. The persona might work on stage, but it doesn't work on screen.

In Roger Ebert's review, he notes that he didn't find this movie to be all that funny, but that it might be a "love it or hate it" type of comedy. If you like Steve Martin's comedy, and I do, I'm sure original audiences were more likely to be a little more forgiving. But in terms of longevity, I just don't think this movie has "it."

It opens with a stand-up routine joke -- that he's the son of poor black Mississippi sharecroppers. When he leaves home, they do tell him he's adopted, and that makes him feel better, in a sense, because he never understood why he didn't like the Blues. He like lame white Big Band music, and so he goes off to St Louis to find it.

The plot never follows up on that, however. Instead, he ends up working as a gas station attendant, and eventually, he makes millions inventing a new kind of eyeglasses -- and then loses it all when it's found to be defective.

The whole story is a slog, though, and I'm never sure why the film is called "The Jerk." It's what Martin's character calls himself. He says he's not a bum, he's a jerk. But really, he seems to be playing the part of a "retard." I hate using that term, but in 1979, I could see a movie actually being released with that title, and that seems to be all that Martin's character is, to be honest. But whatever he is, "jerk" doesn't make sense.

In his recent graphic memoir with Harry Bliss, Martin admitted he decided he would make 40 films, because he thought it would take him that many to make 5 or 6 good ones. I'm sure he made more than 5 or 6 good ones but chalk this one up to practice. He had to figure out how to be an actor, and so it's not surprising that he didn't strike oil with the first film.

Rating: 2/5 stars
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