The Jerk: This, and That

Born from a line out of Steve Martin’s stand up act, The Jerk is a rags to riches to rags tale. Made in 1976 by director Carl Reiner, The Jerk is Steve Martin at his comedy apex. Full of sight gags and absurd situations, The Jerk gives Steve Martin an avenue to play a madcap man that might be a little dimwitted, but is lucky enough to have fate as a friend no matter how dire his situation becomes. 

On his 18^th birthday, Navin Johnson’s parents decide it’s time he knows he is not their biological son but was left on their doorstep when he was just a baby boy. Already feeling like he didn’t fit in, this news sends Navin right to the edge. Yet, at even at his lowest moment, Navin has a glimpse of glory when he hears a song on the radio that finally contains a rhythm Navin can find. This new discovery opens Mavin’s eyes to the whole world outside of his home that he must go and discover. Navin quickly stumbles into a job working at a gas station. After a close call with a man that hates oil cans so much that he is willing to shoot every last one of them, Navin decides his time at the gas station is over. He quickly catches on with a traveling carnival where he makes some new friends including a daredevil biker named Patty (Catlin Adams). Patty takes over Navin’s life quickly, tattooing his name "down there" to let him know that they are married. Navin is a good husband until the day he spots Marie (Bernadette Peters) and falls instantly in love. Patty confronts Marie about Navin and their marriage, but Marie quickly knocks Patty out. Marie is willing to fight for Navin, but she is not willing to stay with him due to his lack of financial stability. As luck would have it, soon after Marie leaves Navin, he gets a call regarding an invention he created that makes him instantly rich. Things are good for the newly married couple; of course Marie comes back to all that money, until a lawsuit is filed against Navin’s invention. Again, finding he is broke and alone, Navin takes to being homeless. Lucky for Navin, fate steps in again. Navin’s family comes to save him and move him back home. Navin reunites with Marie and everyone moves into the family’s new house, well into the same house they started in just a little bigger and a little "fancier." 

Many of the best moments in The Jerk are the ones that have the most memorable lines. There is no joy like the joy Navin finds when the new phone book arrives exclaiming, “things are going to start happening to me now.” No adventure should begin without repeating the mantra, “Lord loves a working man, don’t trust whitey, see a doctor and get rid of it.” And of course, there is no movie without the line that started everything, “It was never easy for me. I was born a poor black child.” 

Through it all, The Jerk carries some valuable life lessons. Sometimes love means having your name tattooed on a girls private parts. Other times it is having the love of your life come back to you, after you hit it big of course. Your family will always be there for you, especially if you send them a percentage of your earnings while you are away. And if you ever find yourself near some oil cans and they start to explode from gunshots, it might not be the oil cans that are the intended target.   

Ranked as one of the top 100 comedy films of all time by the American Film Institute, The Jerk lives on as a quintessential American comedy. Lines are still quoted even if you don’t know where the words came from. Now, if you will excuse me, I’m leaving. I’m walking out with nothing at all with me because I don’t need anything. Except this. This is the only thing I need. Well this, and that. These are the only two things I need. Wait, I might need that thing too. What are you staring at? What do you think I’m some kind of jerk or something?

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