The Jerk 1979
It is hard to review a movie like The Jerk. Steve Martin was a huge star when this came out and people raved about it because everyone loved him and he could do no wrong. Because I have seen this so many times, a lot of the gags are stale at this point and maybe weren't that great to start with, though there are still a lot of fun things. I still love the scene where the crazy guys shoots at him at the gas station. Bernadette Peters also does a great job in this movie, beautiful, sweet, funny, and and just entirely too talented. Their duet with Martin on ukelele and Peters on trumpet is a classic. While the pace is pretty fast and it is hard to get tired of anything in particular, a lot of the movie is still a slog as it runs through a pretty tired rags to riches to rags plot. It is fun to watch some of the support parts by a fairly deep cast. Like a lot of old Saturday Night Live skits, it is easy to watch this and wonder why people thought this was so incredibly funny, but Martin's zany energy still works for the most part.
Written: 18 Sep 2023
Owned on: Digital