Navin Johnson (Steve Martin) is down and out. He tells the story of his life. He grew up as a poor black boy with his black family. He's a clueless naive manic idiot who goes to the big city St. Louis. He gets a job at the gas station from Harry Hartounian (Jackie Mason). It's a random series of crazy events. He invents a way to support glasses and salesman Stan Fox (Bill Macy) goes 50-50 with him. A madman (M. Emmet Walsh) is after him for no good reason. He escapes to join the carnival as Guess Your Weight. He's taken by rough stunt bike rider Patty Bernstein (Catlin Adams) but he falls for sweet Marie (Bernadette Peters). Marie runs away and he ends up in L.A. That's where he reconnects with Stan Fox and finds out he's wildly rich.

It's ridiculous and it's even funny. Steve Martin is putting all his skills of performance and writing to work in his first feature starring role. It's like half of 'Dumb and Dumber'. That's really my only wish. I wish he had another comedian to play off of. It would be even better if he was a comedy duo. He's funniest when Bernadette Peters is with him. This is completely ridiculous and stupid. That's where most of the humor comes from.

While Carl Reiner was responsible for directing this wonderful film, up until this time not everything he did was cinematic gold. Earlier in his directing career, he made the amazingly unfunny films WHERE'S PAPPA? and OH, GOD! Here he redeems himself by assembling a wonderful cast and maintaining a great pace. And as for Steve Martin, he, too, had a horrible film behind him, having appeared in the god-awful SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND! Clearly this was a huge career boost to both men.

I love a good comedy. Sometimes, a delightful and droll Ealing comedy is nice, other times a classic Hollywood film like BRINGING UP BABY does the trick, and sometimes I really just enjoy a good stupid laugh. THE JERK fits this bill perfectly. It is one of the dumbest AND funniest films I have ever seen and even the stodgiest fuddy-duddy can't help but laugh as the unsophisticated but great laughs come again and again--with practically no lulls between them. You just help but laugh and so that begs the question "just how STUPID is a film REALLY if it is so successful at making everyone laugh?". Plus, like all great comedies, it does well with repeated viewings (I've seen this film four times). Well written, hilariously overplayed by Martin and offering some of the best laughs of the 1970s, it's a must-see for everyone but the stodgiest out there. Also, because it has a few adult moments and language, it's probably best seen by older teens and adults, though the movie in an only slightly edited form is shown on TV with great frequency.

I honestly cannot decide which Steve Martin film is my favourite between The Jerk, Man with Two Brains and Planes, Trains and Automobiles, because I love all three and he is wonderful in all three. As for Navin Johnson, he takes on the role of a simple-minded and naive man to perfection. The film looks good, has a funny script, good direction and a lovely story. And the jokes are heavenly, particularly the one where he makes a fortune inventing an absurd nose support for spectacles. Bernadette Peters, looking gorgeous by the way, matches him every step of the way. Overall, there is very little I can say that hasn't been said already, other than to say The Jerk is one of Martin's best and funniest. 10/10 Bethany Cox