The Jerk

'The Jerk' bears the distinction of the being the first R-rated movie I ever got to see without the presence of an adult. I remember sneaking into the film back in the summer of 1979, in a half-empty theater on a breezy, late Sunday afternoon. I, of course, thought I was the coolest kid on the block, getting to see what I was sure was going to be a ribald, filthy, nudity- and profanity-laden exercise in bad taste.

But as it turned out, (much to the disappointment of my childhood self) 'The Jerk' really isn't what its title would seem to imply. Instead it's actually a rather mild-mannered if zany satire on class and race relations, with a sweet nature that's full of considerable heart and humanity.

Steve Martin got his first starring role as Navin Johnson, a complete idiot born a "poor black child" to a Mississippi family of sharecroppers. Despite his idyllic childhood, by the time he turns eighteen, naive Navin yearns to experience life, and heads off to the big city of St. Louis, where he takes on a series of odd jobs and misadventures (his ecstatic response to first learning his name has been published in the phone book is priceless), and meets the beautiful Marie (Bernadette Peters), who will eventually become his wife. It is also in St. Louis where Navin unexpectedly strikes it rich as the inventor of a fad gadget called the "Opti-Grab." But as Navin soon learns, riches are hard to hold onto when you're an idiot...

'The Jerk' was directed by that master of goofball silliness, Carl Reiner ('The Man With Two Brains,' 'Summer School'). It marked Reiner's commercial pinnacle, as well as Steve Martin's first blockbuster vehicle. Yet 'The Jerk' seems to have been lost a bit in the mist of time -- outside of its basic premise, most of its original audience is likely hard-pressed to remember much about it.

Yet almost three decades on, 'The Jerk' is still pretty funny. I was struck by how subtle but pointed Reiner's satire could be. Perhaps it's Martin's almost vaudeville-like approach to the material -- the tone is so screwball, and the characters so absurd that it elevates the racial caricatures and one-note plot contrivances to the level of inspired lunacy. I particularly liked the way Reiner and Martin skewer various pop culture inanities of the '70s, from disco to self-help gurus to get-quick rich inventions. It's like the precursor to 'Forrest Gump,' only with a lead character even stupider -- still, the film itself is just as smart.

Funny enough, all these years later, the only real problem I have with 'The Jerk' is with its title. Technically, a jerk is someone lacking in sensitivity or caring for others. Navin is none of these -- if anything, he's a bundle of self-possessed, positive energy. Had he been crass or mean-spirited, 'The Jerk' would have been a completely unpleasant farce, but because Navin is such a good-natured imbecile, he and the film are both likable and warm. In fact, as portrayed by Martin -- full of his manic tics and spastic rhythms -- Navin becomes a singular, quite memorable character. All he deserved was a movie with a more appropriate title.