Delayed Reaction: The Jerk

The Pitch: "Like Dostoyevsky's The Idiot, but not that. Like The Jerk."

How I Came Into It: I love Steve Martin and his movies whether he's writing, directing, or just acting (the more, the better). This is the movie that set it all off. Before The Jerk, he was the biggest stand-up comedian in the country. This is the movie that proved his big screen viability. Most of my knowledge of the movie comes from the constant references to it in Freaks & Geeks. I simply had to figure out why those geeks were so obsessed with the movie.

Why I Saw It: Martin took many of his popular stand-up bits and put them into this movie that is more of a collection of events than a film. I haven't heard much of Martin's stand up, but based on his book (Born Standing Up), this is exactly what I imagined his first movie would be like. At this point in his career, Martin's humor was all about context. He played an idiot with expert precision and his punchlines were designed not to land on a specific beat. That's all very apparent throughout The Jerk. It takes some getting used to, but I can see why it is such a highly regarded comedy.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: The comedy does take some getting used to, and this is Martin at his most raw. Something like L.A. Story has a similar brand of humor but a lot more refined. The Jerk is something close to anarchy. It's the kind of movie where you have to already know that the people making it know what they're doing in order to appreciate it. I hope that makes sense. A better way to put it is that you have to really know what you're doing to look this bad.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend