The Jerk: completely irrelevant and silly 32 years on

Finally, finally got around to seeing the wonderful 'The Jerk' last week, having had it as a DVD for quite a while now, having found it in one of the wonderful CEX stores. With unfortunately only being weened on a diet of 90s to 00s Steve Martin movies, from the Father of the Bride movies to Cheaper by the Dozen series, I have never really experienced any of his films or stand-up that led to him being described as the funniest man on earth.

Steve Martin and his frequent collaborator, Carl Reiner, made a series of silly, crude comedies long before the wave of successful 90s Farrelly movies, such as Dumb and Dumber.  The Jerk had great recommendations from many luminaries from across film:

"The Jerk...is by turns funny, vulgar and backhandingly clever." Janet Maslin, New York Times

"An artless, non-stop barrage of off-the-wall situations..." Variety

"The Jerk is one of the funniest films ever...FACT!!" Uncle Alan, Last Reel Reveal's Uncle

See even my uncle says its good! Armed with this knowledge I popped in the DVD and watched one of the most consistently funny comedies I have seen for a long time. Here is 5 key reasons why you should be watching it right now (but not right now, read my blog instead!).

Bernadette Peters: weapon of mass sweetness destruction

Although, The Jerk is well known for its ridiculousness and silly humour, it also has quite a touching central love story within the layers of cat juggling and needing pointless items. This is exemplified best in this scene where Steve Martin's character, Navin Johnson, sings with Bernadette's character Marie, whilst on a date together. The song they sing is 'Tonight you belong to me' an apparently hit song from the 1950s and the two turn a potentially cringey scene into a sweet, moving one. Also, at 4:34, when Navin gets up, you can hear a small crunching sound where he steps on the ukulele. He also mentions his special purpose, which neatly brings us to our next point.

Navin's special purpose

Navin has a special purpose and wishes to share his special purpose which as much people as possible. His mum, when he was kid, tells him that a part of him has a special purpose that he will find when he gets older. Navin enjoys using his special purpose and writes about it in detail in a letter addressed to his family. His grandma then proceeds to read it out. Cue hilarity. 

It rightly points out the hate that some people have for cans

This is an important subject that the film touches on, as most mainstream media are unaware of the malevolent activity that some parts of society participate against the humble can. Navin, working at his first job as a petrol station, comes under fire from an assailant, played by M.Emmet Walsh, who picked his name at random from the phone book, his name only recently being added. You have got to think that the sniper's aim must be terrible to miss him quite so many times. 

Freshest wine

One of my favourite scenes in the film was where Navin and Marie go to a fancy restaurant and Navin thinks he knows about food. He sends back the snails and the wine and utters my favourite set of lines in the whole film: '...no more 1966. Lets splurge! Bring us some fresh wine! The freshest you've got - this year! No more of this old stuff'. 

The great ugliness in Mexico

How can I discuss The Jerk without mentioning it's most famous scene, it is as important to mention as the great ugliness that is happening in Mexico at this very moment. Easily, the most bizarre scene in the movie, a man in a Mexican bar appears to juggle three kittens. The footage is shown by a Mexican priest to Navin, hoping to gain some sort of support or help to stop this occurring any further in his country. I must warn you, you must have a strong stomach to watch this clip.

The Jerk is simply, in my opinion, one of the greatest film comedies ever. You can watch it now. I've finished.

P.S Steve Martin also has embraced twitter, consistently twitting among the funniest twits every day. Follow him