X
  • 1979
  • R
  • Universal Pictures
  • 1 h 34 m
  • 1979
  • R
  • Universal Pictures
  • 1 h 34 m

Summary Steve Martin, in his first starring motion picture, plays Navin Johnson, adopted son of a poor black sharecropper family, whose out-there inventions lead him from rags to riches and beyond. Along the way, he falls for a lady motorcycle racer, survives a series of screwball attacks by a deranged killer, and becomes a success by inventing ...

Directed By: Carl Reiner

Written By: Steve Martin, Carl Gottlieb, Michael Elias

  • 1979
  • R
  • Universal Pictures
  • 1 h 34 m
  • 1979
  • R
  • Universal Pictures
  • 1 h 34 m

The Jerk

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 14 Critic Reviews
61
User Score Generally Favorable Based on 17 User Ratings
7.0
My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Where to Watch

Summary Steve Martin, in his first starring motion picture, plays Navin Johnson, adopted son of a poor black sharecropper family, whose out-there inventions lead him from rags to riches and beyond. Along the way, he falls for a lady motorcycle racer, survives a series of screwball attacks by a deranged killer, and becomes a success by inventing ...

Directed By: Carl Reiner

Written By: Steve Martin, Carl Gottlieb, Michael Elias

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 14 Critic Reviews
61
43% Positive
6 Reviews
57% Mixed
8 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 14 Critic Reviews
61
43% Positive
6 Reviews
57% Mixed
8 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
Loud and ludicrous, The Jerk is a strong contender for the funniest film of all time.
By William Thomas FULL REVIEW
80
By turns funny, vulgar and backhandedly clever, never more so than when it aspires to absolute stupidity. And Mr. Martin, who began his career with an arrow stuck through his head, has since developed a real genius for playing dumb.
By Janet Maslin FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 17 User Ratings
7.0
65% Positive
11 Ratings
35% Mixed
6 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 17 User Ratings
7.0
65% Positive
11 Ratings
35% Mixed
6 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

70
The Jerk is a kind of post-psychedelic Jerry Lewis movie -- Broad, dirty and juvenile, but definitely hip to its own dumbness. Half the jokes fall flat on their face, but when they score they're laugh-out-loud funny. Almost invariably, the best routines are non sequiturs -- off-the-wall riffs where Martin fixates with dopey brilliance on a subject that has nothing to do with the plot. [17 Dec 1979]
By David Ansen FULL REVIEW
60
An artless, non-stop barrage of off-the-wall situations, funny and unfunny jokes, generally effective and sometimes hilarious sight gags and bawdy non sequiturs.
FULL REVIEW
50
Director Carl Reiner has put it together so that the character (hardly) ever becomes boring, and the Martin-Carl Gottlieb-Michael Elias screenplay has just enough genuinely witty moments to keep the story rolling past its flat parts. What more can anyone say? If you like Steve Martin, you'll love this movie. If you don't, you'll laugh sometimes but wish you'd gone elsewhere. [17 Dec 1979]
By Ray Conlogue FULL REVIEW
50
The title truly lives up to the character.
FULL REVIEW
40
For my taste a little bit of Steve Martin goes a long way. Moreover, a rickety vehicle like The Jerk is apt to wear out as aspiring comic star's welcome in one swift stroke.
By Gary Arnold FULL REVIEW
See All 14 Critic Reviews

Details

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Production Company Universal Pictures, Aspen Film Society
Release Date Dec 14, 1979
Duration 1 h 34 m
Rating R
Genres
Tagline From rags to riches... to rags.
View All Details

Awards

Online Film & Television Association
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
• 1 Nomination

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