74. The Jerk

Carl Reiner, 1979

“The ashtray and the paddle game, that’s all I need. And this remote control. . .”

As a young dude, no one had as much comedic influence on my life as Steve Martin. From the first time I heard my parents’ copy of Wild and Crazy Guy, incidentally, the first comedy album I’d ever even heard of, I was hooked. It must be fifteen years later, now, and I’m a much bigger dude than I once was, but I still adore Steve Martin. In the time since I was first introduced to him, his own act has changed. He is now less the wild and crazy guy who might go cruising for foxes with their big American breasts and more thoughtful. His comedy these days really comes through in his writing, in books like Pure Drivel, which is wry, witty, and insightful. His film work, however, has become appalling. I’d elaborate on this, but I think the trailers for Cheaper by the Dozen 2 more than make my case for me. Still, John Cleese insists that Martin takes these roles to fund his phenomenal art collection, and who am I to argue with Cleese? Of course, Martin still takes time for good roles, in films like Novocain and Shopgirl, recently adapted from his own novella. Again, these tend to be quieter, wry performance. They are good and I appreciate them, but, for me, Martin will always be the wild and crazy guy. He will always have the rabbit ears on his head and wonder if the pope shits in the woods, banjo in hand. My Steve Martin is the Steve Martin of, yes, Wild and Crazy Guy, Comedy Isn’t Pretty, Let’s Get Small, and films like Three Amigos and The Man with Two Brains, itself a strong contender for this list. Indeed, Martin has appeared in any number of films, but the one which most captures his anarchic sense of humor, at least as it existed in the seventies, is The Jerk.

Directed by the brilliant Carl Reiner, primary writer and creator of one of my all time favorite shows, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Jerk is the story of Navin R. Johnson, played by Steve. Navin is born a poor black child in the south. Upon realizing that he is, in fact, white and that he will not become any darker, he leaves his loving family to set out on his own. Navin finds himself working at a gas station, where a man tries to kill him with a sniper, but keeps hitting oil cans instead. Navin, a complete idiot if you haven’t already figured that out, assumes that the man must simply hate these cans! Navin then works at a circus before striking it rich thanks to his invention, the opti-grab. This is a small handle that extends from the center of your glasses and hooks down onto the bridge of your nose, allowing you to take off your glasses in such a way that it doesn’t put stress on the ear pieces. For much of the rest of the film, Navin lives it up as a rich man, with his wife, played by Bernadette Peters, until he looses it all. Like many of the comedies on this list, this one is defined for me by a series of hilarious lines and bits. Of course, I love the “poor black child” thing. Also great are a hitchhiking Navin getting a lift to the end of his block as his neighbor’s truck passes his house, the “all I need” bit, his dog, Shithead, the thermos, really just Martin’s and Peters’ whole performances, and, of course, cat juggling. Could there be a God that would let that happen?

Finally, nothing really explains the influence this movie has had on me than this. When I moved into my own place and got my first phonebook, I immediately opened to see my name, printed for the first time in a phonebook, and said, out loud, mind you, “This really makes somebody. Things are going to start happening to me now.” So, let me now leave you with these immortal words of Steve Martin, which I have never forgotten, “Never. . .” No. Wait. “Always. Always keep a bag of kitty litter in the trunk of your car. It doesn’t take up much space and when you use it up you can just throw it out.”