The Daily Movie Quote: The Jerk
"Huh? I am *not* a bum. I'm a jerk. I once had wealth, power, and the love of a beautiful woman. Now I only have two things: my friends, and... uh... my thermos. Huh? My story? Okay. It was never easy for me. I was born a poor black child. I remember the days, sittin' on the porch with my family, singin' and dancin' down in Mississippi..." - Navin R. Johnson, The Jerk (1979)
Universal Pictures, rated R, 104 minutes.
Directed By: Carl Reiner
Cast:
Steve Martin - Navin R. Johnson
Bernadette Peters - Marie Kimble Johnson
Catlin Adams - Patty Bernstein
Mabel King - Mother
Richard Ward - Father
M. Emmet Walsh - Madman
Dick O'Neil - Frosty
Domestic Box Office Gross: $73,691,419
Synopsis: A moron, Navin R. Johnson, decides to set out and discover the world only to have everyone take advantage of him. A freak invention makes Navin extremely wealthy, which brings a new set of circumstances for the idiot to contend with.
Fact: Premiere voted The Jerk one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time".
Trivia: Steve Martin also plays the cat juggler, Pig Eye Jackson and Engineer Fred in the film.
Movie Mistake: Navin finds his name, in the new phone book, on the right page. The madman finds it on the left.
My Take: Ha! What a laugh out loud, unbelievably funny movie. It's a little bitter sweet for me because I was a big fan of Steve Martin's stand up comedy and after this film was released he became a movie star thus all but eliminating it. The flip side is that he's one of my favorite movie actors out there.
Related Hub: Favorite Quotes from Steve Martin
Yesterday's Daily Movie Quote: Fight Club
