The Jerk

The Jerk (1979)

  • 83% of critics liked it
    (30 reviews)

  • 83% of users liked it
    (54,109 ratings)

Carl Reiner directs Steve Martin (who co-wrote the script with Carl Gottlieb) in this gag-laden comedy about an idiotic white man, raised by a poor family of black sharecroppers, who doesn't realize he's not black. Navin R. Johnson (Steve Martin) is told the horrible truth when he finds himself… More

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R, 1 hr. 39 min.
Directed By
Carl Reiner
Written By
Carl Gottlieb, Steve Martin, Michael Elias
Genres
Comedy
In Theaters
Jan 1, 1979 Wide
On DVD
Jul 26, 2005
Universal Pictures

Critic Reviews

  • John Skow, TIME Magazine

    Its humor is successful and unsuccessful by turns, and although Comedian Carl Reiner is the director, the instinct here is to give most of both credit and blame to Martin.

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    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.

  • Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

    We get the sense at times that the cast and crew arrived at a location, found the script bankrupt of real laughs, and started looking around for funny props.

  • Janet Maslin, New York Times

    The laughs aren't steady, but they're persistent, and the film moves fast enough to compensate for its unevenness.

  • Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

    92 minutes of direct and sweet surrealism

Read all 14 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Alexander D


    The story delivered in THE JERK is nothing short of absolutely ridiculous. It(TM)s like a mockery of a mockery of a poor man(TM)s FORREST GUMP. A man sits down on a bench (or in this case, in the middle of nowhere) with a story in mind. It doesn(TM)t matter if he has an actual… More

  • Thomas J


    Few movies can stand the test of time like this one!! Love me some Steve Martin!

  • Daniel P


    A genius exercise in the absurd that's also a watchable comedy. Truly a classic. Acting's a little weak and it has to get a little cheesy in order for there to be a resolution, but this is a can't-miss movie that had me howling.

  • Jim H


    An idiot sets out to find his place in the larger world, encountering colorful characters on his way. I saw an interview with Steve Martin, and he said, "I was watching comedians at that time [the early 70s], and everybody was just angry. And I thought to myself, 'There is… More

  • AJ V


    This movie was just so crazy that it actually worked! It has so many hilarious scenes, and the story is ridiculous, but it's very fun, and I really like it.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

Cast

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