The Jerk, 1979
This comedy is number two behind The Blues Brothers for me. I love it so much. It makes me laugh hysterically.
Here is an IMDB summary:
“Navin is an idiot. He grew up in Mississippi as the adopted son of a black family, but on his 18th birthday he feels he wants to discover the rest of the world and sets out for St. Louis. There everyone exploits his naivete, until a simple invention brings him a fortune.”
Steve Martin is one of the funniest people who has ever lived. Period. He was one of three writers on the screenplay. It’s brilliant because the film and dialogue is witty and absolutely ridiculous. Martin plays Navin R. Johnson, a dim white man who was adopted by a black sharecropper family. He leaves home, finds a job at a gas station, works at carnival, finds him true love in Bernadette Peters, and invents an incredibly dumb accessory for taking your glasses off (the Opti-Grab), makes a ton of money, then loses it all. One of the taglines is “Rags to riches to rags” and that sums it up.
Let’s go to the quotes:
Navin: Good luck. The Lord loves a working man, don’t trust whitey, see a doctor and get rid of it. Bye Grandma!
Navin: “Well I’m gonna go then. And I don’t need any of this. I don’t need this stuff, and I don’t need you. I don’t need anything except this. [picks up an ashtray] And that’s it and that’s the only thing I need, is this. I don’t need this or this. Just this ashtray. And this paddle game, the ashtray and the paddle game and that’s all I need. And this remote control. The ashtray, the paddle game, and the remote control, and that’s all I need. And these matches. The ashtray, and these matches, and the remote control and the paddle ball. And this lamp. The ashtray, this paddle game and the remote control and the lamp and that’s all I need. And that’s all I need too. I don’t need one other thing, not one – I need this. The paddle game, and the chair, and the remote control, and the matches, for sure. And this. And that’s all I need. The ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, this magazine and the chair.”
Navin: “[singing] I’m picking out a Thermos for you. Not an ordinary Thermos for you. But the extra best Thermos that you can buy, with vinyl and stripes and a cup built right in.”
Mother: Navin, it’s your birthday, and it’s time you knew. You’re not our natural-born child.
Navin R. Johnson: You mean I’m going to staythis color??
Mother: I’d love you if you were the color of a baboon’s ass.
Navin R. Johnson: Why are you crying? And why are you wearing that old dress?
Marie Kimble Johnson: Because I just heard a song on the radio that reminded me of the way we were.
Navin R. Johnson: What was it?
Marie Kimble Johnson: “The Way We Were.”
[A sniper keeps missing Navin and hitting cans of motor oil] Navin R. Johnson: He hates these cans. Stay away from the cans
My runner up is Jurassic Park. I love this film to the nth degree. John Williams’ score makes me cry.
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