The Jerk
The Jerk is a 1979 American comedy film directed by Carl Reiner and written by Steve Martin, Carl Gottlieb, and Michael Elias (from a story by Steve Martin and Carl Gottlieb). This was Martin's first starring role in a feature film. The film also features Bernadette Peters, M. Emmet Walsh, and Jackie Mason. Critical reviews were mostly positive, and The Jerk was a major financial success.
Plot
Navin Johnson, a homeless person sleeping in a stairwell in Los Angeles, addresses the camera directly to tell his life story.
More details
| author | Carl Gottlieb Steve Martin |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | Mississippi |
| director | Carl Reiner |
| editor | Bud Molin Ron Spang |
| genre | adventure comedy |
| keywords | adopted son blues music brand champagne-style song class action cosmetologist cosmetology gas station homeless person invest lawrence welk leaving home life story los angeles meet new house private investigator sexual relationship sharecropper sharecropping sleep st. louis travel wake warn |
| musicBy | Jack Elliott |
| producer | David V. Picker William E. McEuen |
| productionCompany | Aspen Film Society |
| publisher | Universal Studios |
| theme | screwball comedy |