A simpleminded, sheltered country boy suddenly decides to leave his family home to experience life in the big city, where his naivete is both his best friend and his worst enemy.A simpleminded, sheltered country boy suddenly decides to leave his family home to experience life in the big city, where his naivete is both his best friend and his worst enemy.A simpleminded, sheltered country boy suddenly decides to leave his family home to experience life in the big city, where his naivete is both his best friend and his worst enemy.
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination
- Navin
- (as Pig Eye Jackson also)
- …
- Elvira
- (as Ren Wood)
- Blues Singer
- (as Brownie McGee)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaStanley Kubrick was a big admirer of this film. He would often recite lines from the film to cast and crew on his films and he once invited Steve Martin over so they could play chess.
- GoofsWhen the family is sitting around the table for Navin's (Steve Martin) birthday, they congratulate him and his brother says "That's great, Steve!"
- Quotes
Navin R. Johnson: Well I'm gonna to 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]
Navin R. Johnson: 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. Well what are you looking at? What do you think I'm some kind of a jerk or something! - And this. That's all I need.
[walking outside]
Navin R. Johnson: The ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, and this magazine, and the chair.
Navin R. Johnson: [outside now] And I don't need one other thing, except my dog.
[Shithead growls at him]
Navin R. Johnson: I don't need my dog.
- Crazy creditsPig Eye Jackson - Cat Juggler (Steve Martin)
- Alternate versionsA version of "The Jerk" shown on cable's Turner Network Television contained alternate footage. Besides changing the name of Navin's dog to "Stupid" from "Shithead," genuine alternate footage was contained; in one previously-unseen scene, Navin is so broken-up over the loss of Marie that he "just had to spin." The carnies remove him from the ride by force, and he tries to explain to them what emotions are. The "charity" montage also differs: before the cat-juggling sequence, Navin meets a professor-type who insults him and shows him some apparently unpleasant pictures, and a Texan millionaire who cries over small cracks on the seat of his airplane; he pays both, of course. In this version there is no "Iron-Balls McGinty" sequence.
- SoundtracksTonight You Belong To Me
Sung by Bernadette Peters and Steve Martin
Music by Lee David
Lyric by Billy Rose
It's ridiculous and it's even funny. Steve Martin is putting all his skills of performance and writing to work in his first feature starring role. It's like half of 'Dumb and Dumber'. That's really my only wish. I wish he had another comedian to play off of. It would be even better if he was a comedy duo. He's funniest when Bernadette Peters is with him. This is completely ridiculous and stupid. That's where most of the humor comes from.
- SnoopyStyle
- Jul 7, 2014
- How long is The Jerk?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Easy Money
- Filming locations
- Beverly Estate, 1011 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA(grounds of Navin's mansion)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $73,691,419
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $5,935,025
- Dec 16, 1979
- Gross worldwide
- $73,691,419
- Runtime1 hour 34 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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