The Jerk: 26th Anniversary Edition
Studio: Universal
Year: 1979
Rated: R
Film Length: 94 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1x85x1, enhanced for 16x9 televisions
Audio: English DD 5.1, French and Spanish DD 2.0 Mono
Captions/Subtitles: English Captions / French and Spanish subtitles
Disc Format: Single Sided / Dual Layered
"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."
So starts the rags-to-riches...to rags story, which has finally gotten a long-overdue remastering on DVD.
By the time of this 1979 theatrical release, Steve Martin had been well-established as a comedy writer and performer, his writing talents going as far back as
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in the 1960’s, and continuing on to such 70’s staples as
Glen Campbell,
Sonny and Cher, and
Van Dyke and Company. Martin made numerous TV appearances, including
The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson; he created memorable characters on
Saturday Night Live (“But what the hell
is that?”), he had television specials, and his comedy albums went platinum. I remember watching him perform “King Tut” live on SNL. Those were the days.
But until
The Jerk, Martin’s movie appearances had been limited to a short subject film called
The Absent-Minded Waiter and brief roles in
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band and
The Muppet Movie.
The Jerk was Steve Martin’s breakout success, capturing box-office gold and catapulting his movie career to the next level.
The Feature:
In
The Jerk, Steve Martin plays Navin R. Johnson, the naïve son of a black sharecropper family. Navin loves his family, and his family loves him—but even after a heartwarming birthday party in his honor, he feels different—like he does not fit in. He finally discovers that he is adopted, which probably explains why singing the blues depresses him, and why he can’t get the rhythm down. But later, Navin hears a radio broadcast of some Lawrence Welk-style music, and it moves him to dance. It gives Navin the motivation to go out in the world and be somebody.
Navin hitchhikes his way to St. Louis, where he picks up a canine traveling companion that network television named “Stupid” (decorum prevents me from revealing his actual name). Once in St. Louis, Navin gets a job at a gas station. The owner takes pity on him, and allows him to stay in the back room. At one point during the job, Navin meets a salesman whose glasses keep falling down. Navin then invents a nose rest that holds the glasses in place (and later proves to be very profitable).
With a place to stay comes… the phone book (and one of the movie’s most memorable lines). And with that, comes a sniper who attempts to shoot Navin. Or is it the oil cans? Navin escapes, but ends up in a circus. There, he meets a dominatrix motorcycle rider who gives him extra work, and the lovely Marie (Bernadette Peters), who learns of Navin’s special purpose. Navin and Marie fall in love, but Marie is conflicted because Navin is not (yet) a man of means.
I don’t want to spoil the surprises for those of you have not seen the movie, but if you are new to
The Jerk, leave the kids in the other room with a Disney DVD and enjoy. The last time I saw
The Jerk was on network television, which means that I hardly saw it at all. This is an R-rated movie, with drug references, sexual humor, and language galore, and it was heavily edited for network TV. I think that is why I laughed so loud and hard at some of the humor this time around.
Does the humor hold up after 26 years? Sure. This is like a Monty Python movie to me in that it has followers who can recite it word-for-word, and it has humor that will always offend or go over the heads of someone. I remember the day my high school chorus director got the new phonebook and started jumping up and down shouting that memorable line. You had to be there, but this movie sure brings back good memories. And it is very funny.
The Feature: 4 / 5
Video:
Sad to say, I’ve had the original DVD release sitting on my shelves since it was first released in 1998, purchased with the full intent of reviewing it for my old website. But it was a full-frame transfer of a vintage film, and there were so many other newer titles out there to review. So I sit here now with the new 26th Anniversary Edition spinning, and all I can say is “Wow!”
The Jerk has finally been remastered with a 1.85x1 widescreen transfer that is enhanced for 16x9 displays. There is some visible grain in the picture as well as a few specks of dirt, but not enough to be distracting, even on the 65-inch display. Detail is a little lacking in the backgrounds, but the overall picture quality is good. The contrast and black levels are also good. Colors are realistic and bright (I love Navin’s disco). It’s time to toss that old full-frame DVD.
Video: 4 / 5
Sound:
The English soundtrack got a Dolby Digital 5.1 remix that has no surround activity and is very center-focused. Still, there is a little front directionality to the sound and it is mid-to-full range, although not by much (the dominatrix motorcycle sounds pretty good, for example, but the waves at the beach sound compressed). French and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtracks round out the soundtrack options.
Sound: 3.5 / 5
Extras:
This is the first DVD I’ve seen with an actual ukulele lesson from “Ukulele Gal” for the song “Tonight You Belong To Me.” It takes you through tuning a ukulele, learning the seven necessary chords, and playing along with the Gal or The Jerk. No capo (needed to play along with the Gal) nor trumpet lessons are included, however. (I think I’ll stick to my Strat, but it’s a cute feature. And I was actually able to pick out the chords on my ukulele, so the lesson really did work!)
Additional filmstrips of Father Carlos Las Vegas De Cordova (4:20) range from fish teasing to plant abuse. Cute, but not that funny.
The extras are rounded out with the original trailer (2:31) and several pages of production notes.
While I would have loved a commentary with director Carl Reiner and Steve Martin, that might have made this a 27th anniversary release. It also would have been nice to have the alternate footage used for network television—it’s a different movie.
Extras: 3.5 / 5
In Conclusion:
The Jerk is a fun film, and a reminder of Steve Martin's wild and crazy past. It makes me want to track down those old comedy albums, and watch some of his older movies. Meanwhile, I'll be enjoying this new DVD with my friends. That's all I need. And this ukulele. This DVD and this ukulele and that's all I need. And this Harmony remote control. The DVD, the ukulele, and the remote control, and that's all I need...
Overall Rating: 4/5
Release Date: July 26, 2005
Display calibrated by Steve Martin (no, not that Steve Martin) at http://www.lionav.com/
