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connielane at 10:12am on 23/04/2006
connielane at 10:12am on 23/04/2006Still slowly, but surely, crawling my way up Premiere's list, I now come to...
99. Steve Martin as Navin Johnson
The Jerk (1979)
Saw this for the first time a couple of days ago. It's definitely one of those "you had to be there" movies, which are funniest when they are first released. I can imagine school kids quoting lines from this movie to each other and cackling hysterically. In 2006, however, the jokes are funny, but kind of stale, and it reminded me a lot of the asinine, forgettable comedies of the past 20 years - your Dumb and Dumbers and that ilk. But there's something so endearing and sincere about it that you can't dislike it, even when it makes you roll your eyes.
That something, of course, is Steve Martin. It would be easy to dismiss his character, Navin Johnson, as just plain "dumb," but Martin never plays him as dumb. He plays him as straightforwardly as possible, and makes you believe that he's genuinely happy to have found his "special purpose," that he really does need nothing more than a thermos to give his girl, and that he is receiving wisdom for the ages when his father explains the difference between shinola and that other stuff.
Not a masterpiece of cinematic genius, but it's good for laughs, and sometimes that's all you need from a movie.
Notable Quotable: I was born a poor black child.
99. Steve Martin as Navin Johnson
The Jerk (1979)
Saw this for the first time a couple of days ago. It's definitely one of those "you had to be there" movies, which are funniest when they are first released. I can imagine school kids quoting lines from this movie to each other and cackling hysterically. In 2006, however, the jokes are funny, but kind of stale, and it reminded me a lot of the asinine, forgettable comedies of the past 20 years - your Dumb and Dumbers and that ilk. But there's something so endearing and sincere about it that you can't dislike it, even when it makes you roll your eyes.
That something, of course, is Steve Martin. It would be easy to dismiss his character, Navin Johnson, as just plain "dumb," but Martin never plays him as dumb. He plays him as straightforwardly as possible, and makes you believe that he's genuinely happy to have found his "special purpose," that he really does need nothing more than a thermos to give his girl, and that he is receiving wisdom for the ages when his father explains the difference between shinola and that other stuff.
Not a masterpiece of cinematic genius, but it's good for laughs, and sometimes that's all you need from a movie.
Notable Quotable: I was born a poor black child.
(mystery)
That something, of course, is Steve Martin. It would be easy to dismiss his character, Navin Andrews,
Er, wasn't his name Nathan Johnson? (Or am I mixing up my movies?)
Another noteable quote, when his family is reading the letter he sent home, something like "... I may be able to send more money soon as [insert girl's name] has promised me a blow job later."
Geeze, how do I remember this stuff? I last saw the movie like over 20 years ago!
(mystery)
Oh, there are so many quotables in that movie. "Damn these glasses." "Yes sir. [to glasses] I damn thee!"