The Jerk
A rags to riches to rags story.
A rags to riches to rags story.
Comedy
-
1979
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After discovering he's not really black like the rest of his family, likable dimwit Navin Johnson runs off on a hilarious misadventure in this comedy classic that takes him from rags to riches and back to rags again. The slaphappy jerk strikes it rich, but life in the fast lane isn't all it's cracked up to be and, in the end, all that really matters to Johnson is his true love.
Director:
Cast:
Similar
Same Director
Details
Rated:
R
Runtime:
94 min
Release date:
14 Dec 1979
Country:
US
Languages:
English
Budget:
$4,000,000
Revenue:
$100,000,000
Awards:
1 nomination
Top Critics Reviews
rotten:
Its humor is successful and unsuccessful by turns, and although Comedian Carl Reiner is the director, the instinct here is to give most of both credit and blame to Martin.
– John Skow,
TIME Magazine,
2 Feb 2009
fresh:
An artless, non-stop barrage of off-the-wall situations, funny and unfunny jokes, generally effective and sometimes hilarious sight gags and bawdy non sequiturs.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
2 Feb 2009
fresh:
The comedy runs out of steam when the jerk makes good, but laugh for laugh it's probably a better investment than 10.
– Geoff Andrew,
Time Out,
24 Jun 2006
rotten:
We get the sense at times that the cast and crew arrived at a location, found the script bankrupt of real laughs, and started looking around for funny props.
– Roger Ebert,
Chicago Sun-Times,
5 Jul 2005
fresh:
The laughs aren't steady, but they're persistent, and the film moves fast enough to compensate for its unevenness.
– Janet Maslin,
New York Times,
9 May 2005