The read
Scores higher than 73% of the 610 1970s comedy movies in this catalog.
Synopsis
After discovering he's not really black like the rest of his family, likable dimwit Navin Johnson sets off on a hilarious misadventure that takes him from rags to riches and back 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.
Ratings
IMDb7.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes82%
Metacritic61/100
932 audience votes
Key crew
- Carl ReinerDirector
- Steve MartinScreenplay
- Carl GottliebScreenplay
- Jack ElliottOriginal Music Composer
- Michael EliasScreenplay
Cast
- Steve MartinNavin R. Johnson
- Bernadette PetersMarie Kimble Johnson
- Catlin AdamsPatty Bernstein
- Mabel KingMother
- Richard WardFather
- Carl GottliebIron Balls McGinty
- Dick Anthony WilliamsTaj
- Bill MacyStan Fox
- M. Emmet WalshMadman
- Dick O'NeillFrosty
- Maurice EvansHobart
- Helena CarrollHester
Stills
Movies like The Jerk
Themes
blowneominstrelsyphone booksharecroppertennis court
The Best Movies of 1979
The Jerk is #40 of 60
