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5.5% of the viewers favorited this title, 1% disliked it
Currently in 6 official lists, but has been in 7
Stanley Kubrick, Cinephile
94 movies · At #68
AFI's 100...
100 movies · At #89
BBC's The 100...
101 movies · At #99
Box Office Mojo's...
1000 movies · At #353
The Guardian's 1000...
1004 movies · At #461
Kenneth McMahon
The definition of hit and miss.
idjutt
Really surprised to see this on Kubrick's list.
Siskoid
The Jerk is a rather bizarre Steve Martin comedy (even by his standards) that spoofs the rags-to-riches biopic (so prevalent today) along with a few other genres along the way, and does so with zany sketch ideas that often stand out as completely original, but are more intellectually amusing than laugh-out-loud funny (mileage may certainly vary). For me, the improbable moron is the least interesting comedy archetype, and that's part of my ambivalence here. I also feel like the film's title is misleading, as the character is more naive than a jerk, although the word does have other meanings. I might have expected corruption to play a stronger role in the "riches-to-rags" climax of the story. I say story, but The Jerk is really a hodgepodge, with the protagonist moving from situation to situation, never quite gelling into a cohesive whole. I still do appreciate this as a parody of film clichés that does not resort to parodying specific films to take its targets down.