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14/12/1979 Comedy 1h 34m
68
User score

A rags to riches to rags story.

Overview

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.

  1. Carl Reiner

    Director

Top billed cast

  1. Steve Martin

    Navin R. Johnson

  2. Bernadette Peters

    Marie Kimble Johnson

  3. Catlin Adams

    Patty Bernstein

  4. Mabel King

    Mother

  5. Richard Ward

    Father

  6. Carl Gottlieb

    Iron Balls McGinty

  7. Dick Anthony Williams

    Taj

  8. Bill Macy

    Stan Fox

  9. M. Emmet Walsh

    Madman

  10. View more

Full Cast & Crew

Reviews

A review by Wuchak
Written by Wuchak on 2019-02-25
***Steve Martin’s breakout comedy***

A homeless mentally-challenged man (Steve Martin) shares his amusing tale of rags-to-riches-to-hobo with flashbacks. Catlin Adams plays a stunt rider at a carnival who has the hots for Navin (Martin) while Bernadette Peters plays a more important woman in his life.

“The Jerk” (1979) has several laugh-out-loud scenes like the eventual confrontation between Patty (Catlin) and Marie (Peters), but there are also some flat, overlong parts, like when Navin departs the mansion in the last act. “Forrest Gump” (1994) was obviously inspired by “The ...read the rest
Read All Reviews

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Status
Released

Original Language
English

Budget
$4,000,000.00

Revenue
$100,000,000.00

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