The Infidel

I still say that, too.

chileorgullo

No, I rented it after E! ranked it #1 comedy of all time.

What is so funny about it?

Count Dooku

I kept hearing people talk about how great chocolate ice cream is, so I finally went out and tried some...

I didn't like it.

Explain to me why everybody says choclate ice cream tastes so good.

big whoppa

Bad comparison.

Count Dooku

Okay, big whoppa, then why don't you go ahead and explain to all the posters who have said they watched Stripes, or The Jerk, or Blazing Saddles (OT), or Duck Soup (another thread) and didn't find them to be funny, why those movies really are funny.

nando820

This is one that I passed up hundreds of times on the rental store, on Netflix and even on plain old cable. I was born after this movie was made. And the Steve Martin movies I remember when i was young were "Cheaper by the Dozen", "Bringing down the House", "Pink Panther" and the furthest I went was "Father of the Bride" which was just ok.

So I was incredibly impressed at how original and funny this movie was.

"Mom: Navin, it's your birthday, and it's time you knew, you're not our natural-born child.

Navin: I'm not? You mean I'm gonna stay this color?"

So he ventures into the world to make something for himself. But not before promising his mama to send back what he could to help them out.
It really is a charming movie.

What I don't get is why is called "The Jerk"? The character is naive but he is not a dick which is what I think when I hear jerk

Still need to checkout Stripes

dhmac

What a bump!

Even though they didn't exist back when "Stripes" was made, thanks to the movie I call any oversized SUV (such as a Cadillac Escalade) that I see an "Urban Assault Vehicle" (or take the label one step further to "Suburban Assault Vehicle")

Count Dooku

In 2018 calling someone a jerk definitely carries the connotation of asshole. Perhaps 40 years ago the connotation was more just a stupid person.

Dr. Mantle

The Jerk has one of my all time favorite exchanges.

"How far you goin'?"

"St. Louis. How far you goin'?"

"To the end of this fence."

Navin gets in and gets driven 20 ft.

Mike86

rennervision

I have often thought the movie would make more sense if it was called "The Idiot."

I will say one good thing about the TV version. It has that great scene where the millionaire needs Navin to pay for his plane's new leather seats when he flies to the Super Bowl. I don't think that's on my DVD.

Josh-da-man

“Jerk” generally implies a certain level of malice, but it can also be applied to a foolish or naive person.

Rob V

"Shithead" the dog, the glasses making people cross-eyed, "I only need this chair", "I'm in the phone book!".... all classic. I tried to talk my wife into naming our dog "Shithead".

Josh-da-man

nando820

Loved that part. It was awesome

jpcamb

I would probably list Stripes up there with Blues Brothers as one of my favorite movies, Cant sit and watch it every day but always like it when I see it. I like the Jerk but dont love it or afaik own the movie. Pretty sure I never bought that one but I certainly have Stripes...

SmackDaddy

Both Stripes and The Jerk are movies I will stop and watch whenever I come across them. So much quotable dialogue in both. The Jerk suffers more from edited broadcasts than Stripes does IMO, even though some of the edits can be funny in and of themselves. But yeah, going back the the OP, it's a crime to judge these movies in their heavily edited broadcast versions.

dhmac

As someone who was around back then and even saw the movie in the theatre during its initial run, the term "Jerk" meant pretty much the same thing as it does today. Even discussing the movie with friends back then, everyone agreed that the title doesn't fit the movie's main character at all and something like "The Dummy", "The Moron", or "The Idiot" would've fit better.

SmackDaddy

On the title, I think these are the only times the word is used in the movie:

GuessWho

Lighten up, Francis