The Jerk: 40th Anniversary Edition is a fine release from Shout Factory. The movie itself is hilarious and showed why Steven Martin became a big star and for the most part, the jokes did landed.
The Jerk
— 40th Anniversary Edition —
(1979)
Genre(s): Comedy
Shout Factory | R – 94 min. – $34.93 | December 18, 2018
Date Published: 12/15/2018 | Author: The Movieman
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Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 4.0/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Navin (STEVE MARTIN) believes he was born a poor black child in Mississippi. He is, however, actually white. Upon figuring this out, he heads north to St. Louis to find himself. After landing a job at a gas station, Navin is excited to discover his name printed in the new phone book. This ratification of his existence leads him from one misadventure to another — as he invents gadgets, dodges bullets, joins the carnival and seeks love in the arms of beautiful Marie (BERNADETTE PETERS).
Quick Hit Review: The Jerk was never a comedic favorite of mine when I first watched it eons ago (probably somewhere in the late 90s) but with this new Blu-ray release, was a good time to give it another shot. And this new experience, I found this to be a hilarious experience and showed how Steve Martin became a superstar who, as his career progressed, also showed his more dramatic side. Here, this was a surreal movie filled with an assassin wanting to kill Navin… just because; a maid being executed for not performing her duties; and creating a nose grip that leads to its wearers to becoming cross-eyed. This was a hoot of a film that had be rolling (the Church tow line in particular had me in stitches) under the direction of Carl Reiner and co-scripted by Steve Martin. Any fan of Martin or of the more insane or bizarre, a la Seinfeld, will find this highly entertaining.
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SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.75/5 |
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This release comes with a matted slip cover. The interior cover is reversible revealing the film’s original poster artwork. A Conversation with Steve Martin and Carl Reiner (26:35) – This is a wonderful interview with the co-writer/star Steve Martin and director Carl Reiner as they discuss their work on The Jerk and what the movie meant for Martin’s own career transitioning from stand up to film. A Conversation with Co-Writers Carl Gottlieb and Michael Elias (24:40) finds the writers discussing their part of writing the script. Not bad at all of an interview. Learn to Play “You Belong to Me” (7:04) teaches you how to play the song on a ukulele. The Lost Film Strips of Father Carlos Las Vegas de Gordova (4:20) is the unused footage shown in the movie. Rounding things out is the Theatrical Trailer (2:30), Teaser Trailer (0:33), Exhibitor’s Trailer (2:29) and Radio Spots (3:03). |
VIDEO – 4.25/5 |
| The Jerk is presented in its original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio and given a new 1080p high-definition transfer, taken from a remastering of a 2K transfer. This might not be a brilliant looking picture as there are some dust marks and specs present in various scenes and although noticeable, didn’t detract from the enjoyment. Besides that, however, detail was relatively sharp and colors are generally bright and moderately vibrant. |
AUDIO – 3.75/5 |
| The disc comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and presumably it’s the same one from the Universal Blu-ray released in 2013. But even so, it’s a good sounding lossless track though this is mainly a dialogue-driven film outside of the sniper’s gunfire giving the most depth, even if it’s still limited. |
OVERALL – 4.0/5 |
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Overall, The Jerk: 40th Anniversary Edition is a fine release from Shout Factory. The movie itself is hilarious and showed why Steven Martin became a big star and for the most part, the jokes did landed. As for the Blu-ray, the video/audio transfers are quite good and although features are limited, the new interviews, particularly with Martin and Reiner, were fantastic. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.