The Jerk: 40th Anniversary Edition

The Jerk is the greatest comedy. It kicked off the Aspen Film Society movies that Reiner and Martin banged out over a 6 year period. Still, the first cut was the deepest. For the young kids reading the site, Martin plays a white guy raised by a black family. While that was enough for a guffaw in the 1970s, the concept goes past there. The Johnson raise little Navin as their own, but he’s painfully awkward. After realizing he has a calling to discover his roots, he leaves home to find his true self.

Steve Martin in his prime was unstoppable. I get that he wanted to write, get cerebral and make terrible movies with Touchstone. However, nothing beats Martin leaning into idiocy for a laugh. It was smart idiocy, as his morons were lovable and engaged actively in life. Plus, Bernadette Peters still charms me as the girl of his dreams. You know things are going great when a lady breaks out a trombone during a moonlit stroll.

A lot of the special features on the disc were ported over from the last Universal Blu-ray. However, the new transfer and featurettes are worth the upgrade. Grain is still true to form, but it doesn’t go super dark during night time exteriors like on the first Blu-ray. Pick it up, fanboys.

The Jerk special features

• NEW Remastered from a Brand-New 2K Transfer
• NEW A Conversation with Steve Martin and Carl Reiner
• NEW A Conversation with Writers Michael Elias and Carl Gottlieb
• Learn How to Play “Tonight You Belong To Me”
• The Lost Film Strips of Father Carlos Las Vegas De Cordova
• Trailers & Radio Spots