History Film / TheJerk

* UnusualEuphemism: Navin's "special purpose" (yeah, it's his junk).

[[IThoughtItMeant If you're looking for tropes about jerks]], see {{Jerkass}} and TheJerkIndex.

->"Come, Shithead!"

* HeelFaceTurn: Navin's would-be assassin decides to take up a less violent line of work.

* RandomEventsPlot: The story switches gears several times, but it's tied together by Navin gradually finding love, money and fame.

* UmbrellaDrink: Navin is very partial to them.
* UnusualEuphemism: Navin's "special purpose".

----

* DownerEnding: Subverted. It seems like the movie would end with Navin languishing alone and forgotten in poverty, [[spoiler: until Marie and his adoptive family show up for a more proper HappyEnding.]]

* ObliviousAdoption: Again, Navin was raised by an all black family. He only realizes this when his mother tells him.

* ShooTheDog: Averted, as much as Shithead wanted it played straight.

* AdaptationExpansion: The movie's setup comes from the opening line of Steve Martin's stand up routine about how he was "born a poor black child."

* GagBoobs: Played with (no, [[IThoughtYouMeant not like that, you creep]]) during the "snails on the food" scene in which Marie is wearing a low-cut dress and looking up in a way that shows off her cleavage.
-->'''Navin''': "[[DoubleEntendre Two boobs]]! That's what he takes us for!"

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: "He hates these cans!"

[[caption-width-right:300:

* VisualPun: Navin's family had to tear down their old house, but they built a bigger house in its place. If you look closely, you'll notice that it's the exact same hovel as before, only scaled up about 40%. [[ExactWords He did say "bigger," not necessarily "nicer."]]

* BettyAndVeronica

* ContrivedCoincidence: Played for laughs by the ending;

* CucumberFacial

* TheDitz: Navin to extreme levels.

* DownerEnding: Subverted. It seems like the movie would end with Navin languishing alone and forgotten in poverty, until Marie and his adoptive family show up.

* HowWeGotHere

* NWordPrivileges: Played for laughs as Navin beats the crap out of racist developers.

* VisualPun: Navin's family had to tear down their old house, but they built a bigger house in its place. If you look closely, you'll notice that it's the exact same hovel as before, only scaled up about 40%. Hey, he said "bigger," not necessarily "nicer."

''The Jerk'' is an American comedy film from 1979, directed by Carl Reiner and featuring Creator/SteveMartin in his first starring role.

The film follows Navin R. Johnson (Martin), a bum, who tells his life story. After finding out that he is not a natural born child of his black parents, Navin decides to leave home and make it for himself in the world. Despite the fact that he is woefully unprepared, Navin manages to land himself a job, escape a decidedly random psychopath, run away with a traveling carnival, find the woman of his dreams (Creator/BernadettePeters), and hit it rich, before finally losing everything and ending up a bum in the street.

Along the way, the film details Navin's interactions with the people and world around him, where his common misunderstandings of every-day situations often [[HilarityEnsues lead to hilarious results]].

[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_jerk_1979_movie_poster.jpg]]

[[quoteright:275:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_jerk_1979_movie_poster.jpg]]

[[quoteright:280:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_jerk_1979_movie_poster.jpg]]

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_jerk_1979_movie_poster.jpg]]

''The Jerk'' is an American comedy film from 1979. It was Creator/SteveMartin's first starring role in a feature film, and was directed by Creator/CarlReiner.

The film follows Navin R. Johnson, a bum, who tells his life story. After finding out that he is not a natural born child of his black parents, Navin decides to leave home and make it for himself in the world. Despite the fact that he is woefully unprepared, Navin manages to land himself a job, escape a decidedly random psychopath, run away with a traveling carnival, find the woman of his dreams (Creator/BernadettePeters), and hit it rich, before finally losing everything and ending up a bum in the street.

[[quoteright:196:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/The_Jerk_9009.jpg]]

'''''The Jerk''''' is an American comedy film from 1979. It was Creator/SteveMartin's first starring role in a feature film, and was directed by Creator/CarlReiner.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold

* BallsOfSteel: SteveMartin's character makes the mistake of kicking the crotch of [[MeaningfulName "Iron Balls" McGinty.]]

The film follows Navin R. Johnson, a bum, who tells his life story. After finding out that he is not a natural born child of his black parents, Navin decides to leave home and make it for himself in the world. Despite the fact that he is woefully unprepared, Navin manages to land himself a job, escape a decidedly random psychopath, run away with a traveling carnival, find the woman of his dreams, and hit it rich, before finally losing everything and ending up a bum in the street.