History Film / TheJerk

* AbsoluteCleavage: During the "snails on the food" scene in which Marie is wearing a low-cut dress and looking up in an unintentionally provocative way.
-->'''Navin:''' "[[DoubleEntendre Two boobs]]! That's what he takes us for!"

* CreatorCameo: Carl Reiner plays himself leading a class-action suit against Navin.
** Additionally, screenwriter Carl Gottlieb appears as "Iron Balls [=McGinty=]."

* CryCute: After Navin's court case and his subsequent downward spiral, Marie starts bawling about how much she misses how things used to be with Navin, before the money and fame.
-->'''Marie:''' I just heard a song on the radio that reminded me of the way we were!
-->'''Navin:''' What was it?
-->'''Marie:''' "The Way We Were!"

* NiceHat: Complete with 3 foot long feather.

-->'''Navin''': "[[DoubleEntendre Two boobs]]! That's what he takes us for!"

** Additionally, screenwriter Carl Gottlieb appears as "Iron Balls McGinty."

-->'''Navin''': You mean I'm gonna stay this color?

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: The kind of jerk Navin is, being more the less-common definition of a loser than any he is kind of a mean or unpleasant guy.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: The kind of jerk Navin is.

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]].

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The {{tagline}} was "A rags to riches to rags story." Nonspecific, but that's basically the whole movie.

* SurprisinglyHappyEnding: The film looks like it's going to end with Navin languishing alone and forgotten in poverty. That is, until Marie and his adoptive family show up for a more proper HappyEnding by bringing him home.

* RoadTripAcrossTheStreet: Navin's journey starts by hitchhiking down to the end of the block where his home is.

* YouKnowImBlackRight: Subverted. Navin, after striking it rich, is talking to several financial advisers encouraging him to invest his new-found wealth in a housing/apartment complex. Once he realizes that they specifically plan on making a ''racially segregated'' complex, an understandably offended Navin, who was raised by a black family and believed himself to be black until fairly recently, proceeds to beat the crap out of all of them with some previously unseen martial arts skills.

** All the things Navin claims are "all [he] needs!".

* TrophyWife: Navin's boss (Jackie Mason) brings his hot wife to the garage to explain the importance of keeping the place safe. Without such a lucrative business how could he, of all people, get and keep such a woman? He explains that if anything happened to the business she'd leave him in a second. She nods in agreement.

-->-- '''Navin R. Johnson''' ([[DontExplainTheJoke played by]] Creator/SteveMartin)

-->-- '''Navin R. Johnson'''

* CloserToEarth: Relatively speaking, at least. Marie is still very much a ditz herself, but is a little bit smarter and more sensible than Navin.

* GroinAttack: Unfortunately, the recipient is one [[MeaningfulName "Iron Balls" McGinty.]]

* LongList: And that's all Navin needs!
** He actually has several!

* OverlyLongGag: "I know we've only known each other four weeks and three days, but to me it seems like nine weeks and five days." Navin then proceeds to [[LongList list every single day he spent with her]], explaining how long each of them felt and how they add up.

* YouKnowImBlackRight: Navin, after striking it rich, was talking to several financial advisers and people who wanted him to invest his new-found wealth. One guy was suggesting a housing/apartment complex and detailed that they would of course keep the "niggers" away. Navin, who was raised by a black family (oblivious to his own whiteness for decades), snapped at him, saying "Sir, you are talking to a nigger!" and proceeded to kick his ass with martial arts skills not shown before or after in the movie.

* 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.]]

* PreAssKickingOneLiner: As Navin beats down racist landlords, he says "Sir, you are ''talking'' to a nigger!"

[[caption-width-right:300:"It was never easy for me. I was born a poor black child."]]

An American comedy film from 1979, directed by Creator/CarlReiner and featuring Creator/SteveMartin in his first starring role.

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The [[{{Tagline}} tagline]] was "A rags to riches to rags story." Nonspecific, but that's basically the whole movie.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Navin's whole life is this trope; it'd be easier to name the scenes where Navin ''doesn't'' miss the point by a mile. The famous "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcwz8-EfFYE He hates these cans!]]" scene is a notable example.

An American comedy film from 1979, directed by Carl Reiner and featuring Creator/SteveMartin in his first starring role.

* NWordPrivileges: PlayedForLaughs as Navin beats the crap out of racist developers.

* BadassFamily: Navin's adopted black family is just really pleasant and likable bunch of people. What makes them even more badass is how they were able to find a way to make their own fortune and create a better life (even if their new house was not very different from their old one.

* DuobleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Navin finds out exactly what his "special purpose" is by having Patty come onto him, grab his butt, and then throw him to the bed, before the trailer starts rocking. Keep in mind, he ''just found out right before they had sex''.