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Growing up, I was never prevented (nor deprived) from watching “classic” Hollywood films, including those of the cult, horror and Technicolor variety. They were always there, even if some weren’t major box office blowouts, because at least one person in my immediate and extended family had a VHS copy stashed somewhere.

Movies like The Blues Brothers, Animal House and Fast Times at Ridgemont High showed me how two bumbling jazz muscians, a group of frat boys and premiscuous teens could in the end — despite zany onscreen antics — come together and learn from their experiences, despite conflict and misunderstanding.

On the other end of the movie watching spectrum horror films like Nightmare on Elm Street, Critters, Ghoulies and Evil Dead II convinced me that scary movies could be funny, even if the creepy ghoul or slim-spewing monster wasn’t exactly performing slapstick.

Then there was The Jerk (1979) with Steve Martin (one of my Dad’s cherished movies), a movie that defined — at least to me at that particular point in time — that a movie could be silly and knee-slapping funny and maybe a bit sentimental.

The movie begins with the following line:

Huh? I am not a bum. I’m a jerk. I once had wealth, power, and the love of a beautiful woman. Now I only have two things: my friends and… uh… my thermos. Huh? My story? Okay…

It’s hard to imagine anything worth watching would begin like that, but if it stars Steve Martin, there’s no second guessing really, it’s just going to work and not only that but it’ll be funny if not hilarious.

The Jerk tells the story of Navin Johnson, born a “poor black child”, who’s actually a very white man who happened to be raised by a Southern black family. In fact, the tagline of the film was “From rags to riches… to rags.” and that perfectly explains the overall story arch of this movie.

The truth of the matter is Nathan, no matter how hard he tries or thinks otherwise, is not all there mentally, in fact, he’s six plates short of a full course meal. Yet, this simple minded man can be sympathized with because not only is naive he’s also an endearing individual because of his innocense.

While The Jerk has plenty of hilarious sequences with our goofy protaganist, there’s one scene in particular that just busts me up even to this day. The scene, in which a sniper is trying to eliminate Navin, is funny because every time Navin is shot at he’s near a group of cans of some sort and thinks the sniper is shooting at the cans.

Martin (as Navin) exclaims, “He hates the cans! Stay away from the cans!” as he ducks and dives to get away from them. It’s completely nutty and yet fits within the context of the story. Why would Navin even consider that he’d be a target? It would have to be cans and a man with a deep hatred for them.

This scene, among many, is one of the reasons The Jerk has reached cult classic status and why it remains one of my favorite comedies of all time, right up there with other classic films that will always remain with me and influence my own personality and outlook on life.