Steve Martin famously aimed for a laugh on every page of _The Jerk_'s script, and he just might have hit the mark. There's no reason for this to work as well as it does - it's intentionally stupid, from the ridiculous opening lines ("I was born a poor black child") to the absurd rags-to-riches-to-rags climax ("all I need is this lamp") - but man, does it succeed in spite of itself.

Sheer quotability is partially to thank, as I just touched upon. The film is swamped with riotously good lines, perfectly timed and delivered; an extra-long highlight reel of endearingly dumb quips. Martin himself also elevates the picture, oafishly stumbling through a world that seems tailor-made to take advantage of his type. He's great on his own, the eternally optimistic naive kid (with shockingly white hair) whose pure nature leads him to believe a crazed would-be assassin is deliberately blowing holes in nearby oil cans and not just missing his target, but he's even better when he gets together with Bernadette Peters. She's just as simple-minded as he is, which makes them doubly gullible but also almost unbearably sweet together. The pair's sudden break from zaniness to share a uke-and-voice duet on a darkened beach is a charming touch, topped by a note-perfect visual sucker punch that instantly reminds us what we're watching. As a couple, they're thoroughly silly but also capable of toying with real emotional depth; not an easy balance to strike.

_The Jerk_ might not be as potent today as it was forty years ago - comedy has changed quite a bit since 1979 - but it's still astonishingly efficient, loaded with sizzling bits and punchlines, and tremendously influential. Consider it a more innocent, but no less hilarious, predecessor to _Dumb and Dumber_. A personal favorite.