The Jerk (1979) ****

I've always really enjoyed Carl Reiner's The Jerk (1979) but some reason when I watched it this time I liked it even more than usual. I seemed to laugh out loud at more of the jokes than on previous viewings. Perhaps it's because it's just subversive enough without being mean-spirited. Perhaps it's because it's a bit crude but never disgusting. Perhaps it's because the non-sequiturial quality never derails the film. Perhaps it's because the dialogue from Carl Gottlieb and Michael Elias's script is so quotable. Perhaps it's because Steve Martin really was a comic genius and his lovable idiot is hard to resist. Perhaps it's because Bernadette Peters is simultaneously adorable and foxy, and her reactions to, and the sweetness between Martin and herself (who were a couple at the time), feel(s) genuine. I believe it's all of these things.