Scenes We Love: The Jerk21: 02 12/03/2010, Alison Nastasi, Bernadette Peters, bernadettepeters, Carl Reiner, carlreiner, Navin, scenes we love, scenes

Scenes We Love: The Jerk21: 02 12/03/2010, Alison Nastasi, Bernadette Peters, bernadettepeters, Carl Reiner, carlreiner, Navin, scenes we love, sceneswelove, Steve Martin, stevemartin, the pull, thejerk, tonight you belong to me, tonightyoubelongtome, Cinematical


It's kind of impossible to choose just one scene I like in Carl Reiner's classic comedy, The Jerk, where a young Steve Martin is at the top of his game in a hilarious scene after another, showing each step in the perfect mood, perfect comedian sense of time. One scene has always stood out to me by his ability to capture what I like most about the film and its lead actor - the duet between Navin (Martin) and Marie (Bernadette Peters) to the tune of Tonight You Belong To Me.

Like the song, the relationship between man-child Navin and Marie is totally sweet, though very short - that is, until Marie Navin back together with your company after "successful" businessman (inventing the Opti-Grab) . Martin and Peters have chemistry, no doubt attributable to its relation to real life. The link between the artists is evident throughout, appearing repeatedly in the eye and their interactions.

This mix of broad comedy and subtle romance is handled extremely well on stage - there is a perfect balance between sentimentality and humor, something not seen often enough in the comedies of gags where there tends to sublimate everything else and redundant . The entire film is an intelligent exercise of simplicity despite the character being so "stupid". This scene is just one of many who still absurd Martin philosophical approach is so refreshing and unexpected (and randomly, as the solo cornet). Even his question ( "Will he? ... No? ... Yes? ... Really?") Examples of Martin's ability to find that delicate balance between deliberate and free of encumbrances, or in this case a question and a statement. The end result is a scene that subverts expectations and feels more honest and romantic than most rom-coms that are being cranked out by the dozen.

Check out the clip after the jump.
Filed under: Comedy, Trailers and Clips, Scenes We Love

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