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Carl Reiner (Where's Poppa?) brought comic Steve Martin to the screen in this mostly funny 1979 movie about a relentlessly stupid but innocent man, whom we get to know from childhood (where it never occurred to him that he was white as he was raised by a family of black sharecroppers) to romance (where he doesn't quite know what to do with Bernadette Peters). Martin is game as the moron, and this is the kind of film with funny moments people still talk about. The DVD release has production notes, bios, highlights, theatrical trailer, closed captioning, full-screen presentation, and optional Spanish subtitles. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (90)

"The New Phone Book Is Here!!, The New Phone Books Is Here!"
This 1979 debut for Steve Martin is one of comedy's greatest classics. This film definitley opened the door for people like Jim Carrey and all those types of comedies. This one will forever be the granddaddy of them all. Steve plays Navin Johnson, a white man who was brought up by a backwoods family who are black. Navin realizes he's not and sets out on his own to find his own life. It's one misadventure after the next. It's also one hilarious joke after another. Along the way he meets and falls in love with Bernadette Peters. There are also appearences by Carl Reiner, Jackie Mason, and M. Emmett Walsh. The movie is so slapsticky silly that it's hilarious fun to watch from beginning to end. I won't say what happens to our good old friend Navin. You'll have to see for yourself. If only the brilliant Steve Martin would return to this type of comedy. This film is pure comedy gold sent from comedy heaven. A definite must!!.

Too Funny
The Jerk is one of the most hilarious movies I've seen. The movie is about Navin Johnson (Steve Martin) who is a white boy adopted into a poor black family. He's a little "slow" and doesn't even realize he's white. The movie opens at his birthday where he's having his favorite "tuna on a white bread sandwich and a twinkie for dessert" dinner.
His problem is that he doesn't have rythmn, and late that night, he's listening to the radio when he hears "white" music, and finds that yes! he has rythmn!
So, Navin sets off to see the world, and a hilarous journey ensues - everything from a dog named sh*thead, assasination attempts to love to riches to insanity happens to poor Navin, but it's a great journey!
***** 5 stars for this classic Steve Martin comedy

If You Ever Need Cheering Up
Then this is the movie for you. That is, if you have any sense of humor whatsoever. There are so many funny, memorable scenes in this movie - like when he's standing right outside his parents' fence hitchhiking or when the guy is shooting at him - "These cans! He hates these cans!" "The new phone book is here!" "I'm somebody now!" The Jerk is one of the best comedies ever made. If you want to laugh, if you can laugh, buy or rent this movie!

Where's the widescreen version?
A classic but demand a widescreen version.

weirdly funny
Steve Martin shows a lot of comedic flair in this, one of his first films (he later tones it down and hones it in later works, which is all I had seen up to this point, so this was very strange in how over-the-top he is.)

Steve plaves Navin, a white boy adopted by a large loving African-American family, who honestly believed he would turn black on his 18th birthday (which is when his family reveals to him that he is adopted, although they had hoped he would figure it out beforehand.)

Determined to make his way out in the world, Navin takes on a series of unrelated jobs that turn out poorly --- gas station attendant (in which he demolishes a church), carnival employee (where he has his first carnal knowledge and his first romantic love -- with two very different women), and later becomes a billionaire through some very odd means.

But at heart, he's just a simple country boy who wants to fit in back where he came from. He's not a bum, he's a jerk! All he has are his friends and a thermos. ... Read more

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Albert Finney (George) and Diane Keaton (Faith) play well against each other in this rather bleak and (for director Alan Parker) subdued story about a middle-class California couple trying and failing to be "grown-up" about divorce. George is a successful writer who has found another woman.After he walks out, Faith takes up with the handsome working-class stud who is building their tennis court (played by Peter Weller).Her new relationship is just something to ease the pain; George's might be more, except that he is drawn back again and again to his own house, his own wife, and his three daughters--especially the eldest (Dana Hill), who angrily refuses to forgive his dereliction.Increasingly unbalanced, and finally violent, he tries to bully his way back into their lives while maintaining his new life. The movie is too slow, and the surprisingly clichéd emotional atmospherics (a lingering shot of Finney in a boat on alake, clutching his head in grief) sometimes make you feel you have stumbled into a bad made-for-TV event.But the story's the thing--that and the two fine leading performances. --Richard Farr ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Breaking up is hard to do
This is truly an insufferable movie to watch, as Finney and Keaton struggle desperately to salvage this abysmal movie. It never ceases to amaze me how Hollywood has such a difficult time portraying real-life relationships on the silver screen. Here we have the struggling writer who finally pens an award-winning novel. The only problem is that he no longer has any contact with reality. He is torn between an affair and his wife and four daughters. When called on his affair, he storms out of the house as though he were the one who had been wronged. But after his wife manages to put back the pieces and now seems to have a reasonably healthy relationship with a younger man, back comes the irate husband, not because he is unhappy in his new relationship but because he is damn mad his wife can be happy without him. Finny and Keaton fail to make this stormy relationship work. The scenes are implausible and by movie's end it is unbearable to watch, especially as the older daughter tries to make sense of her childish parents. She shouts a few explicitives for Hollywood sake. The F-word was quite popular at the time, but the outbursts ring hollow as does the whole movie.

It is what someone imagines a divorce being, not what it actually is. The settings are too idyllic for a struggling writer. Here they are living in a huge Victorian house in a romantic town in Northern California, yet the daughters sleep two to a bed. He has a writer's cabin by the surf, where he is able to break away from the din of bringing up family, and ultimately pursue his affair. When it all comes crashing down, it does so in the most incredulous ways with the quintessential home wrecking, good old fashion fights, and the damn typewriter which he carts out around like some talisman that will magically restore his relationship with his older daughter. This movie fails on all counts.

Honest, harrowing movie about divorce
What's remarkable about this movie is that it depicts domestic issues with the intensity of a war movie or courtroom drama, and yet it's never forced or fake.

The editorial review misses the mark; the "emotional atmoshperics" are pitch-perfect (for example, the shot of the boat that the reviewer mentions is a calm, almost meditative long-shot, whereas most movies would have ruined the moment by trying to over-dramatize it).

When I first saw this movie, what struck me was the way it shows domestic violence. In a bad movie (like "Enough"), only evil people are violent. What's truly gripping about "Shoot the Moon" is that we get inside George (Finney's character) so deeply that we understand exactly how his eruptions occur, and part of their shock is that we understand how they destroy his chances of reconciling with his family. His family can survive his inability to control his temper-- it's his own life that he's ruining.

I hope I haven't made this sound unrelentingly bleak; there are lots of lively, funny moments as well, and the performances are wonderful. But it shows a painful divorce with more honesty and emotion than any other Hollywood movie I can think of.

Powerful
One of the main reasons I rented and then bought this movie was because Diane Keaton was in it. Together, she and Albert Finney make this movie a truly devistating, powerful story of a couple who find that after fifteen years of marriage, it's over. Both performances were incredible, as was the performance of the oldest daughter, played by the late Dana Hill. She gave such a powerful performance, as a girl who didn't know whether to love or hate her father for leaving the family.

What made this a true gem was the relationship you see between Diane Keaton's character (Faith Dunlap) and her four children. You can automatically see how much she loves them and that she wants to protect them. At the same time, however, Albert Finney's character (George Dunlap) is taking the divorce in two separate directions: he's happy to not be living with his wife, but he misses her at the same time. You can immediately see that he loves the children as well and they love him.

The part that was very difficult to watch was when he (Finney) wanted to give Sherri (Dana Hill) her birthday present and she didn't want it. He got into the house anyway and locked Faith out and beat down his daughter's door and just let his rage out on her. It was so difficult to watch him to this, and the reaction of what he did, or realized what he did to his daughter brought tears to my eyes. Especially when Faith comforted her daughter and George saw that the two had a special relationship.

I would recommend this movie to people over the age of 18, since it is very powerful and has a lot of adult language and adult situations.

A Keaton Gem
The disintegration of a marriage is usually red-flag matter when it's treated as an entertainment piece. But "Shoot the Moon" is, for some unknown reason, an underrated and under-appreciated (when it was released) showcase for the dynamic Diane Keaton and Albert Finney. Their marriage goes bust in this one, and in the anguish of both characters we feel likewise. The emotional fallout of the breakup of any marriage, even if its end is mutually sought, is acutely conveyed here, and Keaton and Finney manage to make us care about their characters, even if one is someone we might not otherwise want to care about. The film was one in a handful that Keaton did in her post-"Annie Hall" days but which helped catapault her to greater heights as a serious and accomplished dramatic actress ("Reds" quickly followed "Shoot the Moon" for Keaton, which garnered her a second Best Actress nomination). Why this film didn't generate more buzz when it was first released is inexplicable, but it's a hidden gem. When it's done, we have to appreciate its honesty: there's no "happily ever after" that neatly ties this one up.

An Unending Relationship
This movie is about a man and woman who have lost intimacy and passion in their marriage. Infidelity leads one of them to leave after being found out. This in turn leads to a pending divorce and how many times a week they get to see their children. Sounds familiar but this movie has a certain flair to it. It has alot of creativity and underlying emotions that can be seen by exceptional acting. This movie shows how it might feel to go through a separation from someone you have known and loved for a long time. It isn't just an easy thing and this movie points that out. Each partner grieves and gets angry and bargains, just like when you are dealing with death. The cinematography is quite nice. The relationship the children have with their parents is original, and highly entertaining, especially how they interact with Keaton. The house they live in is so cozy and warm, I wish I lived in it. The ending really hits home and leaves you wondering if she will forgive him? I guess the viewer gets to answer the question. Not your typical run of the mill movie fare with a pat ending and everybody smiling when they walk out of the theater. It is not about happy times, this movie represents separation via divorce reality, the harsh reality!

Lisa Nary ... Read more

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Playhouse Disney's preschool cartoon features Stanley Griff, anendearing kid with an enormous imagination who learns about life through hislove of animals. Each of the four stories presents a pintsize "messy" dilemmaand unfolds a solution that showcases a particular critter. For example, in"Kangaroo Clean Up," a cluttered bedroom seems impossible to straighten untilStanley learns about the hop-to-it methods of a kangaroo. In "The Big Spill," atipped bowl of milk ignites the boy's curiosity to consider the slurping habitsof an anteater. Whether learning to hang out like a sloth or march like an armyof ants, Stanley's tutorials become hands-on adventures when he jumps into thepages of his handy hardback, The Great Big Book of Everything. He isinstantly transported to the savannah or jungle with his sidekick, Dennis, agood-natured goldfish who offers sage advice. Sweet without being sappy,Stanley is a breath of fresh air in the realm of children's programming.(Ages 2 to 7) --Lynn Gibson ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Stanley is excellent for preschoolers and early elem kids.
This Stanley DVD is a favorite of my young kids. Every episode uses animals to teach a lesson that they can apply in thier own lives. There is nothing of a questionable nature in any of the the shows I have watched with my kids. No need to worry that when you walk out of the room, people will start calling each other "stupid" or being unkind or doing things that you wouldn't want your kids to do. I highly recommend anything with Stanley. ... Read more