Starring: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters,
Director: Carl Reiner
Steve Martin’s first film as writer and star, this comedy was quite successful on release, though in a lot of ways ahead of it’s time. Martin stars as Navin, a man who has been raised by a black family. When he finds out that he was adopted, which is a great shock to him, he sets out into the world, or at least, into the big smoke of St Louis, to seek his fortune.
He finds fame, riches and romance, and also loses them all. But the film is more about how incredibly foolish he is, lurching from one disaster to another, but always managing to come out ok in the end.
Sometimes it’s fun to watch old comedies, partly because what was considered daring at the time is not all that controversial now and it’s nice to see where Steve Martin started it all, as far as his film work goes. The silliness is quite fun, and still feels fresh, and Martin has a warmth that makes him likeable and relatable somehow in his films, even while you’re laughing at him, and that’s in strong evidence here. He’s a lovable naif, strolling through life, and like one person comments, it would be nice to be as excited about the little things as he is.
See It If: you like classic comedies like Airplane, or Steve Martin fare, it’s quite fun and silly.
I have Steve Martin’s early live recordings. Navin Johnson was the embodiment of his onstage idiot persona.
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Haven’t seen it in years but early Steve Martin and Carl Reiner have some inspired silliness – The Man with Two Brains is also worth a watch.
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Yes! The Man With Two Brains is another great classic! ❤️
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A movie i really enjoyed. Martin manages to display humour that can appeal to a wide level of tastes, some seemingly silly and crude but at the same time subtle and stimulating; makes you think and laugh at the same time. 🙂
I also love it because i have a long-time crush on Bernadette Peters 😉 She has an amazing mix of sweet naivety and ruthless devilishness. Plus she’s a Hottie 🙂
love.
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I like his range of humour too, from just silly to very satirical and clever, all in the one film. 😃
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I have never heard of this one, but Steve Martin is always fun to watch. He was great in Planes, trains and Automobiles . Great post as always, it really sounds like a fun movie 😊
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I think it’s great fun! I love Steve Martin. I guess it’s kind of old, some of his early movie work, gets pushed to the back, so to speak.
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I think, this is possibly one of his films I haven’t seen … and seeing as I can’t remember if I have or not, I might just have to have a go at it anyway! 😀
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Let me know what you think? ❤️
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LOVE this movie! ❤
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Isn’t it hilarious? ❤️
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So funny!
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Love Steve Martin
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Seems interesting. Liked his 1987 movie ‘Roxanne’. Will surely watch this one.
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I love Roxanne, classic comedy. ❤️
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