Best Steve Martin Movie?

[red dog 1]

Last edited Thu Jun 11, 2015, 03:51 PM - Edit history (1)

He was great in Carl Reiner's "The Jerk" (Martin co-wrote The Jerk)

He was great with Charles Grodin in "The Lonely Guy"

He was great with Martin Short and Chevy Chase in "Three Amigos"
(He wrote and co-produced Three Amigos)

He was great in the Carl Reiner directed spoof of 1940s private eye thrillers:
"Dead men Don't Wear Plaid" (Martin co-wrote it)

He was great with Kathleen Turner in "The Man With two Brains" (Martin co-wrote it)

He was absolutely brilliant in "The Jerk" (Martin co-wrote it)

He was great with John Candy in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles"

He was great with Michael Caine in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"

He was great with Rick Moranis in "My Blue Heaven"

He was outstanding, (IMO) in "Leap of Faith", with Debra Winger, Liam Neesan & Lolita Davidovich.

Other great Steve Martin films include:
Pennies From Heaven, All of Me, Little Shop of Horrors, Roxanne, Parenthood, L.A. Story, Father of the Bride, Sgt. Bilko, Cheaper by the Dozen, (the 2006 version of) The Pink Panther, and The Out of Towners.

I have three favorites:
The Jerk
My Blue Heaven
Leap of Faith

How the hell can you pick just one?

I'll go with "Leap of Faith", because it shows what a talented actor he really is.

16 votes, 2 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	The Jerk (1979)
	3 (19%)
	Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
	2 (13%)
	The Man with Two Brains (1983)
	1 (6%)
	Roxanne (1987)
	2 (13%)
	Three Amigos (1986)
	0 (0%)
	Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
	4 (25%)
	My Blue Heaven (1990)
	0 (0%)
	Leap of faith (1992)
	1 (6%)
	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
	3 (19%)
	Sgt. Bilko (1996)
	0 (0%)
	2 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[Gidney N Cloyd]

1. For dramas I'd say Novacaine or Simple Twist of Fate

Comedies, I'd go with either The Jerk or Three Amigos just on 'quotability.' ("He hates those cans!&quot

[ghostsinthemachine]

2. No Roxanne?

Hmmm...

[Coventina]

7. That would've been my pick as well. But, I went with DRS.

The best one in the poll, IMHO.

[hibbing]

17. Roxanne for me too

Last edited Thu Jun 11, 2015, 03:52 PM - Edit history (1)

I was lucky enough to see him do stand up when he was peaking with his comedy albums at an event center, it was fun. His encore was King Tut.


On edit, I also enjoyed L.A. Story, not the funniest, but interesting.

Peace

[red dog 1]

35. I just added "Roxanne" as poll option # 4

Nobody voted for The Lonely Guy, so that was the perfect spot to insert Roxanne.

I remember him doing King Tut on SNL.

"Now, when I die,
Now don't think I'm a nut
Don't want no fancy funeral
Just one like ole King Tut. (King Tut)

He coulda' won a Grammy, (King Tut)
Burried in his Jammies, (King Tut)
Born in Arizona, moved to Babylonia
He was born in Arizona, got a condo made of stone-a
King Tut."

[betsuni]

24. My favorite! nt

[ghostsinthemachine]

3. His best role however

was the dentist in Little Shop of Horrors.

[valerief]

4. I voted for The Jerk, but I love Trains, Planes, and Automobiles. However, I see that as Candy's

movie. The Man With Two Brains, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, and The Lonely Guy were all funny, too.

I hated his Dad movies.

I liked Leap of Faith (except the ending).

He should be shot for The Out-of-Towners. Abyssmal. Nothing could beat the hilarious, can-life-get-any-worse Lemmon-Dennis version, so I have no idea why he even tried.

[TexasBushwhacker]

13. Those aren't pillows!!! n/t

[red dog 1]

36. The best line in the movie, IMO

MARTIN: "Where's your other hand?
CANDY: "It's between two pillows"

[Xipe Totec]

5. Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957) nt

[valerief]

31. Wow, Dewey Martin is still alive! nt

[olddots]

6. I like the Pink Panther #1

whats not to like about Steve Martin ?

[Initech]

8. No Bowfinger? That movie rules.

"This movie is only for distribution in Madagascar and Iran, neither of which accept American copyright or trademark law."

[Scuba]

9. +1

"And Smashing Pumpkins."

...


"I love doing that!"

[patricia92243]

27. Love this one.

[valerief]

32. That was a good one. nt

[IrishEyes]

10. My favorite is All of Me with Lily Tomlin.

I love that movie.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

14. Ooh, forgot about that one. He got a couple awards for that one.

[Rhiannon12866]

23. Mine, too!

I was looking for than one, but I also loved "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," can't help watching that one when it's on TV. I saw "All of Me" in the theater and really enjoyed it, thought it was LOL funny and that Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin were a brilliant duo. I raved about it so much that my parents and brother went to see it and they didn't have the same reaction at all, and I never understood that. I loved it, too, glad to know that I'm not alone...

[Still Blue in PDX]

41. I love it, too. nt

[diabeticman]

11. Where is Shopgirl? My wife's favorite movie and Novella (which he wrote)

[frogmarch]

12. The new phone books are here! The new

phone books are here!

mr. froggy and I shout that whenever our new phone books are here. We can't help it. We love The Jerk best of all Steve Martin's movies.

Also, he's a wonderful banjo player. He said he taught himself to play the banjo when he was a teenager by playing 33 1/3 banjo records V E R Y S L O W.

What a talent the man is!

[red dog 1]

37. He still plays banjo

He has a quartet, I think.

They were on the public radio music show "E Town" a couple of weeks ago.

[Miles Archer]

15. Hard to argue with your list, or your commentary

"Leap of Faith," for me, took a little getting used to, primarily because I had to accept "sardonic, jaded" Steve Martin instead of "ha-ha funny" Steve Martin. But I thought it was ultimately a powerful indictment of that realm of faith and the people who inhabit it. It would have been too easy to make it a cartoon about surface-level character flaws. This film went down a few layers, to its tremendous benefit.

"Man With Two Brains" is easily one of the most hilarious films I've ever seen. Same for "The Jerk." Out of all the funny moment in that film, the one that still kills me is when Martin is talking to Bernadette Peters and says "I'd be happy to just be in there somewhere."

"Plains Trains & Automobiles"...a John Hughes film filled with every iota of sentimentalism that is found in his films and yes, it pushes right up against the edge of sappy, but DAMN, pass the Kleenex. The genius of Martin's role here is that he starts out as a self-centered "everyman"...he really does not care about anything other than getting home to see his family. The fact that he has the humanity to learn about life from a guy who irritates him as much as John Candy's character takes him from being a one-dimensional, unlikable, selfish clown to a guy whose transformation in the film is an inspiration.

I had completely forgotten about "The Lonely Guy," even though I had watched it MANY times, many years ago. I know a lot of people don't like Charles Grodin as an actor (many also don't like him as a person, either) but he NAILED it here, just as he did with DeNiro in "Midnight Run" (which, after looking at your list, I am going to assume you like that one, too).

My favorite "Three Amigos" moment has to be Steve Martin telling Carmen "I'll come back one day" and her responding with a confused "WHY?"

[red dog 1]

42. I've watched "The Lonely Guy" many times, too

WARREN EDWARDS (Grodin):
"I don't like to take naps...I don't like to wake up more than once a day,
Cause when I first wake up I get that shock of who I am and everything..I..I really don't like to do that more than once a day."


GREETING CARD SUPERVISOR: (Reading Larry Hubbard's greeting card)
"Will you be my Valentine?
Think about it a bit.
If you will, that's OK,
If not, who gives a shit?"

[cyberswede]

16. Cleaning womannnn...

[BlueJazz]

18. The Spanish Prisoner. Double cool movie

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Spanish_Prisoner/

[TexasBushwhacker]

38. YESSS!!! n/t

[progressoid]

50. Hmmm, how is it I've not seen that one?

Will have to find it.

[Laffy Kat]

19. I thought "Novocaine" was way under-appreciated.

For SM fans, check it out. It's a dramatic role.

[Throd]

20. Dr. Maxwell

[mackerel]

21. I was torn between LA Story, Parenthood and Roxanne. I see I needn't worry.

[undeterred]

22. Roxanne

[betsuni]

25. Earn more sessions while sleeving.

So many good lines.

"I want to travel with you."
"I hate pasta."

[betsuni]

26. Oh, I just remembered -- I saw "Housesitter" the other day. (Martin and Goldie Hawn.)

Even though they were much older than their characters should be, it didn't matter. A charming movie.

[Hoyt]

28. Tie -- Jerk, Roxanne, Planes/Trains. Reminds me I haven't seen some mentioned.

[Bertha Venation]

29. Roxanne

. . . you don't have to wear that dress tonight . . .

[JonLP24]

30. Bowfinger

[Tommy_Carcetti]

33. "The Jerk" has to be one of my all-time favorite comedies.

And one of my favorite quotable films.

"The new phonebook's in! The new phonebook's in!"

"It's these cans! He hates these cans! Stay away from the cans!"

"It's a blue Chevy two door and it will be going south on Hertatto street. No, I can't make out the license number but, uh, it will be pulling a small church. So any blue Chevy pulling a small church, I figure that'd be the one."

[red dog 1]

43. I'm cracking up just thinking about that last quote.

I need to watch "The Jerk" again

[DawgHouse]

49. Two words. Cat Juggling.

Last edited Sat Jun 13, 2015, 06:50 PM - Edit history (1)

[Beaverhausen]

34. hands down it's Roxanne- and what about All Of Me?

OK I haven't seen them all but those two are my favs.

[KamaAina]

39. The Jerk

followed by Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

Hmmm. Those two are running 1-2 at the moment.

[OriginalGeek]

40. I gotta get a pair of cat handcuffs and I gotta get 'em quick.

Are you tall? No! I'm smaaaaallllll....

I could no more pick a best Steve Martin movie than I could a favorite Steve Martin Movie (the two are not always the same).

I remember sneaking out to the parking lot at lunch-time in High School and, instead of drinking or smoking dope or cigs, my friends and I would listen to Steve Martin comedy tapes in my friend's car - his was the only one with a tape deck.

But since The Jerk was my first favorite Steve Martin Movie, I guess I'll vote for that since the system won't allow me to vote for everything he ever did including bluegrass banjo records.

Well I'm gonna go then! And I don't need any of this. I don't need this stuff, and I don't need *you*. I don't need anything. Except this.

And that's the only thing I need is *this*. I don't need this or this. Just this ashtray... And this paddle game. - The ashtray and the paddle game and that's all I need... And this remote control. - The ashtray, the paddle game, and the remote control, and that's all I need... And these matches. - The ashtray, and these matches, and the remote control, and the paddle ball... And this lamp. - The ashtray, this paddle game, and the remote control, and the lamp, and that's all *I* need. And that's *all* I need too. I don't need one other thing, not one... I need this. - The paddle game and the chair, and the remote control, and the matches for sure. Well what are you looking at? What do you think I'm some kind of a jerk or something! - And this. That's all I need.

The ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, and this magazine, and the chair.

And I don't need one other thing, except my dog.

(grrrrrrrrrrrrrr)

I don't need my dog.

I've found my special purpose.

[red dog 1]

48. You're right about "best" and "favorite" not being the same thing,

but I wanted to include a poll here, so I decided to go with "Best Steve Martin Movie"
rather than "Your Favorite Steve Martin Movie"; but, I guess I still could have had a poll asking
"Favorite Steve Martin Movie"

My favorites are Planes, "Trains & Automobiles" and "My Blue Heaven"
but I chose "Leap of Faith" as his "best" because I thought he was brilliant in the role of the traveling tent-show preacher, which is much different from most of the roles he played in his other films...also "Leap of Faith" had a great cast, including Liam Neeson, Debra Winger,
Lolita Davidovich & Lucas Haan as "the kid"

[MrScorpio]

44. The Jerk, no doubt. nt

[Orrex]

45. Loved his cameo in The Muppet Movie.

Also pretty good in Grand Canyon, but for a starring role I'd have to vote for The Jerk.

[Blue_In_AK]

46. I picked The Jerk,

but I loved him as the dentist in Little Shop of Horrors.

[Malraiders]

47. Not a comedy but a great movie is "A Simple Twist of Fate"

[davidpdx]

51. I've seen many of those so it is a difficult choice

The two Father of the Bride movies were may favorites followed by My Blue Heaven (I have a copy of all three movies on my external hard drive).

[red dog 1]

53. I loved My Blue Heaven

and I'm surprised it didn't get more votes.

Rick Moranis & Joan Cusack were great in that film.

[Enthusiast]

52. Planes, Trains and Automobiles

[edbermac]

54. The Jerk is his funniest, Pennies From Heaven the most interesting.

[WinkyDink]

55. I'm going with "DRS," because I regard "PT&A" as more a John Candy tour de force.

[irisblue]

56. I really liked him in Grand Canyon & It's Complicated

In Grand Canyon, an ensemble role, as a character Davis, a movie maker who specializes in blood & gore movies, gets a chance at redemption but turns away to chase money again. In It's Complicated, he plays Adam, the architect who is courting Jane, who is uncertain if she is interested in reuniting with her ex.