Actor Spotlight: Steve Martin

A couple of months ago I randomly turned on The Jerk while cleaning up the house. I like to put movies on that I've seen a ton of times, mostly comedies, so I don't have to pay attention to the screen, but I'm still getting enjoyment out of it while I clean. When I finished, and there was still about twenty minutes left in the film, I just kind of sat in awe at how funny The Jerk still was today in 2017. There aren't a lot of comedies from the 70s and 80s that still hold up today. And I thought to myself: Steve Martin really is a comedic genius.

I'd considered myself a Steve Martin fan for a long time now. It clicked for me about ten years back when I read his book Born Standing Up, which is hands-down the best book on life in the entertainment business and stand-up comedy (this is also verified by several professional stand-ups who also consider Martin's autobiography to be the holy grail of autobiographies). In my brain I'd seen nearly all of his films and he'd earned a spot for me on the list of top 20 best comedic actors. He probably hadn't graced the top ten, but he was somewhere on the lower part of the list. After I'd finished The Jerk I traversed over to the IMDB app on my phone to look at the rest of his filmography. I'd seen a handful of his movies before (Planes, Trains & Automobiles and Bowfinger being my favorites), but as I read the list of movies starring Steve Martin... I suddenly realized why I don't think Martin had graced the top 10 or even top 5 comedic actors for me... I hadn't seen hardly any Steve Martin films. How could I fully appreciate the man when I'd seen only about a quarter of the comedy he'd already spread to the world?

This is when I decided to watch them all (well... almost all). This was the deal... I wasn't required to watch any Martin movie that I'd already watched in the past five years. If I'd seen the movie several times and was familiar with it, then I didn't need to watch it. These films included: Three Amigos, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Bowfinger, Bringing Down the House, Cheaper by the Dozen, The Pink Panther, It's Complicated, The Big Year and SGT. Bilko (though I did end up watching that one because my girlfriend hadn't seen it).

So, what qualified and what didn't make the cut: Movies that earned a watch were films that I'd seen as a child but had little to no memory of... films I'd never seen but always wanted to... and films I'd never seen that were critically revered and praised enough that I had to seek them out. This means the only films that didn't make the cut were ones that I haven't been able to get a hold of yet (Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, Lonely Guy, Leap of Faith, and A Simple Twist of Fate) OR the ones that I just have no desire to ever watch (Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Cheaper By The Dozen 2, The Pink Panther 2, Love the Coopers, and that shitty Billy Flynn movie).

The rest... I spent two months seeking out and watching. Here was what I missed out on in the world of Steve Martin:

I began with a film I'd seen several times before as a child. This was one of those "childhood staple" movies... not because it was aimed at that or it had that sort of long-lasting cultural impact (say, like, The Sandlot), but this was a film I would always watch when I was babysat by my grandmother. Coincidentally, we'd also watch The Sandlot. Anyway, even though I'd seen it several times I'd forgotten a lot of it and it was a perfect way to sink into my journey of Steve Martin. It's a funny little film, with nothing particularly memorable, but the chemistry between Rick Moranis and Steve Martin was great. Martin also does a particularly bad Italian accent... that I believe was on purpose. He's just having fun.

Next, I made my way over to HouseSitter, a film he made with Goldie Hawn. This almost stopped my venture entirely because it's a pile of shit. It's one of those early 90s movies with no laughs that you have to wonder why it was made. Not even just who spent all the time and money and effort into making it... but who got the idea for the movie and thought it was strong enough to even type up an entire script, much less try to get someone to purchase it. It was generic (unfortunately, much like a few of Martin's recent comedies) and I wasn't sold on Martin being on of the greats. That is until...

The Man With Two Brains is a hilarious parody a la Airplane written by Steve Martin and directed by The Jerk director and another great comedic mind Carl Reiner. Wanna talk about a comedy that holds up today... check out The Man With Two Brains. It's a spoof so nothing has to make sense. Martin looks like he's having more fun in this movie than he's had in any of his other films. It's crude, it's weird, it's crass, it's roll on the floor hilarious. Reiner and Martin would also collaborate a third time on a film called All of Me in which the dead spirit of Lily Tomlin would become trapped inside Martin's body... with her able to control his left side. This, along with TMWTB showcased Martin's physical comedy prowess. We're all aware that he is a brilliant comedic writer and performer, but he was initially known for his slapstick physical comedy. I mean, there is a reason he's one of the main people to inspire Jim Carrey. All of Me is probably the weakest of the three Martin/Reiner collabs, but there are still moments of hilarity and brilliance... and, once again, Martin and Tomlin's chemistry essentially makes the movie.

I continued onward to a film I'd always seen the VHS cover in the video store as a child. I remember seeing Steve Martin in a tuxedo giving a bow with an inordinately long nose. For some reason I never connected the dots and considered it might be a comedy. And when I did realize that it was... I thought it was going to be a one-joke film. And while the film didn't hit me as hard as a few of his others really did... Roxanne was still pretty well-put together. There is quite a bit of credulity strained in the film due to the female character's actual awareness of what is actually happening around her... which the film really hinges on... but it's Martin's character that keeps you watching. Plus, there is a scene where Martin tells twenty "nose jokes" in a row that get funnier and funnier as the scene goes on.

After Roxanne, I watched Little Shop of Horrors. I know. Can you believe it? I'd never seen such a wildly loved cult classic? It's a travesty. And while I did love a lot about LSOH, even as depraved as he is... I think we can all agree that Steve Martin hamming it up as a psychotic dentist is the best part of the movie (especially in the scenes with Bill Murray). Even in something as already established as LSOH, Martin was able to bring his own unique flare of comedy into the film and give it that extra umph it didn't necessarily need, but definitely deserved.

The Father of the Bride movies are films I'd seen before as a kid, but didn't have the Steve Martin appreciation package I was carrying to go along with it. I didn't remember much about the movies (other than my favorite character being Franck, played by Martin Short), so I figured I might as well dip back into these waters. And while I understand why these movies are so revered, I wasn't a fan of either one. It has nothing to do with Steve Martin's character... who is very likable and just as Steve Martin-y as most of his other roles. I don't like the TYPE of comedy these movies are. Other than the fact that they, unfortunately, strain Martin's ability to be a 'wild and crazy guy'... they're movies about privileged white people having privileged white people problems. I couldn't connect to anyone or any situation in either film. There are fleeting moments of comedy because Martin's character does find himself in a few sticky situations that he's inevitably put himself in... but anything else goin on in the movie is happening to wealthy white people and the problems they're having are ONLY problems wealthy white people have. There was just nothing to latch on to.

Now... that being said... next I watched Parenthood... another vehicle with Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Rick Moranis. Parenthood is a dramedy by Ron Howard and it accomplishes a hell of a lot more than either Father of the Bride film does. These are regular, everyday white people with everyday regular problems that a regular, everyday audience can connect with. If you're trying to find that poignant Steve Martin family movie with some real comedy involved, then Parenthood is the far superior choice.

From there I watched three more Martin films in a row: SGT. Bilko, Mixed Nuts, and LA Story. Bilko, as I said earlier, is a film I'm very familiar with, but my lady hadn't seen it and I had to show her. And while there is a significant amount of 90s cheese involved with the film, to me it's still very funny. Plus, it's just another reminder of how much we still to this day aggressively miss Phil Hartman. Mixed Nuts was just bad. It's an early Nora Ephron vehicle and it's supposed to be a black comedy with a bunch of weirdos around Christmas and it just doesn't work. It's weird, but not in a good way.  However... LA Story was surprsingly fantastic. It's very, very weird... but in a wonderful way. It's really its own breed of comedy and I don't think I've seen another movie like it. It's unique and original, yet still has that comedic voice of Martin (of course he wrote it) and it was such a hilarious delight to watch such a funny and fresh film. I think the general rule of thumb here when seeking out a good Steve Martin movie is if he had anything to do with the writing... you're gold.

Steve Martin, believe it or not, has actually made some very serious movies as well. I wasn't as interested in these because it wasn't really on the docket of my quest: to seek out why Steve Martin is considered a comedy God. But, I checked out two: First, the dark comedy that is Novocain. I didn't hate it, but it was very dark and uncomfortable. It was one of those movies that is nearly forgettable, but you have to wonder how they got Martin to agree to it. It was hard watching Steve Martin do the opposite of what I'd become accustomed to seeing. I applaud him for taking the risk, but in my opinion, it just didn't work. The second is an early 90s drama called Grand Canyon, which is essentially just a 90s version of Crash. Martin isn't a lead in the movie and only appears in a handful of scenes, but this movie was awful. I know it's hailed as groundbreaking (it's a movie about race) and progressive for its time... hell, it even has an amazing cast (Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, the list goes on) it's just an awful film. Had I seen it "back in the day" I may feel differently about it, but it's almost insulting today.

Our final entry into the crusade of Steve Martin films is Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Just as I had shown my girlfriend SGT. Bilko, astounded she'd never seen it before... she showed me DRS, astounded I'd never seen it before. I saved this one for last because it was my favorite Martin movie I'd never seen. I'd mentioned several times the chemistry he has with his other fellow actors, but besides his chemistry with John Candy in Planes, Trains & Automobiles, his chemistry with Michael Caine in DRS is unmatched. This is just a funny-as-hell movie that's both wickedly, darkly comedic and slapstick silly. There are very few movies like it able to combine sophisticated wit and obnoxious farce. This is the movie where it all finally clicked for me... Steve Martin is a comic G E N I U S.

I've now had to seriously revise my stance on Steve Martin.  He is no longer in the top 20 comedic actors to me anymore. He's in the top 5. Hell, he's in the top 3. The day Steve Martin is no longer with us is going to be a very difficult day for me (I'm talking Robin Williams difficult). In my mind, Steve Martin was the straight-laced character who got into weird situations, but played more of the 'straight-man' in comedies leaving the 'wacky man' to someone else to play off of him. I was simply naive. He's played them all. He's been the straight man and the wacky man and the villain and the creep and everything else an eclectic comic actor should be doing. It's disappointing that we haven't seen Martin in something hilariously brilliant in quite some time and he's relegated himself to bit parts in shitty movies or starring roles in shitty family remakes. I'm glad I watched them all because I revel in my newfound respect for Steve Martin... a one-of-a-kind comedian who will always ALWAYS be one of the greatest of all time.