<P> The New York Times reviewer wrote that The Jerk "is by turns funny, vulgar and backhandedly clever, never more so than when it aspires to absolute stupidity . And Mr. Martin, who began his career with an arrow stuck through his head, has since developed a real genius for playing dumb...Even when it's crude--which is quite a lot of the time--it's not mean - spirited...Mr. Martin and his co-star, Bernadette Peters, work very sweetly together, even when they sing a duet of' Tonight You Belong to Me,' carrying sweetness to what could easily have become an intolerable extreme ." </P> <P> The Jerk has been praised as not only one of Martin's best comedic efforts, but also one of the funniest films ever made . In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted The Jerk the 48th greatest comedy film of all time . This film is No. 20 on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies and No. 89 on the American Film Institute list AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs . Premiere magazine voted Steve Martin's performance of Navin Johnson No. 99 on their list, "The 100 Greatest Performances of All Time". A BBC poll of more than 250 critics rated the film as the 99th greatest comedy of all time . </P> <P> The Jerk had a television film sequel, The Jerk, Too (1984), starring Mark Blankfield as Navin and co-starring Stacey Nelkin . It was produced, but not written, by Steve Martin . </P>

Dog's name in the movie the jerk