I thought I would list a few my favorite Steve Martin films, related to my earlier post about his new book. Here are some, not all, which I can’t help to miss:

The Jerk – closest to his stand-up act, in terms of an character who is not in on the jokes.  Not to compare it at all, but the more recent film Napolean Dynamite has some of the same dynamics. People either ‘get it’ or don’t.

Planes, Trains, & Automobiles – great movie, great soundtrack, great Martin and John Candy – anybody know where to find the musical score? And too bad they didn’t have the chance to make about a hundred more movies together – a perfect pair in this film.

Parenthood & Father of the Bride films – this begins ‘those movies’ – sappy comedies with obligatory family drama.  Like television on the big screen. But both have some pretty funny moments.

Bowfinger – smart and funny.

According to imdb.com, Steve Martin has written or acted in several dozen movies. I’m not sure if there is in recent history a comedian who has moved to the big screen in so many solid movies. Sure, there are some duds, but that happens. Robin Williams comes to mind, and I’ll post about him later.  Eddie Murphy – suprisingly not even close – maybe half a dozen films worth his talent, but the rest are far behind. Both Williams and Murphy are still strongly associated with Stand-up comedy (videos, dvds) but I bet most movie-goers under 30 have no idea that Steve Martin performed stand-up comedy for more than 10 years before he began making films.

btw – I’m used to seeing items linked to Amazon.com for purchase (books, movies, etc).  I’m not doing that on this site, obviously.