No Bowfinger fans in the thread? Huh.
Another vote for L.A. Story. Honorable mentions: Roxanne, Dead Men/Plaid, All of Me
Don’t worry, I’ve arrived with my vote - BOWFINGER! Best latter day Steve Martin (and Eddie Murphy) movie.
Although Leap of Faith is my favorite Steve Martin movie, for a definitive Steve Martin, I’d have to go with LA Story.
I kind of miss the days when I didn’t know who he was, when I first saw Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Not knowing any of the actors in that movie makes the experience very special. Once you’re already familiar with Caine and Martin, the experience of watching that movie changes quite a bit.
Leap of Faith for a dramatic role. Three Amigos for slapstick.
But I’d have to give the “overall” award to Roxanne… I just love that movie.
I didn’t realize until just now that Martin wrote many of the movies he appeared in… to include Roxanne, Three Amigos, and LA Story.
Ditto. One of my fav movies of either of them. Funny and sweet and still takes shots at moviemaking insanity.
Looking for the definitive Steve Martin performance is kind of like asking what the definitive Rush album is. The best I can do is highlight each era.
We’ve been watching a lot of Steve Martin the past couple months. (Side note: I’m face blind enough that it took me a minute to figure out what Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid was up to!) I’d say The Jerk holds up as his definitive classic era performance, on sheer commitment to the joke alone, while Father of the Bride remains his most iconic modern performance. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels gives you a blend of both schticks from the middle era.
We started the new show last night, and it was a delight. “Can you not see this coat?!”
(For Rush, by the way, it’s A Farewell to Kings for the classic era, Moving Pictures for the canonical era, and Permanent Waves as the perfect blend of the two.)
Bowfinger’s definitely top 5 for me, maybe top 3.
I’m surprised and happy to see L.A. Story getting so much love. I saw that one 5 times in the theater. It really captures the full spectrum of his voice and talent, from the absurdly silly to the sensitive and sincere. It is high-brow and low-brow and magical. Plus Enya!
Now that’s how you cheat an answer! Well played, Austin! :)
-Tom
This thread really brings home to me the fact that there’s no modern equivalent of Steve Martin out there. I had been a fan, but it wasn’t until today that I realized, wow, Steve Martin really has an incredible body of work that I love.
If you want me to pick just one, it’s his cameo in The Muppet Movie, which distills his career into a single scene. Pretty good movie too.
It’s really been an incredible career.
Born Standing Up is a fascinating window into his early, pre-standup years as a teenager learning and performing magic while working at Disneyland, then later writing for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in the late-60’s. Then add stand-up, screenwriting, acting, novels, banjo… just a living legend.
The book also has some gripping father/son drama folded through it.
Did you know?.. Steve has never bought anything on credit in his life.
Glad to see someone else mention All Of Me. Its really a good movie and Martin’s physical comedy was great in this one.
I have never seen LA Story, time to remedy that!
I don’t know what’s the definitive Steve Martin performance. I will say that my favorite Steve Martin moment occurs in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels when Michael Caine whacks him on the leg.
Oh god yes you do. See LA Story as soon as you can!
A top 10 favorite Steve Martin moment for me is this exchange with Goldsting in the SNL James Bond parody Bullets Aren’t Cheap.
Just want to call attention to a lovely little film that I totally forgot: Shopgirl. Martin also wrote it and the novel that it’s based on.
There’s nothing particularly revelatory about it, but it’s filled a bunch of really nice moments and some excellent writing. Even Clare Danes, who I’m usually pretty ambivalent about, is quite good as it’s kind of the perfect role for her as the demure title character.
I just thought I’d mention it.
That clip is particularly funny considering episode 3 of Only Murders…
This thread is a great reminder of the long and quiet career of Steve Martin, who has put out quality entertainment for nearly 40 years. Not all of his movies are great, but he has a long list of great stuff under his belt.