Top 5 Steve Martin Comedies

It's somewhat fitting that Steve Martin's first outing remains his funniest. Essentially a variation on the persona Martin had come up with in his stand-up act, The Jerk features the comic as Navin R. Johnson, born a "poor black child" in Mississippi. There's no real plot to speak of -- just a series of (mis)adventures with Johnson taking a series of jobs, acquiring and losing wealth, joining a carnival and falling in love.

What the movie has going for it -- and why it remains Steve Martin's funniest -- is an absolute anything-goes approach to comedy. It's a heady mix of high and lowbrow humor that both announced Martin as a comedy film star and holds up today as a classic. It was also reportedly a favorite of director Stanley Kubrick.

For both Martin and co-star Eddie Murphy, Bowfinger marks the funniest movie either had starred in for a decade. Martin plays Bobby Bowfinger, a Grade-Z movie producer that cons some Hollywood fringe-dwellers into making a movie with megastar Kit Ramsey (Murphy). The catch? Ramsey doesn't know he's in the movie. Bowfinger's solution is to enlist nebbish video store clerk Jiff Ramsey (Murphy again, in the funnier of his two roles) to act as Kit's "stunt man."

Martin wrote the screenplay for Bowfinger, and it's a perfect combination of both the comic's smart and silly sides. It's the rare satire of the movie industry that isn't too pleased with itself. It's also one of the most underrated comedies of the '90s.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles gave audiences their first look at a different side of Steve Martin (especially since no one saw Pennies From Heaven). In the film, written and directed by John Hughes, Martin plays the straight man to John Candy's lovable mess as two strangers forced to make their way across the country together during the holidays. The result gave Martin the chance to restrain his usual wild-and-crazy-guy act and focus more on perfecting the slow burn of a put-upon suburban dad that would inform many of his later films (including Parenthood and the Father of the Bride series). The movie has a good deal more pathos than others on the list -- it's not an out and out comedy -- but still manages a lot of laughs. A minor classic.

Martin's third collaboration with director Carl Reiner is often dismissed as too stupid and too slight. Those adjectives might be correct, but I happen to think they're what make the movie work. After a brief period of experimentation (with Pennies From Heaven and Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid), Martin came back to the anything-for-a-laugh absurdity of The Jerk and turned out one of his funniest films. He plays Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr (See what I mean? Anything for a laugh), a neurosurgeon torn between gold-digging Kathleen Turner and the disembodied voice of Sissy Spacek. Thrown into the mix is The Elevator Killer, whose real identity I wouldn't dream of giving away. One of Martin's most divisive comedies, but I happen to love it.

Seeing as this is the second film on the list to be directed by Frank Oz (alongside Bowfinger) -- and that another two were directed by Carl Reiner -- there seems to be a lesson here. Martin needs to work with the right directors for his comedies to work. For proof, consider that the same director, Shawn Levy, is responsible for both Cheaper by the Dozen and The Pink Panther. Or that Adam Shankman directed both Bringing Down the House and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. See what I mean? Martin obviously favors repeating directors. He just needs to be sure they're the right ones.

Anyway, Scoundrels pairs him with Michael Caine as two con men trying to bilk Glenne Headly out of $50,000. Martin does some of his best physical and character work.