Bernadette Peters in The Jerk (1979)

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The adolescent identity crisis seems to be an unavoidable pothole in the road to midlife panic, one that some hormone-addled kids handle better than others. The lame-brained and ludicrously laughable protagonist of The Jerk (1979) has a harder time adjusting to the adult world than do most pimple-faced existentialists. He has grown up thinking he is the son of a black man and woman, despite having a complexion slightly whiter than paste, and there is no lotion or cream capable of clearing up such a misconception. Money, however, is widely believed to solve anything. When The Jerk inadvertently amasses uncountable riches (and becomes more delightfully dopey than ever), just how serious his problem is becomes hilariously evident.