Directed by: Carl Reiner
Starring: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Mabel King, Catlin Adams
Continuity mistake: When Navin is at the gas station and is being shot at by the sniper, take a look at the arrangement of the oil cans on the rack beside him. One of the cans in the middle of the rack changes color from pink to purple, and some labels turn, between shots.
Revealing mistake: When Bernadette Peters throws a knife at Steve Martin, it never leaves her hand. (01:18:05)
Taj Jonson: Hey! Any of you bums heard of Navin R. Johnson?
Navin R. Johnson: I've heard of him.
Taj Jonson: Born in Mississippi? Inventor of the Opti-grab?
Navin R. Johnson: I was just telling these guys.
Mother: Navin.
Navin R. Johnson: Mommy, Daddy! How did you find me?
Father: We don't know. This is the first place we looked.
Trivia: Director Rob Reiner has a cameo as the truck driver who takes Navin to the end of the fence.
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Answer: Navin self-applies the "Jerk" epithet early in the film, using it not in the sense of someone obnoxious or mean (as it is used in most cases), but in the sense of a stupid person. He's saying he blames himself and his lack of intelligence (though, as you say, it is usually simple naïveté) for ending up where he is (broke, homeless).