Is it ever explained. he talks alot during the movie, but I always the feeling that what ever he says is total B.S.
Great Movie!!!!!!!!!!!
I see you have the machine that goes PING
If you mean that he talks his way into the family by saying what he once worked as, or used to do as hobbies, etc..........it is all BS..........he 'bought' his way into the family and confesses at the end that he lied, sure.
I want to all men!
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It is easy to make stories up on the spot, I do it all the time, but 'fuss up to it right away. As above, I don't think the movie ever explained how he ended up being homeless.
"A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five."
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I dont know. That scene, where the lady, Sandy Dennis spots him. Jerry tries to turn away and ignore her in a way, that hes hiding from something, and does'nt want Dave Whiteman to know. My take is that he was a writer in Hollywood, that went badly broke and lost it all. Remember, the scene on the jetty where he recites Hamlet. Hes pretty brainy in that area.
shareI dont know. That scene, where the lady, Sandy Dennis spots him. Jerry tries to turn away and ignore her in a way, that hes hiding from something, and does'nt want Dave Whiteman to know. My take is that he was a writer in Hollywood, that went badly broke and lost it all. Remember, the scene on the jetty where he recites Hamlet. Hes pretty brainy in that area.
I thought it was obvious that he was a writer because that lady recognized him, but now I'm not so sure. May have been a case of mistaken identity since everything else Jerry said was BS.
Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Criedshare
LOVE THIS MOVIE
shareJust watched it again after about 15 years. Great movie. My take is that the whole family was lying to themselves and Jerry gave them the lies that they needed to hear to be honest about who they really are. In the end the family is willing to see Jerry for the truth and accept him. His decision to return means that he's willing to expose his own BS.
shareYeah the only things that seem to be true about him are that he is in show business and he's a damn good pianist, you can't deny that the producer chick recognized him.
shareI think he sort of drifted from one plateau to another, until he spent most of his time talking to his dog-the one who runs away from him.
shareIt doesn't matter.
What matters is that he's a liar and a con artist.
He ended up moving to Santa Fe and bamboozling everyone there because everyone in LA had already been bamboozled and/or moved to Santa Fe.
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Aagh; you're a HEDGE!
I think that part of the beauty of the film is that we never know how he became a bum, exactly.
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I think the scene where he is playing the piano quite exceptionally is designed to tell the audience that Jerry is not actually a con artist, he's the real deal - but of what we don't know. I took his constant BS to be a strange side swipe at Hollywood life and how nobody tells the truth to each other. Dave, Barbara and the kids are all lying to themselves and one another and proclaiming things that are just not true. It's basically an LA lifestyle, when Jerry arrives he pronouces so much utter BS that within this are big fragments of the truth. The fact he could play the piano acceptionally well is telling us he was indeed something and from somewhere.
My take is that Jerry was indeed a writer and quite a big talent at that. He clearly doesn't like responsibility and is possibly one of those guys who just lands on his feet wherever he goes. He must have had it all and become too overwhelmed by everything and simply turned his back on it.
Jerry is demonstrating his own strength of character that he could leave this world and become a bum, whilst the rest of the characters are simply too affraid to get off and face reality.
My theory would be that Jerry had probably only been a bum for a very short time and all the characters perceptions of him and his life clouded our opinion of who he probably was.
Another poster wrote something about Sandy Dennis being in this film. I don't think so. Maybe the poster was thinking about somebody else??
shareJerry's dog 'Kerouac' is a good clue about the lies that Jerry told about himself - the "character" he was playing for the Whiteman's:
Jack Kerouac, according to Wikipedia 'was considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his method of spontaneous prose. Thematically, his work covers topics such as Catholic spirituality, jazz, promiscuity, Buddhism, drugs, poverty, and travel. He became an underground celebrity and, with other beats, a progenitor of the hippie movement, although he remained antagonistic toward some of its politically radical elements.' Sounds like Jerry M. Baskin alright...
But, who was he really...
We see that in his recital of Hamlet. Reading of books, like an actor reads a script.
Playing of the piano equal to Orvis.
Being recognized by the woman from the film company (unless mistaken identity).
He tried not to be recognized by Orvis in the Rolls Royce.
He was obviously someone who failed in Hollywood. A potentially fine actor and/or brilliant musician, but fate decided otherwise. He got beat down. He gave up too soon.
Who am I, whilst looking in the mirror... Jerry M. Baskin.