The Funniest Comedies Ever

Planes, Trains and Automobiles
      1987 | USA | Laughs: 4.8 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 7.6
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This is one of those movies that is probably not as funny as you remember it—perhaps you felt good when you first saw it because it is sweet. I like John Candy, and I have nothing against Steve Martin, though a strange pathology makes me unable to laugh at his act, so in a way for me this is only half a movie. The plot? A study in the "unlikely pair" genre: two strangers get stuck together trying to get back to Chicago from New York City in time for Thanksgiving. (Last viewed: February 2012)

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Cactus Flower
      1969 | USA | Laughs: 3.9 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 7.2
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When a dentist decides to marry his girlfriend, the girlfriend wants to meet the wife he's supposed to divorce… but he had lied about being married, so he recruits his assistant to play the "fake wife". I'm sure this was a funny movie in 1969, but times change, and in 2012 it is not easy to identify to some of the characters. You may enjoy a bit of sharp dialogue and a few clever lines, but overall this is an easy movie to skip. The modern version with Adam Sandler (Just Go with It) is about twenty times funnier. (Last viewed: February 2012)

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The 40-Year-Old Virgin
      2005 | USA | Laughs: 3.5 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 7.1
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I like Steve Carell, and if anyone can pull off the role of a 40-year-old who is still a virgin, it is he, but this movie doesn't really make me laugh. In some ways, this is a cute story. In other ways, it's another boring excuse to show a group of men talking dirty. If you're stuck at home with the flu and run out of things to watch, this film will help you kill a couple of hours. Otherwise, skip it. (Last viewed: February 2012)

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The Delicate Art of Parking
      2003 | Canada | Laughs: 1.8 (Just Awful) | imdb: 6.4
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This mockumentary / satire about parking enforcement officers took a bit of work to watch. The main reason we went through with it was to see some of the crew of Corner Gas. To start with, the camera work was awful. To convey a sense of filming on the streets, the image is jumpy to the point of making you want to throw up. This is a stupid technique, guys, please grow up and lose that. Each of the actors performs well. Yet the overall performance is only a couple notches above that of a student film. That's because the film suffers from the mixed-genre syndrome—the producers didn't seem to have decided whether the movie was meant to be a believable mockumentary like Kenny or an all-out satire. On the mockumentary side, the tow truck driver is excellent and gives you a feel for his job. On the satire side, most of the characters are geeky caricatures. You don't feel a sense of compassion or love for the subject, unlike in Kenny, where you walk out with a lot of respect for portable toilet installers. Here, you can't help but feel that in the director's mind parking enforcers are a topic of ridicule. All that being said, there's a lot to enjoy in the film—starting with the actors' individual performances—but the overall product gets low marks. (Last viewed: February 2012)

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Coneheads
      1993 | USA | Laughs: 8.4 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 5.3
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A couple of aliens with pointy heads crash their space craft somewhere in America. As they await the rescue ship scheduled to pick them up after 18 years, they adapt to their new home. The poster may not inspire you to watch this film, but you have to ask yourself if you want to look smart tonight or if you want to laugh. The aliens are sometimes hard to understand, but what you do understand is funny. I enjoyed the guest appearances of comedy greats such as Adam Sandler and Seinfeld's Kramer and George. One of those low-rated movies that can really pull the laughs. (Last viewed: January 2012)

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Delirious
      1991 | USA | Laughs: 4.9 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 5.8
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After a car accident, the writer of a TV series finds himself living in the world of his TV drama, a world where whatever he writes soon turns into reality. It's nice to see John Candy, and the movie certainly has a few laughs, but too few to overcome the plot's painful weakness. Bill Murray fans may want to sit through this movie once for the scene where John Candy impresses everyone with a virtuoso piano performance followed by an execution of a life-saving Heimlich maneuver… just as in Groundhog Day, which didn't come out until two years later! (Last viewed: January 2012)

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Scoop
      2006 | USA | Laughs: 4.6 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 6.7
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This "crime comedy" by Woody Allen is tight and well cast. It has a few good chuckles (no belly laughs), but I was too nervous with the crime story to truly enjoy it. I don't know what happened to Woody Allen in the 21st century, but since about 2005 he seems to have matured tremendously—perhaps that's what turning 70 does to you. In the 1990s I had become allergic to his films, but I've found several of his late productions to be polished, accomplished films. (Last viewed: January 2012)

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Quick Change
      1990 | USA | Laughs: 9.8 (Laugh Out Loud) | imdb: 6.8
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I love it that this little-known movie, recommended by a reader of this page, made us laugh more than most of the big-name comedies that take up all the shelf space at the video stores. (That's what this page is all about!) What can you do, Bill Murray is a legend. The plot can have holes as large as a frozen pizza, there can be a dull minute of mindless action, but you don't care because you know you'll be laughing in just a moment. Oh, what's it about? Three friends pull off a genius bank robbery. Now they can't get out of New York. (Last viewed: December 2011)

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Rushmore
      1998 | USA | Laughs: 8.3 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 7.7
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An incredibly enterprising 15-year-old has carved a parallel universe for himself at the prestigious private school he attends. When he befriends a female teacher with a British accent and a successful entrepreneur (an older version of himself?), Max's universe soon turns on its head. They had to turn Bill Murray about three quarters of the way down to make room for our young hero, and it's somehow delicious to take Bill one sip at a time. I was surprised at how much I laughed the second time I saw Rushmore. Beyond the laughs, I just love the story, the directing, the photography, the atmosphere. The sweetness of the characters somehow reminds me of another school-years movie, Ferris Bueller. (Last viewed: December 2011)

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So I Married An Axe Murderer
      1993 | USA | Laughs: 7.1 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 6.4
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A series of coincidences makes a hesitant young man wonder if his girlfriend might be the serial "honeymoon killer" his mom read about in the National Enquirer. A chance for Mike Meyers to polish two of his characters four years before Austin Powers. The laughs are there, but somehow I looked forward to the movie ending, perhaps because I have overdosed on Mike Myers' antics. (Last viewed: December 2011)

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The Man Who Knew Too Little
      1997 | USA | Laughs: 5.4 (Watch Once) | imdb: 6.6
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If you're a die-hard fan of Bill Murray, you'll want to watch this movie once, if only for the last scene, where Bill's Cossack dance draws laughter in the burlesque tradition of old Chaplin movies. Other than that, the plot is only moderately engaging and occasionally funny. In the rather narrow "spy who doesn't know he's a spy" genre to which this film belongs, my first choice would be The Tall Blond Man With a Black Shoe. (Last viewed: December 2011)

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Kingpin
      1996 | USA | Laughs: 5.0 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 6.9
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An unlikely pair travels cross-country to Reno to compete in a bowling tournament with a prize money of a million dollars. This movie has its cute moments, but the laughs are rare. I would really not bother watching it unless you're a huge Bill Murray fan and want to catch him as a pro bowler at the start and the end of the movie. In that case, you'll also enjoy the short appearance of Larry the cameraman from Groundhog Day. (Last viewed: December 2011)

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Scrooged
      1988 | USA | Laughs: 3.0 (Just Awful) | imdb: 7.0
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I love Bill Murray, and you see a lot of Bill Murray in Scrooged. But for most of the movie, Bill looks like he's wondering "What am I doing in this movie?" It was very loud. I laughed once. Do yourself a favor and skip this one. (Last viewed: December 2011)

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Mama's Boy
      2007 | USA | Laughs: 7.9 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 5.2
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A 29-year-old "teenager" lives at home with mom and makes it hard for her to develop a relationship with a charismatic success coach. Another very funny movie with a dismal Rotten Tomatoes rating. But we're measuring laughs here, not whether a movie should belong on the golden list of cultural material approved by New York intellectuals. Apart from its name, this film contains at least one reference to the previous year's Grandma's Boy, whose funniest scene involved the game Dance Dance Revolution: Jeffrey too appears to be a fan. (Last viewed: November 2011)

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Starsky & Hutch
      2004 | USA | Laughs: 7.3 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 6.1
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Ben Stiller makes a great Starsky. I don't know if Owen Wilson makes a great Hutch, but he makes a great partner for Ben Stiller in this homage to the classic 1970s cop TV series. The series' formula was action with a smile. Here, the ratio has been inverted: the film is definitely a comedy, though it sports an entirely bearable drug-deal-plot as an excuse to see the two comedians do donuts in their gorgeous red-and-white Gran Torino. (Last viewed: November 2011)

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Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
      2004 | USA | Laughs: 6.9 (Watch Once) | imdb: 7.2
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In the 1975, The king of San Diego's TV news and his all-boy team are challenged when the network hires a female reporter. This movie had a few laughs for us, but I'm just not in love with the lead actor (Will Ferrell), who I tend to find a bit loud. Some people swear by this movie, though. Definitely worth a watch. (Last viewed: November 2011)

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Flirting with Disaster
      1996 | USA | Laughs: 2.6 (Just Awful) | imdb: 6.8
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The only disaster in this movie is the movie itself, but there's no flirting. When a movie's script is not believable, if that's for the purpose of making me laugh, I don't mind at all. This film's script is loose to the point of falling apart, but it doesn't pull its weight in the laughter department. In the one funny scene, Mel (Ben Stiller) and his wife gently approach two strangers who might be related to Mel, but the two strangers turn into rogues whotry to beat up their two potential relatives. (It sounds violent, but it's not.) The movie is certainly not worth watching for that one scene. Its one redeeming feature, in my view, is that it was probably a crude rehearsal for Meet the Parents, which would come four years later. (Last viewed: November 2011)

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The King of Comedy
      1983 | USA | Laughs: N/A (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.8
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I found this movie upleasant to watch, but still liked it enough to give it a five out of ten. No doubt Martin Scorcese, who directed the movie, wanted you to cringe, a bit like you might cringe at the behavior of characters in the early instalments of TV series such as Curb Your Enthusiasm or The Office. The film follows two deranged characters who've made it their life's mission to stalk a New York television show host (Jerry Lewis). DeNiro pulls off the role of the alternatively pathetic and brilliant stalker who fantasizes about becoming the next King of Comedy. Easy to skip because hard to watch, but if you do watch it, it will stay with you. (Last viewed: November 2011)

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Cosi
      1996 | Australia | Laughs: N/A (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.8
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Hired by a psychiatric ward to direct a variety show, a young man is soon hijacked by one of the patients for a far more challenging task—that of directing the opera Così Fan Tutte, whose theme of fidelity is mirrored in the young man's life. Speaking of hijacking, Toni Collette only has a supporting role and was not so prominent on the original poster, which was made before she overtook Ben Mendelsohn in fame. This movie was recommended to me as an introduction to Australian culture when I moved down under in 2001, and I would now second this opinion, although the country has changed. This film is a bit loud at times (it's a psychiatric yard after all), but it's endearing, and it made me laugh a few times on second viewing. (Last viewed: November 2011)

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My Boss's Daughter
      2003 | USA | Laughs: 9.3 (Laugh Out Loud) | imdb: 4.7
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An aspiring grunt gets to house-sit at the house of his tyrannical boss, whose daughter he fancies. Of course, everything goes wrong. Don't expect intellectual fireworks: this is good clean fun (well, almost clean), with plenty to laugh at and not much to think about. On account of the laugh-a-minute, I rate this a 7.5. Yet the film probably has one of the lowest IMDB rating of all films on this site (4.3), so evidently lots of people don't find it as funny as I do. If you're in that category, you might enjoy this film's opposite (high IMDB ratings, low laughs for me): Death at a Funeral. Interestingly, the lead actor (Ashton Kutcher) features in Dude Where's My Car, which also rates high on my laugh-o-meter and low on IMDB. (Last viewed: October 2011)

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Knocked Up
      2007 | USA | Laughs: N/A (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.0
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Eight weeks after a one-night stand with a dude who, without the alcohol, wouldn't be far from her nightmare date, a TV presenter finds herself pregnant. A cute story overall, a few laughs, but also way too much frat-house humor for my taste. It also felt like the movie lasted four hours. Would not watch again. (Last viewed: October 2011)

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Death at a Funeral
      2007 | U.K. | Laughs: 1.3 (Just Awful) | imdb: 7.4
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Two out of ten. At a funeral in England, everything goes wrong. I laughed once and spent the rest of the time cringing at the weak plot, acting and dialogues. The style of humor is more that of a sitcom. Sitcoms only last twenty minutes, and for a reason: you can only take so much looseness in a plot in one sitting. I don't mind implausible behavior, but here it clashes with the otherwise "believable" ambiance of the film. Two examples. First, one guy accidentally takes a hallucinogenic. He then starts acting goofy without seeming to grasp that he is not in his normal state. Sorry, but if you are tripping, you are aware that you are experiencing an altered consciousness, so in real life this guy would freak out. Second example: another guy is accidentally given a fatal (or so everyone thinks) dose of pills. Everyone's immediate action plan: finding a way to get rid of the body. Sorry, but how about making him vomit or grabbing the doctor in the room next door? One of these strange movies that get a high rating on IMDB for inexplicable reasons. Perhaps one of the actors has a teenage following? (Last viewed: October 2011)

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Groundhog Day
      1993 | USA | Laughs: 9.8 (Laugh Out Loud) | imdb: 8.0
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A weather newsman (Bill Murray) wakes up in a small town to find out that today is an exact repeat of yesterday—only no one else seems to notice. Soon, he realizes that no matter what he does, the next day he will wake up at the beginning of that same day. He dies a hundred times, but in the morning it's still Groundhog Day. Pure genius, a gift to mankind. (Last viewed: Dec 2008 August 2011)

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50 First Dates
      2004 | USA | Laughs: 8.1 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 6.8
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The walrus minder at a Hawaiian aquarium falls in love with a woman who has no short-term memory—every day, he must make her fall in love again. A few laughs, lots of chuckles, very very sweet, and delightfully chilled out thanks to the Hawaiian setting and holiday music. It's perhaps my favorite romantic comedy; which makes sense, seing that the plot has elements of a "Groundhog Day" in reverse. (Groundhog Day is one of my all-time favorite comedies. In it, Bill Murray keeps reliving the same day, and remembers it.) (Last viewed: Jun 2010 August 2011)

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American Pie
      1999 | USA | Laughs: N/A (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.0
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Four high-school boys make a pact that they will lose their virginity before the senior prom. If you're looking for a laugh, you've got the wrong movie. But if you're after a smile and a glimpse into the psyche of upper-middle-class American male teenagers, your quest is over. (Last viewed: August 2011)

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Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
      2004 | USA | Laughs: 8.9 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 7.1
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Two freshly-minted ivy-league grads roam the New Jersey suburbs one night in search of a White Castle restaurant to satisfy their cannabis munchies. It doesn't sound like much of a plot, but it delivers the laughters, right on the edge, with just about as much coarse language as I can handle in a movie. Sadly, the first sequel (Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanamo Bay) is a mess, and the second sequel (A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas) is a dud. (Last viewed: Jul 2010 June 2011)

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The Castle
      1997 | Australia | Laughs: 7.8 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 7.7
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Made on a disgustingly low budget of $19,000, this is one of the most popular Australian movies ever. Threatened of expulsion by developers seeking to expand an airport, a family fights to keep its home. This classic underdog story is a study in Australian culture—a must-see for anyone seeking a primer on Australian society. In fact, for one Australian I've met who has "risen" from modest roots to an executive position in a big city, the endearing portrayal of the unworldly Kerrigan family is "too close to home". (Last viewed: Apr 2002 June 2011)

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Eagle vs. Shark
      2007 | New Zealand | Laughs: 2.5 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.8
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Four stars. Offbeat, shot in New Zealand with Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords, perhaps the cutest romantic comedy of all times. (Last viewed: Feb 2010 June 2011)

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Dude, Where's My Car?
      2000 | USA | Laughs: 8.0 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 5.5
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After a night of partying, two friends wake up without any memories of what they've been up to. As they start on a quest to find their car, they soon discover that several strange groups are after them. Very cute. (Last viewed: May 2011)

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Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
      2004 | USA | Laughs: 5.3 (Watch Once) | imdb: 6.7
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To stay in business, the owner of a gym enters his handful of staff and clients into a dodgeball competition. A few laughs make this worth a watch despite the weak plot and characters. (Last viewed: May 2011)

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