The Funniest Comedies Ever

The Rage in Placid Lake
      2003 | Australia | Laughs: 6.7 (Watch Once) | imdb: 6.9
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Raised by New Age parents, a young man called Placid takes a job at an insurance company as an experiment to find his place in the "straight world". A fine sample of Australian humor. (Last viewed: August 2010)

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Liberty
      1929 | USA | Laughs: 9.2 (Laugh Out Loud) | imdb: 7.6
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For me, this short film (all of twenty minutes) is the funniest by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy by far. Like Harold Lloyd's Safety Last (only six years later), it's humor in high places… and I have a severe fear of heights! One of the few Laurel & Hardy films that doesn't rely on violence for comic effect. Intoxicating: I'm still laughing as I watch this. From reading other reviews, it seems the film has the same effect on others. (Last viewed: July 2010)

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Liar Liar
      1997 | USA | Laughs: 6.6 (Watch Once) | imdb: 6.9
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After his five-year-old boy makes a wish that his dad wouldn't tell a lie for a day, an aggressive lawyer is unable to utter a single lie. That's a perfect source of comic situation for Jim Carrey—until then, the movie started rather slow. I'm not so fond of Jim Carrey's facial contortions, but I love that he makes me laugh anyway. (Last viewed: July 2010)

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The Finishing Touch and Other Laurel & Hardy Shorts
      1928 | USA | Laughs: 5.6 (Watch Once) | imdb: 7.4
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The humor in most Laurel & Hardy shorts rests on Hardy getting poked in the eye, and that doesn't really make me laugh. However, five of these shorts stand above the rest (no pun intended). The first, Liberty, is on my list of funniest comedies ever, and will keep you laughing into your golden years. The four others bear watching once:
The Finishing Touch, where Laurel and Hardy are hired to finish building a house;
Hog Wild, for the scene where Hardy balances at the top of a ladder;
Them Thar Hills, where the pair goes camping in a caravan; and
Tit for Tat, where they open an electrical shop and run into trouble with the neighboring grocer, whom they had already met in Them Thar Hills. (Last viewed: July 2010)

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The Apartment
      1960 | USA | Laughs: 4.4 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 8.3
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One of those movies where the charaters' dress and manner of speech are so obsolete that it's nearly impossible to identify. Had not laughed after half an hour, gave up. Oh, the plot: a man in a large accounting firm makes his apartment available to the company higher ups who need a bachelor pad for an evening. Painful. (Last viewed: July 2010)

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Click
      2006 | USA | Laughs: 4.1 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 6.4
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Given a remote control that lets him fast-forward through the unpleasant moments of life, an ambitious architect (Adam Sandler) soon finds himself jumping through years at a time. It feels like the studio, armed with a strong concept and a reliable comedian, didn't bother writing a funny script. Too bad. (Last viewed: July 2010)

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Little Miss Sunshine
      2006 | USA | Laughs: 3.5 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.8
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Five stars. Dad is bankrupt, mom wants a divorce, grandpa snorts heroin, uncle Frank has just tried to kill himself, big brother doesn't speak, but everyone piles up in a VW van to bring little sister to a beauty pageant in California. Great story about who we are, and splendid acting, not least by Alan Arkin, who was already an amazing actor forty years earlier in The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming. (Last viewed: July 2010)

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The Meaning of Life
      1983 | U.K. | Laughs: 4.2 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 7.6
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Ah, Monty Python… They've produced the best and the worst of comedy. This is one of those movies where the team travels so far down the path of caricature, gross and grotesque that it's simply not funny—unless you're equipped with a "subtle" British sense of humor. John Cleese and Eric Idle manage to make us chuckle, of course, and we're grateful for that. Rather than waste your time, watch Fawlty Towers instead to see John Cleese in a production that achieves a perfect comic balance. (Last viewed: Feb 1984 July 2010)

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And Now for Something Completely Different
      1971 | U.K. | Laughs: 4.2 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 7.6
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A compilation of early Monty Python skits and animations. I love John Cleese, but Monty Python rarely makes me laugh—we must be on a different channel. I dislike most of the animations in this film. It does include The Dead Parrot, one of the Pythons' best skits, but you hardly need to sit through this 90-minute montage just for that. (Last viewed: July 2010)

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Crocodile Dundee
      1986 | Australia | Laughs: 9.2 (Laugh Out Loud) | imdb: 6.6
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Before leaving Australia after she finishes her job, a New York reporter goes to the Northern Territory to write a feature about a tour guide who has survived an attack by a crocodile. To complete the story, the newspaper flies the charming bushman over to the United States to see how he will survive New York. I love this movie: it makes me laugh—a lot—and it shows Australia at its best in the person of Crocodile Dundee, a man who behaves as if all the people he meets are his equal (well, as long as they're men). This trait remains strong in the national self-image, though it has suffered in the years since the movie came out as Australians have had to face the challenge of surviving the globalized world. Crocodile Dundee II is not one tenth as funny. (Last viewed: July 2010)

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The Gods Must be Crazy
      1980 | South Africa | Laughs: 8.6 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 7.3
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Xi, a bushman of the Kalahari desert, leaves his family on a mission to the end of the world. On his way, he meets a scientist, a school teacher, a guerilla mob and other inhabitants of southern Africa. This beautiful film with a carefully-crafted plot starts out like a National Geographic program. As the story takes shape, laughs get more and more frequent. In the 1980s, this film was sometimes said to patronize indigenous Africans—perhaps because it was made by a white South African. With a distance of thirty years, I found the movie very gentle. The sequel is nearly as good. In a sense, The Gods Must be Crazy is the South African version of Crocodile Dundee, another southern hemisphere comedy that it predates by six years. (Last viewed: Dec 1980 July 2010)

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The Gods Must be Crazy 2
      1989 | South Africa | Laughs: 8.6 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 6.9
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We meet Xi the bushman again as he goes on another mission—this time, to find his children. The plot is not as complex as that of the original movie (it mostly stays in the tracks of a truck), nor is it as funny, but the movie is cute and pleasant to watch. (Last viewed: Aug 1989 July 2010)

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This is Spinal Tap
      1984 | USA | Laughs: 8.3 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 7.9
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This movie that defined the mockumentary genre pretends to follow British band Spinal Tap as it tours the United States to launch its latest album. The two lead band members feel so real you keep grinning from start to finish. A few things go wrong. You may surprise yourself being fascinated as though you were watching a doco about the Beatles or David Bowie, whose music Spinal Tap's resembles in some of its periods. (Last viewed: Jul 1995 June 2010)

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Airplane!
      1980 | USA | Laughs: 8.0 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 7.7
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Many people say that Airplane! is the funniest movie they've ever seen; I wonder if they've watched it lately. When the pilots of a flight to Chicago (and most of the passengers) get food poisoning, the burden of landing the plane falls on the shoulders of a former war pilot still grappling with psychological damage. Very silly. Some laughs. (Last viewed: June 2010)

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The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
      1966 | USA | Laughs: 5.1 (Watch Once) | imdb: 7.1
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The crew of a Russian submarine stranded on a small island off the coast meets the villagers. You probably won't laugh (hasn't our sense of humor changed since 1966), but you might still find the movie irresistibly cute. Personal theory: Alan Arkin's Lieutnant Rozanof inspired the personage of Borat. (Last viewed: June 2010)

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The Ladykillers
      1955 | USA | Laughs: 5.0 (Watch Once) | imdb: 7.7
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A mild-mannered gangster (Alec Guinness) rents a room from an elderly lady to plot his next robbery. While he and his accomplices hash out details in the room, they pretend to rehearse for a string quintet. A charming movie that made me smile, but not laugh—surprisingly for a comedy that features Peter Sellers: he was grossly underused by the script, an Alec Guinness vehicle. (Last viewed: June 2010)

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Arsenic and Old Lace
      1944 | USA | Laughs: 4.7 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 8.0
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A famous art critic discovers that his two aunts have made a habit of poisoning some of their elderly lodgers to put them out of their misery. When his older brother (a convicted criminal on the run) arrives with his assistant, a German plastic surgeon, the house turns into a pressure cooker. This movie came out in 1944, and I don't think the humor works anymore. Cary Grant in particular is unbearably loud. Sorry, handsome. (Last viewed: Mar 1980 June 2010)

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The Cable Guy
      1996 | USA | Laughs: 1.3 (Just Awful) | imdb: 6.1
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A lonely cable guy (Jim Carrey) decides he wants to become one of his customers' best friends. Starts out silly (with some good laughs), ends up psycho. I wanted to watch a comedy, mama, not a stalker movie! Only watch if you're ready to zap. (Last viewed: June 2010)

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Meatballs
      1979 | Canada | Laughs: 6.8 (Watch Once) | imdb: 6.2
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Bill Murray is the head counselor at a summer camp. It's 1979, so it's not as raunchy as it sounds. Not very funny either, but cute, and you want to watch it once because it's Bill Murray. Made in Canada.

In the Summer camp theme, Wet Hot American Summer is better value. (Last viewed: June 2010)

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Blades of Glory
      2007 | USA | Laughs: 8.2 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 6.3
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Disqualified from the solo category for getting into a fight, two rival male figure skaters pair up and sign up for a couple skating championship in order to stay in the sport. Well-paced and visually striking (the directors come from advertising), innocent as in the olden days, keeps you smiling and perhaps sometimes laughing. (Last viewed: May 2010)

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Role Models
      2008 | USA | Laughs: 6.3 (Watch Once) | imdb: 6.8
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To avoid spending a month in jail, two buddies sign up for a mentoring program: each will be the "role model" for a troubled kid. Full of foul language and adult themes, but good natured… You forgive everything because of the several hard laughs. (Last viewed: May 2010)

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Encino Man
      1992 | USA | Laughs: 6.2 (Watch Once) | imdb: 5.8
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This was recommended to me by a clerk in a video store who said it was one of the rare movies where she couldn't stop laughing. I don't have quite the same sense of humor, but maybe you do. If you watch this movie in a generous mood, you're sure to enjoy it because it is fun, and at times very funny. It's refreshing to watch a high school comedy that doesn't run on sex and alcohol. Two friends introduce their high school to Link, a young man from the Ice Age whom they found while digging a pool. As silly as it sounds… and that's a good thing. (Last viewed: May 2010)

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Thank You for Smoking
      2005 | USA | Laughs: N/A (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.6
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Follows the adventures of the tobacco industry's top PR guy. You end up liking him, of course. Fun. (Last viewed: May 2010)

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Alvin Purple (Alvin Purple Rides Again)
      1973 | Australia | Laughs: 5.2 (Watch Once) | imdb: 5.7
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For unknown reasons, a young man cannot keep women away, an "affliction" that he gets him into trouble at school then as he enters the workforce. You may not laugh, but Australians will enjoy images of Australia in the early 1970s. Prude alert: sexual content. As for the sequel (Alvin Purple Rides Again), the same story goes on a road trip, but it gets stranded in the weakest of casino robbery plots—firmly in the "Don't Bother Watching" category. (Last viewed: May 2010)

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Emoh Ruo
      1985 | Australia | Laughs: 5.1 (Watch Once) | imdb: 7.2
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A young couple lives in a caravan by a gorgeous beach, but the young lady starts to dream "the Great Australian Dream"—moving the family into their very own house. When the couple manages to secure a mortgage and buy a house, everything goes wrong. If you're told that the title is "Our Home" in reverse, you might start to suspect that this movie's jokes are not exactly side-splitting. Charming shots of 1970s Australia; for serious students of Australiana only. (Last viewed: May 2010)

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Funny People
      1977 | South Africa | Laughs: 8.5 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 6.5
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South African candid camera classic by Jamie Uys, the director of The Gods Must Be Crazy. When it first came out, I howled in the theatre. On second viewing 23 years later, some of the situations still give me a hard laugh that makes some of the longish bits forgivable. Most of the scenes are obviously dubbed, and some seem to use actors rather than a hidden camera. The slightly patronizing tone of the (often dislikable) crew towards blacks also has interest for historical reasons. Favorite scenes: the dentist, the steak and fries, the camera shop. (Last viewed: Apr 1982 May 2010)

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Fletch Lives
      1989 | USA | Laughs: 6.0 (Watch Once) | imdb: 6.1
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Never mind what they say about sequels being awful, Chevy Chase is in good form in this second Fletch as he battles villains in Louisiana. A chance to smile for ninety minutes, hear the classic Fletch theme tune and detect fake from real Southern accents. (Last viewed: April 2010)

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Kenny
      2006 | Australia | Laughs: 7.9 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 7.2
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What? This was not a real documentary?" That's how I felt at the end of Kenny, a film that follows an Australian porta-loo installer and his truck as he travels where his trade takes him: concerts, races, and a sewage equipment convention in the United States. If it feels so real, it is because of the director's uncompromising "Get real, we're all people" message. I will long remember a sample of the film's clever, understated humor—a line of Kenny's ailing dad when he incites Kenny to take the management job he's been offered: "In life, no one looks up to you until you're sitting down." Five stars. (Last viewed: April 2010)

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Muriel's Wedding
      1994 | Australia | Laughs: N/A (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.2
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Everybody tells Muriel she's "daggy" (Aussie for uncool). By the end of this underdog story, she's made a place for herself, at least in her own heart. Featuring Australian archetypes and classic shots of the Gold Coast: required viewing for serious students of Australiana. (Last viewed: April 2010)

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Lost in Translation
      2003 | USA | Laughs: 2.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.7
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Five stars. Bill Murray shoots a whiskey ad in Tokyo. For the full review, skip over to my "Brush up your Japanese" page. (Last viewed: Mar 2003 March 2010)

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