The Funniest Comedies Ever

Pacific Banana
      1981 | Australia | Laughs: 0.0 (Just Awful) | imdb: 4.6
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This movie belongs to a genre that for whatever reason seems to have flourished in Australia in the last century—we'll call it Aussie adult comedy. The plot (if there is one) involves a charter airline that flies between Australia and Tahiti, and hordes of women who throw themselves at the two pilots. The comedic power being close to zero, the only point seems to be to show a bit of flesh. It's a big bore: steer clear, unless of course you're one of those people who love bad movies. (Last viewed: July 2014)

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The Age of Ignorance (a.k.a Days of Darkness) (L'Age des Tenebres)
      2007 | Canada | Laughs: 4.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.9
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This is a terrific movie about a civil servant who escapes the crushing pressures of modern decay by constructing grandiose, colorful daydreams. It's funny and has its shares of chuckles, but the humor is on the level of piece of chocolate that slowly melts in the mouth—not of explosive laughter. I never much liked The Decline of the American Empire by the same director, while I loved his Barbarian Invasions. The third installment in that loose trilogy is not a letdown. (Last viewed: July 2014)

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The 'Burbs
      1989 | USA | Laughs: 3.8 (Watch Once) | imdb: 6.9
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Suspicious of the new owners of a house on their street, a group of neighbors in a white American suburb leave no stone unturned to investigate what takes place in their basement. This could almost be classified as a comedy-horror movie—except there isn't a single horror scene… Do spooky sound effects count? It's entertaining if you have nothing better to do. You'll probably smile, but don't expect big laughs. (Last viewed: July 2014)

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Screwed
      2000 | USA | Laughs: 3.8 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 5.7
      wikipedia | who was involved?

With the help of a friend, a millionaire baker's valet kidnaps her dog. This is one of these plots where everything goes wrong. The movie starts out in the burlesque register—in the worst sense of the word—but, thankfully, ever-so-slowly improves. There may in fact be a few decent lines with Dave Chappelle. But what redeems the movie (though not to the point where you'd want to go out of your way to watch it) is an extraordinary performance by Danny DeVito, who plays a disheveled mortician. (Last viewed: July 2014)

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Neighbors (short)
      1920 | USA | Laughs: N/A (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.7
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Two lovers who live across from each other must work around their abusive parents. Someone who saw this 17-minute film in a theater with a live pianist recommended it to me. When I watched it on my own, it entertained me, but it didn't make me laugh. You probably have to be in the mood. (Last viewed: June 2014)

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The Coca-Cola Kid
      1985 | Australia | Laughs: 3.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.0
      wikipedia | who was involved?

A corporate star is sent from the Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia to troubleshoot operations in Australia. He soon discovers a sore spot: a valley where a soft-drink bottler has been keeping Coke out of the market for decades.

This is not a laugh-out-loud comedy, but it is funny all-right, what with the fish-out-of-water scenario and the yankee's terrific Southern accent. It has outstanding production value for an Australian movie. First, the plot manages to stay together for most of the film while incorporating a great number of offbeat moments. It has great sound—including a terrific Coke jingle and a compelling rendition of Waltzing Matilda. And it has visual appeal, by which I am referring to the landscapes and overall composition, though the blokes of the time must have enjoyed the eye candy thrown their way in the form of female nudity, which was common in contemporary films. The female in question later played the Italian mom in another Australian classic, Looking for Alibrandi.

Although this is not a roarer, it's an easy watch and a Down-Under classic which has aged remarkably well—so don't let the vintage label keep you away. (Last viewed: April 2014)

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Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
      2013 | USA | Laughs: 6.5 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 6.3
      wikipedia | who was involved?

In the early 1980s, the crew of Anchorman reunites in New York City for the launch of the first 24-hour news TV station. We put this on at one in the afternoon on a grey Saturday when my lady friend had the flu, and it was suitably decadent. This movie will not go down in history as the funniest comedy ever, but it has its share of laughs and it's a good ride if you're willing to be entertained. (Last viewed: March 2014)

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The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l'Empire Americain)
      1986 | Canada | Laughs: 2.5 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 7.3
      wikipedia | who was involved?

I didn't much like this movie when it came out nearly thirty years ago. It has aged very well, because I still don't like it today. Although I'm a big fan of Denys Arcand's later work The Barbarian Invasions, this earlier film, which features many of the same characters, does nothing for me apart from the French-Canadian accent, always a delight on the ears.

The whole movie features men and women engrossed in conversation about their sexual adventures. For some reason, I have never been drawn to this kind of conversation. To make matters worse, most of the characters (who gravitate around academia) are unbearably pedantic. The film's original success may have been caused by the novel openness with which the characters discussed their love live. Nowadays, that is hardly original, and there is no good reason to revisit this old bore. (Last viewed: May 1987 March 2014)

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In a World...
      2013 | USA | Laughs: 6.0 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 6.7
      wikipedia | who was involved?

The daughter of Hollywood's voice-over king tries to break into the business. Far from supporting her, her dad has a male protégé. This sweet-funny movie offers a strong female character and a glance at an interesting profession. It's not a laugh-out-loud comedy, but it made the three of us who watched it grin much of the time. (Last viewed: March 2014)

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Last Vegas
      2013 | USA | Laughs: 3.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.6
      wikipedia | who was involved?

When Billy announces that he is about to get married in Las Vegas, his three friends of sixty years meet him there to throw him a bachelor party. This is a harmless Hollywood film that lets itself watch on a day when you're not feeling demanding. It has plenty of star power (Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro, Kevin Kline, Michael Douglas), and the stars have no trouble carrying the movie. It has plenty of smiles, but if you're looking for laughs… look elsewhere. (Last viewed: February 2014)

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Bad Grandpa
      2013 | USA | Laughs: 8.0 (Laugh Out Loud) | imdb: 6.5
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Bad Grandpa will not enter the hall of fame of those rare comedies which, in addition to making you laugh, present a great story told in a wholesome manner. But it does belong in the laugh-out-loud category, which is rare enough in these days of gutter cinema.

Be warned that the movie is often crude. That's not my thing, but it doesn't go as far down that track as many comedies of recent years, and if you can forgive the frequent crassness, there's still lots to laugh about.

The plot is simple enough: bad grandpa takes his grandson on a road trip. But the premise is one I had never encountered: the story is largely weaved from a series of candid camera moments.

Nearly forty years after the South African Funny People, the candid camera genre is alive and well.

To watch if you want to laugh and are willing to forgive the occasional bits of graphic humor. (Last viewed: January 2014)

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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
      2013 | USA | Laughs: 1.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.3
      wikipedia | who was involved?

A quiet man who daydreams of larger-than-life actions is shaken out of his routine into a life of adventure. This is a cute light-hearted movie, but certainly not a laugh-out-loud movie, though one particular scene involving a helicopter pilot did make me laugh. For me, it is Ben Stiller's best role since Meet The Parents. I like Ben when he plays a nice guy, but for some reason most of the time he ends up playing a jerk. The soundscore is all made of "big music"—the kind of music that seems designed to make you feel elated in front of the "vastness of the universe"…Not my thing. Apart from that, this was a very pleasant watch. (Last viewed: January 2014)

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Blue Jasmine
      2013 | USA | Laughs: 0.0 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 7.3
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This might be a great feel-bad movie, but it's definitely not a comedy. Misclassified. (Last viewed: January 2014)

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A.C.O.D. (a.k.a Adult Children of Divorce)
      2013 | USA | Laughs: 3.0 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 5.7
      wikipedia | who was involved?

A man who has had to mediate the incendiary relationship between his divorced mother and father for most of his life discovers that as a nine-year-old he had been one of the subjects of a best-selling book about the Children of Divorce, whose author now proposes to write an equally intrusive follow-up. It is hard to say exactly why this movie doesn't work. The actors are competent, the plot makes more sense than most Hollywood comedies, yet toward the second half one becomes imbued with an overwhelming sense of "so what". Perhaps it is because in some sense the movie has the same whiny voice as these horrendous white boy bands of the 1990s—some of their main flag bearers, if I recall, were Hootie & the Blowfish, Dave Matthews Band, Counting Crows, Gin Blossoms and Barenaked Ladies. Just as it was hard to care when some rich kid frantically strummed his guitar while lamenting that his parents hadn't bought him new wheels for his skateboard, it's hard to care about an adult character's parents' divorce of twenty years back. There are worse problems in this world. (Last viewed: January 2014)

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Charlie & Boots
      2009 | Australia | Laughs: 2.6 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.5
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This is not the kind of movie I call a "comedy", though it is certainly light-hearted.

The two main actors from Crocodile Dundee and Kenny together in an Australian road trip movie: that's a big draw, a formula that promises entertainment, fine landscapes, a good yarn, laughs and lots of smiles. But I'm sure you sure know that when the studios think they have a winning formula in hand, they under-deliver. The landscapes are there, the actors do a great job, the movie is sweet— but the story is very thin indeed. The film cruises on the skill (or looks) of the actors and the beauty of the landscapes, which are conveniently devoid of the hordes of retired baby boomers living in caravans filled with made-in-China junk—the hordes that litter every Australian back-road these days. A silent documentary would have done the trick. (Last viewed: January 2014)

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Gunless
      2010 | Canada | Laughs: 4.5 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.5
      wikipedia | who was involved?

An wounded American gunman arrives in a Canadian village, where he struggles to cope with the locals' kindness. A cute, unpretentious movie that bears watching if you have an interest in cross-cultural issues and are in the mood for something clean, sweet and easy. (Last viewed: December 2013)

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Don Jon
      2013 | USA | Laughs: 5.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.6
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This is not a laugh-out-loud comedy, but it might make you smirk most of the way, and regardless of its comical merits it's a good film. It deals with below-the-belt physical impulses from the standpoint of a young male at his peak, and with the different motivations that drive young adults of either gender when they consider relationships.

In the movies, references to pornography tend to be used as excuses for easy laughs. This was the first time I saw the topic treated in a lucid manner. From seeing tepid reviews by young adults, I am given to think that this might be a movie you enjoy more once you've gained some distance to the age group concerned.

The movie is not perfect—as a "solution" to the mirage of pornography, it seems to offer another mirage: to lose oneself in another person. That particular delusion would make a good topic for another comedy, perhaps when the director has gained some distance from the age group most under its spell. Altogether, a surprisingly solid watch. (Last viewed: December 2013)

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The World's End
      2013 | U.K. | Laughs: 4.0 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 7.0
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Returning to their home town for a pub crawl, five friends realize that it has been taken over by robots. This is a zombie movie in disguise. Zombie movies have never been my cup of tea. The best thing about this movie's zombie factor is that the gore has been minimized—the zombies look good and their blood is blue. But there is a lot of chasing and fighting that distracts from the main reason I sat down to watch the film: comedy. On the comedy side, the film has some good moments, but it is never a roaring laugh. The lead character is overly theatrical for my taste, and the humor is as tepid as the zombie-robots' blue blood. Overall, an easy skip. (Last viewed: December 2013)

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We're The Millers
      2013 | USA | Laughs: 7.5 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 7.0
      wikipedia | who was involved?

To smuggle cannabis from Mexico into the United States, posing as the prototypical middle-class straight white American family, an unlikely quartet cross the border in a luxurious recreational vehicle. I found this movie very funny. The only reason I didn't love it is that Jennifer Aniston gives me acne, and I wished she had been replaced by any one of the thousands of actresses capable of playing the part—Tina Fey for instance. You might not have the same skin condition. Either way, the movie is one of the best comedies of the 2013 and well worth watching. Jason Sudeikis did a great job as the lead male character, and it was a treat to see Nick Offerman, who plays Ron Swanson in Parks and Recreation. (Last viewed: December 2013)

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Melvin Goes to Dinner
      2003 | USA | Laughs: 0.5 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 7.0
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

I'm not sure how this ever came to be classified as a comedy. Maybe it's so edgy you have to live in the New York City subway to understand it. The movie (what I saw of it) seems to wander around a group of young adults having dinner at a restaurant. Seeing that the first twenty minutes didn't raise my interest on any level, I gave up. Save yourself time, go have dinner with your own friends. (Last viewed: December 2013)

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Mean Girls
      2004 | USA | Laughs: 7.2 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 7.0
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

A sixteen-year-old who has been home-schooled in Africa enters a high-school in the States. All of a sudden, she must adjust to a world where the nicest smile is often used to cover the meanest intentions. The plot is nothing special, but it's a fun watch—I smiled a lot and laughed a few times. (Last viewed: December 2013)

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Date Night
      2010 | USA | Laughs: 5.0 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 6.3
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Once a week, to overcome the routine, a married couple with two turbulent kids hire a baby-sitter and treat themselves to their "date night"—usually a tame affair at a local family restaurant. One week, on a whim, they drive to nearby Manhattan, where everything goes terribly wrong and they soon find themselves chased by blood-thirsty mobsters. The two lead actors did a good job and the film had funny moments, but there was too much filler in between. The cast cannot be blamed for the tiresome plot. I'd suggest skipping this one. (Last viewed: December 2013)

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Ghost Town
      2008 | USA | Laughs: 7.2 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 6.7
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

After dying for a few minutes during minor surgery, a selfish New York dentist starts to see ghosts who pester him to help them with their unfinished business. One of them leads the dentist to grow fond of his ex-wife. I liked this movie a lot. The story was good, it was well put together and it made me laugh. Ricky Gervais does not always work for me, but he did a great job, as did the other actors. (Last viewed: October 2013)

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Adventureland
      2009 | USA | Laughs: 2.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.8
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

To pay for his first term at college, a high-school graduate spends the Summer working at an adventure park in his home town. There are good characters and the movie is endearing—just don't watch this expecting to laugh, as it's a light-hearted movie rather than a true comedy. (Last viewed: October 2013)

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Seven Psychopaths
      2012 | U.K. | Laughs: 3.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.2
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This movie may have a laugh lurking somewhere, but making you laugh is really not its main purpose. It's an edgy composition in the tradition of Adaptation, and it will please fans of artsy multi-layered scripts. For my taste, that form of storytelling is over-labored. Yet I found enough to enjoy in this film, which involves a Hollywood writer working on a script about psychopaths and running into more real-life material to inspire his story than he feels comfortable with. (Last viewed: October 2013)

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Choke
      2008 | USA | Laughs: 2.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.5
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This is definitely not a laugh-out-loud comedy, but it is an excellent light-hearted movie. Summarizing the plot would do severe injustice to this beautifully layered film, so I'll just say that the story involves two men with addictions, a mother in a mental hospital run by nuns, a good friend, a nurse, Heimlich maneuvers, the staff of a historic colonial village, and a big surprise near the end. Despite the occasional nudity, there is none of the usual exploitation of the female body. The movie features the two least gratuitous scenes of intercourse I have ever seen on film. A must-watch. (Last viewed: October 2013)

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The Way Way Back
      2013 | USA | Laughs: 3.5 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.4
      wikipedia | who was involved?

A teenager spending the Summer in Cape Cod escapes his family by taking a job at a water park. This is certainly not a laugh-out-loud comedy, but it's a good movie in the light-hearted movie. I did have a couple of good laughs thanks to the character of the water park supervisor (Sam Rockwell), who carries the bulk of the film's comedic power. (Last viewed: October 2013)

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Spinning Boris
      2003 | USA | Laughs: 1.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.7
      wikipedia | who was involved?

IMDB wrongly labels this movie as a comedy. It's a good movie, but don't expect to laugh. Three American campaign political advisers are hired to help run the reelection campaign of Russian president Boris Yeltsin. Australian Anthony LaPaglia makes a convincing American, and I'm always happy to see Jeff Goldblum. (Last viewed: October 2013)

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This Is the End
      2013 | USA | Laughs: 3.0 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 6.6
      wikipedia | who was involved?

A group of Hollywood celebrities barricade themselves in a house on the day of the Apocalypse. Apart from a few good lines from Jonah Hill, much of the humor in this film stems from the grotesque nature of the plot and situation. Usually, when a movie is bad that is because it fails at what it sets out to do, but that is far from the case here. In essence, it seems to me that the producers tried to make a "cult movie" (something that is so bad that it becomes good for a certain audience), and they achieved that goal to perfection. If you're into cult movies you will probably enjoy this. I'm not, hence the low rating. (Last viewed: October 2013)

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Sione's 2: Unfinished Business
      2012 | New Zealand | Laughs: 0.6 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 6.0
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This sequel of the mediocre Sione's Wedding is simply unwatchable—and that's a shame. The actors are certainly capable of the kind of performance required of the comedy genre, the Samoan cultural background is as interesting as ever, and Auckland is a nice city to shoot a movie. What's missing is a script and a director. The four friends embark on a search for another member of their community who has gone missing. Watching the story is like wafting through sludge. Given all of the movie's fore-mentioned assets I wanted to give it a chance, but 38 minutes into the movie I just couldn't take any more and had to turn it off. It pains me to say this because I love local cinema and don't wish to offend New Zealanders, but one is left wishing that the New Zealand film industry outsourced the making of more movies in their country to real pros from places where they know how to make movies forwards and backwards, such as the US, France, Italy or Germany. (Last viewed: October 2013)

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