Comedies involving Ben Stiller

Ben Stiller was credited as actor in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about 34 years old.
Meet the Parents
      2000 | USA | Laughs: 9.7 (Laugh Out Loud) | imdb: 7.0
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A man plans to propose to his girlfriend, but first he must meet her parents. You cringe and laugh as Greg (Ben Stiller) does everything—wrong—to secure the approval of her tough dad (Robert De Niro), a former CIA agent. The movie has several laugh-out-loud moments, but it is also funny throughout even if you sometimes want to scream rather than laugh, as you watch in disbelief, horrified by how Greg's situation keeps worsening by the minute, fighting the impulse to cover your face as his plight reaches new levels of awful. All the minute psychological observations that build the story's tension and humor are right on target and make this movie a delightful little marvel.

If you've enjoyed it, don't miss the 1992 original.

(Last viewed: August 2010)

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Ben Stiller was credited as actor in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about 37 years old.
Duplex
      2003 | USA | Laughs: 7.8 (Laugh Out Loud) | imdb: 5.9
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When a young couple buys an old house, they inherit the elderly lady who lives in the rent-controlled apartment upstairs from theirs. Soon, they realize that this apparently harmless creature has an infinite capacity for wrecking their lives.

The cast is terrific, starting with Ben Stiller in a similar character to his role in Meet The Parents. I hadn't laughed at a comedy so heartily in a long while and will be adding this movie to my favorites list.

(Last viewed: October 2014)

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Ben Stiller was credited as actor in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about 38 years old.
Along Came Polly
      2004 | USA | Laughs: 7.5 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 6.0
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On his tropical honeymoon, an insurance man gets cuckolded by his "perfect bride". Back in New York City, he bumps into a former classmate and falls for her despite her bohemian lifestyle, at odds with his obsession for computing risks. This is a very funny movie featuring Ben Stiller in his classic Meet the Parents persona. It was also the first time I saw Jennifer Aniston in a role of any substance. I will gladly watch it again. (Last viewed: November 2014)

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Ben Stiller was credited as actor in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about 38 years old.
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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Ben Stiller was credited as actor in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about 38 years old.
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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Ben Stiller was credited as actor in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about 32 years old.
There's Something About Mary
      1998 | USA | Laughs: 6.8 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 7.1
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Hankering for "what could have been", a thirty-year-old man (Ben Stiller) hires a private investigator to track down his high-school flame, Mary. The investigator finds Mary but falls for her. Ben Stiller made me chuckle with the same charming awkwardness that made him shine in Meet the Parents. A particular treat for me was his best friend Dom (Chris Elliott), whom I recognized from his role as Larry the cameraman in Groundhog Day, one of my favorite comedies. The first half had some good laughs, the second half was entertaining.

EDIT: In 2022, twelve years after the previous viewing, this movie still works for me. Laughed and smiled. At the rate of once every ten years, I may be able to watch this film twice more before I die. Looking forward to it.

(Last viewed: Sep 2010 October 2022)

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Ben Stiller was credited as actor in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about 36 years old.
Orange County
      2002 | USA | Laughs: 6.5 (Watch Once) | imdb: 6.2
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When his college counselor sends in the wrong transcript, the straight-A class president of a preppy Orange County high school gets turned down by Stanford University. As he tries to reclaim what is rightfully his, it seems to him that neither his drama-loving mom nor his authoritarian dad, surfer buddies, sweet girlfriend and stoner brother really want him to get in. For a movie involving high-school characters, this one is refereshingly low on vulgarity but features a cute story and good laughs. (Last viewed: March 2012)

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Ben Stiller was credited as actor in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about 38 years old.
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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Ben Stiller was credited as actor in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about 34 years old.
Keeping the Faith
      2000 | USA | Laughs: 5.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.3
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Two best friends (a rabbi and a priest) are reunited with a girl who was their other best friend when they were eight. Only now they both fall in love with her. As romantic comedies go, this one isn't too sappy, perhaps because it's got more than one track. I like it when Ben Stiller isn't playing a freak. This is one of his better roles. In large part thanks to him, the movie has many funny moments. The rest of the cast performs well too, and it's an enjoyable watch. (Last viewed: October 2012)

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Ben Stiller was credited as actor in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about 38 years old.
Envy
      2004 | USA | Laughs: 5.0 (Watch Once) | imdb: 4.8
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As a man becomes astoundingly wealthy thanks to an invention that initially sounded hare-brained, his best friend has a hard time coping with his mounting jealousy. This theme will be familiar to many who scratched their heads in astonishment as they watched acquaintances attain sudden fortune during the dot-com boom years — which ended four years before the movie's release. Despite its poor ratings, I found it funny and enjoyed the performances by Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Amy Poehler. (Last viewed: October 2014)

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Ben Stiller was credited as actor in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about 29 years old.
Heavyweights
      1995 | USA | Laughs: 3.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.7
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A Summer camp where overweight kids normally have a great time turns into hell when a new owner bent on promoting his weight-loss program takes over. I like Ben Stiller when he plays nice guys (as in Meet the Parents), but I don't enjoy his performance when he plays nasty roles, which he too often does. There's nothing wrong with watching this movie once if you're in the mood for light entertainment. The kids are fun and there's a lot of smiling—but no laughing, at least for me. In the Summer camp movie category, Meatballs is probably an upgrade, as would be Wet Hot American Summer. (Last viewed: September 2012)

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Ben Stiller was credited as actor in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about 44 years old.
Little Fockers
      2010 | USA | Laughs: 2.7 (Just Awful) | imdb: 5.5
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With this third instalment, Meet the Parents reaches the unavoidable fate of an excellent movie whose success the studios try to stretch over multiple sequels. A few laughs, but a waste of perfectly good characters. (Last viewed: May 2011)

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Ben Stiller was credited as actor in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about 30 years old.
Flirting with Disaster
      1996 | USA | Laughs: 2.6 (Just Awful) | imdb: 6.7
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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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Ben Stiller was credited as actor in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about 46 years old.
The Watch
      2012 | USA | Laughs: 2.0 (Just Awful) | imdb: 5.7
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This movie scores points for casting Richard Ayoade from The IT Crowd. Apart from that, it's another chapter in the decline of the American empire. A group of concerned citizens form a neighborhood watch to solve a grisly murder mystery, and soon run into nasty extra-terrestrials. Ben Stiller is the best he's been in a long time, while Vince Vaughn is at his worst—possibly after completing a class in overacting. Jonah Hill and Ayoade do their best. None of this matter: the script is below third-rate. You really don't have to watch this kind of trash: stay sane and give the film wide berth. (Last viewed: May 2013)

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Ben Stiller was credited as director and actor in the following film.
At the time, he would have been about 30 years old.
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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