The Funniest American Comedies

Who Framed Roger Rabbit
      1988 | USA | Laughs: 0.8 (Just Awful) | imdb: 7.7
      wikipedia | who was involved?

I avoided this movie for years as the sound of cartoon characters mixing with live people sounded like an awful premise, then a podcast of learned cinephiles convinced me to give it a go.

The first ten minutes were unbearable. After the rabbit left the scene I gave it a go for another fifteen, but the rabbit's return brought the movie to new heights of "can't watch" this, so I gave up.

This might be interesting if you're in film school… Otherwise, forget it. (Last viewed: May 2019)

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Ruthless People
      1986 | USA | Laughs: 0.8 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 6.9
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This hour-and-a-half movie is about ninety minutes too long. It may have been okay in its day, but its public was a breed which has since vanished from this Earth.

Delighted that kidnappers are threatening to kill his wife, a business man does his best to disobey their instructions. Meanwhile, the kidnappers (a sweet couple) struggle to get along with their hard-headed victim.

There's nothing particularly annoying about the movie in itself — it has likeable actors doing their best. It's just unbelievably dull.
(Last viewed: May 2019)

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Don't Think Twice
      2016 | USA | Laughs: 0.8 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.8
      wikipedia | who was involved?

When one of the members of a troupe of stand-up comedians gets a job on a comedy show, tensions arise among old friends.

Despite the theme and setting, this was one of these classic stories about friendship rather than a funny movie. Watch it if you're craving second-hand comradeship, but not if you're hoping to laugh. (Last viewed: February 2019)

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The In-Laws
      2003 | USA | Laughs: 0.5 (Just Awful) | imdb: 5.7
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This is a remake of a funny 1979 movie by the same name. Days before his daughter's wedding, a risk-avoiding podiatrist meets the groom's father, who entangles him in the cross-border sale of a nuclear submarine. Albert Brooks slides right into Alan Arkin's shoes, but Michael Douglas can't hold the candle to Peter Falk. The movie can't decide whether it should be about plain comedy or espionage, and ends up settling on a formula of beautiful people and special effects on expensive sets. Alan Arkin and Ryan Reynolds are grossly underused, while Michael Douglas is grossly overused. We couldn't get past the first half. (Last viewed: August 2015)

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Melvin Goes to Dinner
      2003 | USA | Laughs: 0.5 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 6.9
      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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The Other Woman
      2014 | USA | Laughs: 0.5 | imdb: 6.0
      wikipedia | who was involved?

A wife and two mistresses team up to punish their unfaithful man. I decided to watch this movie because of an imdb review from someone stating that they couldn't stop laughing. It saddens me, then, to have to report that I couldn't start laughing. The theme is certainly perfect for comedy, and I would love to watch it properly executed. Perhaps that film already exists in the vast repository of world comedies—I hope to hear about it someday from someone writing from a place such as France, Italy or Egypt. (Last viewed: December 2017)

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Smorgasbord (a.k.a Cracking Up)
      1983 | USA | Laughs: 0.5 (Just Awful) | imdb: 5.9
      wikipedia | who was involved?

For the longest time, I thought that the frequent American sneering at the French for finding Jerry Lewis funny was a symptom of ignorance on the part of the accusers (did the French really find Jerry Lewis funny?) and of their lack of sense of humor, in keeping with the general lack of appreciation for British humor on the western side of the Atlantic. You see, I hadn't yet watched a Jerry Lewis movie, and I assumed that he had to be terribly funny in a way that most Americans just didn't get.

Some say that this film is Jerry's funniest, but it was one of the least funny comedies I'd ever watched, confirming part of the popular wisdom that I'd so long rejected. I still don't know whether the French find Jerry funny; true or not, the idea that they do is certainly amusing.

I'm sure the man was a genius of a kind and I'm glad he found his public. (Last viewed: December 2018)

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Steve Martin: A Wild and Crazy Guy
      1978 | USA | Laughs: 0.5 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 7.7
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This short film is a series of skits which have the funny feature that they all fail to make me laugh. Maybe it's the forty years that have elapsed, but my suspicion is that Steve Martin and I are not on the same wavelength. Next I'll go try some his stand-up. (Last viewed: August 2018)

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What To Expect When You're Expecting
      2012 | USA | Laughs: 0.5 (Just Awful) | imdb: 5.7
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Several couples plan to have a baby, expect a baby, have a baby. Although there were a few chuckles, this was by far the worst comedy I've watched all year. At an early stage they turned the sappy tap on and never turned it off—it kept dripping, dripping, dripping. The last twenty minutes or so felt like an unending baby-fest. I don't mind indulging my partner in a chick flick sometimes, but gentlemen, do not concede on this one or the hair under your arms will fall out. (Last viewed: November 2015)

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The Three Stooges: Dizzy Doctors
      1937 | USA | Laughs: 0.5 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 7.9
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Some comedy ages poorly as culture evolves. This comedy short, one of the highest ranking of the three stooges, features no humor other than people getting poked in the eye or bumped on the head. It's resolutely unfunny but serves a purpose: after seeing this one, you know you never need to watch another Three Stooges again. (Last viewed: March 2013)

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Wonder Boys
      2000 | USA | Laughs: 0.2 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.3
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Not a laugh-out-loud comedy but a light-hearted movie in which an iconic writer struggling with his second novel deals with his lover, his editor and gifted students of his.

I'm not usually a huge fan of Michael Douglas but he was perfect for the role, as was the rest of the cast, making this a surprisingly pleasant watch.

(Last viewed: January 2019)

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Out Cold
      2001 | USA | Laughs: 0.2 (Just Awful) | imdb: 6.3
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This might be a great movie if you're a snowboarding fan and you and some friends are coming back drunk from a party. In all other cases, it's an outright bore, notwithstanding the presence of Zach Galifianakis.

A run-down Alaskan ski resort is taken over by a magnate developer from Colorado, challenging the lifestyle of the rowdy staff. The first five to ten minutes felt like a snowboarding video. Then there was a bit of unfunny plot development.

I had started this tape with the unacknowledged hope that it would hook me, allowing me to procrastinate on pending work, but even at a speed of 1.3, which sometimes fixes somewhat empty movies, there was not enough to keep me interested, and I stopped half-an-hour short and an hour too late. Save yourself the trouble.

Back to work.

(Last viewed: January 2020)

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Doug Stanhope: No Place Like Home
      2016 | USA | Laughs: 0.2 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 7.4
      who was involved?

In this set Doug had a few good points. I do appreciate good points, but there's a whole world of non-fiction writing that can supply enough of those. The main reason I watch stand-up is to laugh, and the set didn't make me laugh—not once—which saddened me as I thought Doug had done a surprisingly good job of staying in funny shape on the last tape that I'd watched, Beer Putsch Hall. I hope he bounces back as I would hate to lose him as the lone star that he is on the stand-up skyscape. (Last viewed: June 2017)

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A Beginner's Guide to Endings
      2010 | USA | Laughs: 0.2 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 6.4
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Although this movie is tagged as a comedy, it is one in the long series that have been trying (and failing) to emulate the style of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. It might have a lot of edge, but it doesn't cut. Skip. (Last viewed: March 2015)

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Destination Wedding
      2018 | USA | Laughs: 0.2 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 6.0
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Two strangers who are equally cynical and unpleasant find themselves spending a lot of time together at a wedding, to the point of breaking through the point of repulsion. Not unpleasant but not very funny either, just a bit pointless, like the lives of the characters the movie is meant to depict. (Last viewed: December 2018)

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