The Funniest British Comedies

The Inbetweeners Movie
      2011 | U.K. | Laughs: 4.0 (Watch Once) | imdb: 6.7
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Four English boys who just graduated from high school head out to Crete in pursuit of the one thing most boys that age are likely to pursue. Despite the expected crass moments, the movie has its load of funny situations and can provide a fairly entertaining watch if you're in a forgiving mood. (Last viewed: September 2014)

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Johnny English Strikes Again
      2018 | U.K. | Laughs: 3.9 (Watch Once) | imdb: 6.2
      wikipedia | who was involved?

As a Silicon Valley data moghul performs multiple hacks into Britain's national security systems and exposes the identity of all active secret agents, the British secret service bring former agent Johnny English out of retirement.

This was not the funniest comedy I'd ever watched, but I was glad to see Rowan Atkinson and the film entertained me more than the vast majority of that year's other comedies. (Last viewed: December 2018)

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Man Up
      2015 | U.K. | Laughs: 3.8 (Watch Once) | imdb: 6.8
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A woman standing under a clock at a train station gets accosted by a man who mistakes her for his blind date. Since she has been harassed by her sister to "get out there" and meet men, she goes along with the stranger's mistake.

This was a good premise and it is an okay watch as romantic comedies go, but I can't recall laughing. Some will also dispute the authenticity of the lead actress's English accent. (Last viewed: September 2015)

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Tamara Drewe
      2010 | U.K. | Laughs: 3.5 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.2
      wikipedia | who was involved?

If I tell you that this movie takes place around a writers' retreat in the English countryside, it's going to sound boring. Fear not, this is not one of these English movies where "well-educated" middle-aged characters gloat in their pompousness. This a good story, it has good characters, it's exceedingly well put together, it has eye candy for everyone, and it's fun too—so don't miss it. (Last viewed: September 2012)

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Paddington 2
      2017 | U.K. | Laughs: 3.5 (Chuckle) | imdb: 7.8
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This first sequel to Paddington has a better villain (Nicole Kidman wasn't bad but Hugh Grant shines) who also contributes more to the comedy, helping raise it out of the "light-hearted" category into the "chuckle" bracket.

That said, I found parts of the plot a tad sadistic (such as the unfairness of the justice system), so even though I smiled more, there were moments when I didn't enjoy the movie at all.

Altogether, a solid choice for an adult to watch with a younger public as it can be enjoyed by people well over the age of six.

(Last viewed: September 2022)

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Four Lions
      2010 | U.K. | Laughs: 3.1 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 7.3
      wikipedia | who was involved?

The adventures of four incompetent would-be theorists desperate to join Al-Qaeda and make their mark in London: a daring subject full of promise. But the promise stays unfulfilled. This could have been funny. Sadly, it isn't. I suspect the film gets its decent imdb rating on the sole strength of its risqué premise. The pace and drama stays on a level of a bad TV series—the kind of material you really don't want to watch any longer than ten minutes. I had to stop halfway. (Last viewed: August 2012)

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Secrets & Lies
      1996 | U.K. | Laughs: 3.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 8.0
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

A cute U.K. light-drama about an educated woman who sets out to meet her biological mother, who turns out to be far from her both socially and ethnically. If you can stand another lesson about transcending social and racial boundaries, this is a good pick. (Last viewed: July 2012)

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High Fidelity
      2000 | U.K. | Laughs: 3.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.5
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

The owner of a vintage record store muses over his memorable break-ups. This movie has strong characters, a pleasant soundtrack and a script that is fairly clever without trying too hard, making it a good watch, as with most movies directed by Stephen Frears. (Last viewed: November 2012)

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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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Paddington
      2014 | U.K. | Laughs: 3.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.2
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Forced to emigrate to London, a young bear looks for a family to call home while a museum curator schemes to have him stuffed. This cute movie made me chuckle a few times. Perfect if you're in the mood for the undemanding atmosphere of a movie aimed principally at children yet not too dumb to be unbearable for adults.

My source in the world of children entertainment tells me that the sequel is the funnier of the two movies.

(Last viewed: September 2022)

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Johnny English
      2003 | U.K. | Laughs: 2.8 (Just Awful) | imdb: 6.2
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

Sorry. I laughed hard at many of the old Mr. Bean series, but Roy Atkinson's ventures on the big screen haven't work on me. Something about needing a plot, perhaps. To give you an example, in this movie, jewels get robbed. The next day, investigators follow the tunnel right below the robbery location and immediately stumble upon the robbers in a room at the end of the tunnel. The whole script is on the same level of pathetic. Surprisingly, the sequel (Johnny English Reborn) is worth a watch. (Last viewed: January 2011)

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Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
      2004 | U.K. | Laughs: 2.5 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.0
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Although not awful, this sequel is only half as good as the original, and not really worth watching unless you are enamored with one of the actors. The plot has a lot less humor, and a lot more drama about Bridget losing and regaining her perfect man (whose character, despite the actor's excellent performance, is unrealistic, so patient is he with Bridget). There are funny moments, but also others when the script writers throw you some low balls (Bridget on mushrooms; Darcy's attractive female workmate turns out to be fond of women) that earn the movie a firm spot on the "skip" list. (Last viewed: September 2012)

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Big Nothing
      2006 | U.K. | Laughs: 2.5 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 6.8
      wikipedia | who was involved?

A call center employee gets approached by a con man to extort money from a perverted clergyman for a good cause. Everything goes wrong (would you have guessed it?) and dead bodies soon pile up.

After twenty minutes, I almost gave up on the movie as it felt like it was going to be painfully predictable. However, the script took a couple of left turns and the rest of the film was entertaining enough to keep watching, with a couple of chuckles here and there. That being said, if you skip it you won't have missed much. (Last viewed: October 2015)

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Life of Brian
      1979 | U.K. | Laughs: 2.0 (Watch Once) | imdb: 8.1
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The story of Brian of Nazareth, who had a parallel though more obscure life than a celebrated contemporary prophet. The movie has funny and perhaps clever moments, but I don't think you will laugh. It quickly loses points in the opening scenes by featuring a man who uses a shrill voice to play the role of a woman, a device I always find irritating—and hard on the ear. What's the point? Is that funny? On the more pleasant side, there's a lot of John Cleese to be seen, as well as pretty Tunisian landscapes. There's an animated Star Wars sequence, and the movie ends on the now classic song Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Eric Idle. The movie was banned in some places, which speaks less for the movie itself than about a rampant disease, human idiocy. If only for cultural reasons, it is worth a watch. (Last viewed: Jul 1995 October 2012)

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Gregory's Girl
      1980 | U.K. | Laughs: 2.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.1
      wikipedia | who was involved?

A high-school senior becomes infatuated with the young woman who replaces him on the football team. This Scottish movie is just delightful. It is full of humor, but with a light touch—so even though we didn't laugh, we chuckled and smiled a lot. (Last viewed: May 2017)

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