Comedies from the 2010s

The Gentlemen
      2019 | USA | Laughs: 1.0 (Smirk) | imdb: 7.8
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Trying to divest his British marijuana trading empire, an American faces ruthless negotiators. Not a "laugh-out-loud" comedy, this film falls squarely into the genre established by the same director twenty years earlier by the same director (Guy Ritchie) with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, a genre with many imitators but none quite managing to reach the heights of the two founding works.

(Last viewed: March 2020)

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Brigsby Bear
      2017 | USA | Laughs: 1.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.3
      wikipedia | who was involved?

From Voltaire's Candide to Forrest Gump, from Dostoevsky's Idiot to Dumb and Dumber, there's nothing new, in film or literature, about the theme of the naive person having something to teach the jaded. But in this adaptation of the theme, the premise was particularly original. Abducted as a baby, a man has lived through the bubble of a TV series tailor-made just for him. Delivered into the real world, he longs to continue his relationship with the fantasy world he has known. I guess much of the movie was predictable, and some of it was weak, but the premise and some of the execution were so appealing that the movie will surely be one of the most memorable of the year. If you're looking for laughs, though, this is the wrong movie—this is comedy of the light-hearted persuasion. (Last viewed: November 2017)

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Killers
      2010 | USA | Laughs: 1.0 (Just Awful) | imdb: 5.4
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A former CIA operative living an all-American suburban life with his loving wife who is unaware of his past becomes the target of assassination attempts.

The script is as bland as boiled celery. Easily the worse Ashton Kutcher comedy I've ever seen. One has to pity the crew that participates in such a senseless project. If they'd asked my dog to read the script before proceeding, thousands of man hours would have been spared.

(Last viewed: August 2022)

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Back To Square One (a.k.a Tee Box) (Case Départ)
      2011 | France | Laughs: 1.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 5.8
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Two French half-brothers who have little appreciation for their Caribbean heritage find themselves transported into the past where they experience slavery first-hand. While the movie didn't make me laugh, the original premise and the humorous moments kept me watching. (Last viewed: August 2014)

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Zero Motivation (אפס ביחסי אנוש)
      2014 | Israel | Laughs: 1.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.3
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This movie follows two unmotivated female soldiers over the course of their compulsory two-year military service. The main character's chief interests are desktop games, disobedience and losing her virginity. There is enough to smile at for foreign viewers, but the humor stays on the level of satire, not explosive laughter. Overall, despite its high ratings, I did not find this film terribly impressive. For a far superior Israeli army comedy, watch Hill Halfon Doesn't Answer. (Last viewed: March 2015)

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That's My Boy
      2012 | USA | Laughs: 1.0 (Watch Once) | imdb: 5.5
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Days before his wedding, a successful banker is reunited with his father, whom he had kept at bay for years. This movie is only in the "watch once" section for those who are curious about the work of Adam Sandlers; others can skip it. If you're ever in the mood to watch a bad movie, this is a decent choice. You know how sometimes bad can be good? I don't recall all the bad elements in That's My Boy—Adam's voice was certainly one of them—but there's enough badness here to keep you perversely entertained. (Last viewed: May 2013)

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Crazy Rich Asians
      2018 | USA | Laughs: 1.0 (Watch Once) | imdb: 6.9
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An economics professor from New York follows her boyfriend on a trip to Singapore, where she realizes he's heir to a gigantic fortune. This is not a great rom com, but the theme makes it original. The title says it all. (Last viewed: November 2018)

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Wild Tales (Relatos Salvajes)
      2014 | Argentina | Laughs: 1.0 (Smirk) | imdb: 8.1
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This movie collects six "savage tales" whose main theme is revenge. Though not a laug-out-loud comedy, it is quite pleasant and well-produced. Well worth a watch. (Last viewed: Mar 2015 December 2018)

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Que Pena Tu Vida
      2010 | Chile | Laughs: 0.8 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 5.7
      who was involved?

After about fifteen minutes, I gave up on this movie because I found it incomprehensible. I'd heard native Spanish speakers joke that Chilean is a different language — and had dismissed that when listening to Chileans in interviews or documentaries, whose formal register didn't strike me in any particular way. But this movie (full of informal language) confirmed the stereotype.

To be honest, I could have slowed the tape down to eighty percent speed and managed: the language issue was the cop-out I gave myself to interrupt a 'relationship flick' that looked truly awful.

(Last viewed: November 2019)

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The Fall of the American Empire (La chute de l'empire américain)
      2018 | Canada | Laughs: 0.8 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.8
      wikipedia | who was involved?

A philosophy graduate working as a delivery man witnesses a robbery gone awry and appropriates the loot. In his efforts to protect his fortune from gangsters and the police, he meets a series of interesting characters.

This is a light-hearted movie rather than a laugh-out-loud comedy. I found it highly enjoyable as well as strangely ethical, but I have no formal training in that discipline, so what would I know?

Denys Arcand has shot his share of mediocre movies, but this is not one of them. A worthy successor to The Barbarian Invasions.

(Last viewed: March 2020)

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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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Potiche
      2010 | France | Laughs: 0.8 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.4
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After her husband has a heart attack, a lady takes the reins of his factory—which used to be her father's—and shows herself far more capable than all around her seemed to think. This is a decent feel-good movie (rather than the kind of comedy that makes you laugh) with actors who have faced each other before over their long careers. A decent piece of entertainment if you're not expecting too much. (Last viewed: July 2014)

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Women vs. Men (Femmine contro maschi)
      2011 | Italy | Laughs: 0.8 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 5.4
      wikipedia | who was involved?

From what I could tell from the movie's first 22 minutes, it consists of a series of vignettes of scenes from the lives of several couple — at least five, I didn't count. I figured that if the movie had failed to entertain me by that point, it wasn't worth insisting.

Note that although this film features the Ficarra & Picone comedy duo, they didn't direct it.

(Last viewed: September 2022)

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Sione's 2: Unfinished Business
      2012 | New Zealand | Laughs: 0.6 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 5.9
      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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Puppe, Icke & der Dicke
      2012 | Germany | Laughs: 0.5 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.5
      who was involved?

This is a decent little movie about the adventures of a blind girl, a deaf man and small person around Berlin. It's a light-hearted movie but not what I would call a proper comedy as it's not designed to make you laugh—don't expect to. (Last viewed: July 2014)

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