The Funniest American Comedies

MASH
      1970 | USA | Laughs: 8.2 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 7.4
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

In a league of its own, this work of art depicts life at a medical camp during the Korea war. What makes Mash so funny is the main characters' imperturbable aloofness through all situations—performing surgery on a dying man, being threatened with punishment by a commanding officer, chatting up female staff, or playing pranks. The soundtrack features fun Japanese songs from the period. (Last viewed: Oct 1992 July 2009)

More About MASH:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for MASH

Blades of Glory
      2007 | USA | Laughs: 8.2 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 6.3
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Disqualified from the solo category for getting into a fight, two rival male figure skaters pair up and sign up for a couple skating championship in order to stay in the sport. Well-paced and visually striking (the directors come from advertising), innocent as in the olden days, keeps you smiling and perhaps sometimes laughing. (Last viewed: May 2010)

More About Blades of Glory:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for Blades of Glory

50 First Dates
      2004 | USA | Laughs: 8.1 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 6.8
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

The walrus minder at a Hawaiian aquarium falls in love with a woman who has no short-term memory—every day, he must make her fall in love again. A few laughs, lots of chuckles, very very sweet, and delightfully chilled out thanks to the Hawaiian setting and holiday music. It's perhaps my favorite romantic comedy; which makes sense, seing that the plot has elements of a "Groundhog Day" in reverse. (Groundhog Day is one of my all-time favorite comedies. In it, Bill Murray keeps reliving the same day, and remembers it.) (Last viewed: Jun 2010 August 2011)

More About 50 First Dates:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for 50 First Dates

Block-Heads
      1938 | USA | Laughs: 8.1 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 7.6
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Brought back from the trenches twenty years after the war, Stan Laurel enters the apartment of his old friend Oliver Hardy on the day of his first wedding anniversary. Everything goes delightfully wrong. The funniest Laurel & Hardy movie I've watched, by far. I like that this film is not as violent as most others by Laurel & Hardy, films whose humor largely relies on Oliver getting hurt. (Last viewed: February 2010)

More About Block-Heads:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for Block-Heads

Airplane!
      1980 | USA | Laughs: 8.0 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 7.7
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

Many people say that Airplane! is the funniest movie they've ever seen; I wonder if they've watched it lately. When the pilots of a flight to Chicago (and most of the passengers) get food poisoning, the burden of landing the plane falls on the shoulders of a former war pilot still grappling with psychological damage. Very silly. Some laughs. (Last viewed: June 2010)

More About Airplane!:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for Airplane!

Half Baked
      1998 | USA | Laughs: 8.0 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 6.7
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

Three friends try to raise 100,000 dollars to bail their fourth roommate out of jail. How? By selling dope.

Many pot movies are hard to watch, but this is one of the few that stands out. Great plot, funny, cute, and pretty smart—except for the unnecessary crass final line. A fine piece of counterculture.

(Last viewed: Oct 2009 September 2019)

More About Half Baked:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for Half Baked

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)

More About Bad Grandpa:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for Bad Grandpa

Dude, Where's My Car?
      2000 | USA | Laughs: 8.0 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 5.5
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

After a night of partying, two friends wake up without any memories of what they've been up to. As they start on a quest to find their car, they soon discover that several strange groups are after them. Very cute. (Last viewed: May 2011)

More About Dude, Where's My Car?:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for Dude, Where's My Car?

Grandma's Boy
      2006 | USA | Laughs: 7.9 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 7.0
      wikipedia | who was involved?

A fun dip into the world of the young guys who work for a video game company. An attractive female project manager walks in to get a game back on track, the genius programmer tries to seduce her, and the main tester moves in with his grandma and her roommates. The punchline after the dance game contest gave me a good laugh; smiled throughout the rest. (Last viewed: September 2010)

More About Grandma's Boy:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for Grandma's Boy

Mama's Boy
      2007 | USA | Laughs: 7.9 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 5.2
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

A 29-year-old "teenager" lives at home with mom and makes it hard for her to develop a relationship with a charismatic success coach. Another very funny movie with a dismal Rotten Tomatoes rating. But we're measuring laughs here, not whether a movie should belong on the golden list of cultural material approved by New York intellectuals. Apart from its name, this film contains at least one reference to the previous year's Grandma's Boy, whose funniest scene involved the game Dance Dance Revolution: Jeffrey too appears to be a fan. (Last viewed: November 2011)

More About Mama's Boy:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for Mama's Boy

The Dictator
      2012 | USA | Laughs: 7.8 (Laugh Out Loud) | imdb: 6.4
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Stripped of his signature beard, a dictator who is stranded in New York struggles to reclaim his post before an imposter signs a new constitution for his beloved homeland.

If you are not easily offended, this movie has some terrific moments. You just have to take the good with the bad. I'm not a fan of the many crass bits, but Baron Cohen has the rare ability to keep gags coming at top speed, and the movie left me with a good fill of laughs. (Last viewed: July 2015)

More About The Dictator:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for The Dictator

Clear History
      2013 | USA | Laughs: 7.8 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 6.5
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Publicly ridiculed for having sold his stake in a start-up company months before it would have earned him a billion dollars, an aging exec moves to an island after changing his name and appearance. Ten years later, his former business partner moves to the same island but doesn't recognize the man who would be happy to blow up his mansion. I laughed. This film is a treat for fans of Larry David and Curb Your Enthusiasm. More than that, it is one of the funniest comedies in recent years (which, admittedly, will not be remembered as the golden years of the comedy genre). (Last viewed: September 2013)

More About Clear History:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for Clear History

Duplex
      2003 | USA | Laughs: 7.8 (Laugh Out Loud) | imdb: 5.9
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

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)

More About Duplex:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for Duplex

Johnny English Reborn
      2011 | USA | Laughs: 7.8 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 6.3
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This is one of the rare occasions when the sequel far surpasses the original—easy to do when the original was the atrocious Johnny English. Roy Atkinson is back as a comic James Bond, a role that suits him well. This time there's enough of a script, and the movie made me laugh a few times. In creating the main character, the writers found a fine balance between hero and anti-hero. Johnny English is sometimes succesful on his own merits, and that makes the movie much more enjoyable than parodies where the "hero" is a complete goof. (Last viewed: May 2012)

More About Johnny English Reborn:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for Johnny English Reborn

The Pink Panther
      1963 | USA | Laughs: 7.8 (Laugh and Smile) | imdb: 7.1
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

A slow start at a ski resort in Italy where Sir Charles plans to steal the Princess's diamond under Inspector Clouseau's eyes. No hard laughter in this first Pink Panther movie (where Clouseau is not yet the main character), but a number of surreal scenes make it a 1960s art classic that you'll be glad to watch again. Clouseau is much more human—and endearing—than the caricature to come in the following installments. (Last viewed: September 2009)

More About The Pink Panther:
=> Read what people say on Amazon
=> Add your own Review or Comments on
      laughDB's full page for The Pink Panther