Our list of the Top 30 Comedy Movies of all Time. Do you Agree?………One of the most popular and difficult genres to master, the comedy film is many peoples favourite type of film and comedy is a difficult thing to judge. What’s funny for some, is dire for others, so where possible we’ve considered a comedy films’ popularity and influence culturally. However it is impossible to satisfy everyone’s tastes when it comes to comedy, so with that in mind, here is That Film Guy’s Official Top 30 Comedy Films of All Time.
Directed by Mel Brooks and starring the wonderful Gene Wilder Young Frankenstein is an affectionate parody of the horror films produced by Universal in the 1930s. A bonafide comedy classic, it’s most memorable scene is the now infamous ‘Putting on the Ritz’ duet between Frankenstein and Monster.
Like many of the films of the Farrelly Brothers, There’s Something About Mary is their magnum opus of cringe-worthy comedy. With Ben Stiller, Lee Evans and Matt Dillon all chasing Cameron Diaz’s Mary throughout the film’s running time, there is plenty of room for improvised carnage and this is still the king of gross-out comedy films.
The sports comedy about Average Joe’s Gym in competition with multinational mega-franchise GLOBO-Gym, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story does exactly what it says on the tin combininng sports film cliches with some startling brazen performances, notably from Ben Stiller as GLOBO-Gym owner White Goodman. Despite a cheesy ending, Dodgeball‘s joke hit rate makes it one of the funniest comedy films of all time.
You couldn’t go anywhere in 1994 without hearing about Hugh Grant, Four Weddings and a Funeral and Wet Wet Wet’s ‘Love is All Around.’ The Richard Curtis-penned, Mike Newell-directed British romantic comedy was a sensation and is responsible for many of the cast’s continued success.
Joe Dante is a director who has always understood the link between comedy and horror. In his 2009 film The Hole, the scariest moments often have an element of the ridiculous about them, which was a craft that he perfected in the anarchic 1980s Christmas horror comedy, Gremlins. Released in 1984,Gremlins was a massive box office success, taking over $153m off of a budget of $11m.
The ultimate college comedy and frat house film, surpassing the seminal Animal House, Old School introduced the mainstream to Will Ferrell, a man who has gone on to star in some of the most influential comedies in recent years. It also lead to an entire generation of students to shout “You’re my BOY BLUE!” at the top of their voices.
Before he began churning out mediocre to terrible dross like Jack and Jill, Adam Sandler created one of the most memorable comedy characters of all time. Happy Gilmore, the ex-hockey player-turned golf pro who gets into a long-running war against the dastardly Shooter McGavin in hopes of earning enough money to allow his grandma to live outside of a home. It’s schmaltzy, but brilliant stuff.
Following the success of South Park: The Movie, Trey Parker and Matt Stone turned their attentions to the medium of puppetery and giving a modern twist to the Gerry Anderson-style Thunderbirds puppets created one of the funniest and unexpected comedy films of all time.
Directed by Bruce Robinson, and considered by some to be the perfectly scripted comedy film of all time, Withnail & I is a decidedly British affair. Following the central pairing of Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann, we experience their trials and tribulations while laughing along with Withnail’s outrage and the difficulty of life.
Clerks was the first film in the ˜View-Askewniverse’, the fictional universe in which most of writer/director/actor Kevin Smith’s films take place. They feature many of the same characters, and are best viewed in order, as a later film may have spoilers for a previous one. Clerks is the film that launched Kevin Smith’s career, and is the definition of a cult film. It was made on a budget of around $20,000 and made just over $3 million, but its main audience was found on video and DVD. Clerks put Smith on the map for his raunchy, unflinching writing and three-dimensional, interesting characters.
Highlighting political upheaval in the created world of Freedonia, The Marx Brothers finest comedy film Duck Soup is not only the funniest outing for the trio, but also the best thought. There is a tendency for the brothers to overcook situations and fire too many jokes at the audience, but in Duck Soup they get it just right.
While the Farrelly Brothers’ There’s Something About Mary is arguable their best film, it is in the Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels starring Dumb and Dumber that the finest comedy lies. Where it’s blind kids stroking a dead budgie, or simply a tongue on an icy ski lift, Dumb and Dumber brings the greatest collection of base humour jokes to the screen.
Targeting the corporate white-collar industries of the World, Office Space is grounded just enough in reality to engage most audiences. Almost everyone has a slimy boss like Bill Lumbergh and secretly everyone dreams of quitting, but rarely have the push to do so. This is oddly some form of wish fulfillment and Office Space doesn’t pull any punches in the laughs stakes either.
The plot skips along at a good pace, and unlike the latterly released The Simpsons Movie, does not feel like 3 episodes stuck together. There’s even time for Kenny to finally reveal his face. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is one of the finest examples of animated film-making of all time. Rude, crude and hilariously funny from start to finish and with a soundtrack so catchy it rivals some of Disney’s finest, it will long be remembered as the epitome of satirical vulgarity.
Rushmore announced director Wes Anderson’s arrival on the Hollywood scene and in many ways he’s never quite attained the giddy heights of this near perfect examination of unrequited love, adult and children relationships and the impact that one person can make on the lives of so many. Bold, original and as moving as it is awkwardly funny, Rushmore and Fischer need to be seen to be believed.
Sacha Baron Cohen’s best film do date follows the exploits of the Kazakhstan diplomat to the USA in the oddly titled Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. It is awkward, engrossing and the ultimate gross-out, uncomfortable comedy film of all time. It’s also very, very funny.
Mel Brooks’ finest comedy touches on slavery, Western films and features some rather meta-narrative nods to the Hollywood film process. As comedy films go, this is clearly one of the best and the easy chemistry between leads Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder is a joy to be a part of.
The punch-lines in Shaun of the Dead are memorable and endlessly quotable, especially the Kill the Queen jukebox/pool-cue fight scene. The characters are hilarious and loveable, and hit the small number of dramatic scenes that are required with gusto and real feeling. Many have tried to imitate this style since, including the various members of the cast, but nothing has reached the giddy heights laid down by the original and the best. So how’s that for a slice of fried gold?
Peter Sellers in full-blown Nazi-mode, starring in a film that takes place in potentially the most dangerous place on Earth, the war room of the Pentagon. It’s full title is Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb which gives an indication to the level of satire in this most famous and memorable of comedy films. Has to be seen to be believed.
John Hughes directs John Candy and Steve Martin in the ultimate road trip, buddy comedy film. The two share extraordinary chemistry, while the plot lays on the exact amount of sentimentality to maintain the comedy, while giving a depth to the characters.
High concept comedy lives and dies on its premise, its script and its central character. Groundhog Day nails all three. Working form a rip-roaring script, about a man who keeps living the same day over and over again it’s Bill Murray’s performance that gives the film the edge that it needs to avoid becoming a saccharine sweet mess. Wonderful comedy film making.
When Harry Met Sally is not only the best romantic comedy of all time, but one the best comedy films of all time. The central duo of Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan exchange in delightful and memorable conversations throughout against a backdrop of talking head interviews about love and relationships. It’s a film about character and human interaction and it still has never been bettered.
The actual plot of Coming to America is a riff on the ˜Prince and the Pauper’ and is completely predictable throughout. Yet it’s kept going with excellent performances from Murphy, Hall and James Earl Jones (playing Akeem’s father) and there are more than enough laughs to make this an enduring classic from an era that produced so many.
Quite simply, The Big Lebowski is one of those films that you simply have to see, especially if you’re a fan of stoner comedy. The insane characters, nonsensical plot and incredibly surreal dream sequences add up to what is probably probably the Coen brothers˜ funniest film, and one of the funniest films you’re likely to see.
Having beaten Star Wars to the Oscar in 1978, Woody Allen’s iconic Annie Hall owes as much to its cinematography and Dianne Keaton’s performance as any of his other works. Some would argue, himself included that it’s not his strongest work, but it’s his most iconic and definitely his most hysterically funny.
Billy Wilder’s iconic ‘on-the-run’ cross-dressing masterpiece, teams together Jack Lemon and Tony Curtis and plonks them between a never-better Marilyn Monroe. There’s enough pathos and dramatic edge to fire Some Like It Hot into the upper echelons of comedy films and its ages particularly well to boot.
Not since Airplane! have a cast so whole-heartedly thrown themselves into a comedy film and garnered such outrageous results. It’s almost impossible not to love the movie, everything from the 1970s outfits to the endlessly hilarious scenes such as the news-team parking lot brawl. Everything that shouldn’t work does, and everything else is comedy gold. Funny doesn’t get much better than this, so sit back and watch a man who has a voice so smooth it makes a wolverine purr.
The jokes have never come as thick and as fast as in Airplane!. Where the comedy really excels is the background visual gags, while the cast whole-heartedly throw themselves into the narrative, which is an exact remake of a dramatic film Zero Hour!.
Rob Reiner’s mockumentary rock doc, This is Spinal Tap is generally regarded as one of the finest examples of the sub genre of comedy films. The film charts the exploits of a fake British rock band called Spinal Tap and gives a behind-the-scenes look at the preparation that goes into their lives. This is comedy turned all the way up to 11.
Released in 1979 to outrage and calls of blasphemy, Monty Python’s Life of Brian was banned in numerous districts of the UK and various countries like Eire and Norway. In many ways this was proof that the religious satire on display was so pitch-perfect that there was little to no recourse when attacking the film-makers. Regardless of the controversy, the Python crew prove once again just how intelligent and on-the-nose they were when it came to satire. Simply the greatest comedy film of all time.
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