What makes a comedy movies great? Could it be the joke-filled screenplay, the hilarious timing of the performances, or the ideal chemistry of a classic double act? It might be how they’ve aged, becoming more tragic with each passing decade in ways their authors never envisioned (see Chaplin’s The Great Dictator).
Equally, it may be a spirit of boldness in funny movies about gambling, recognizing the probable scruples of audiences and reviewers and cracking subversive jokes. Sometimes, it’s all about quantity: bombarding the screen with so many ludicrous jokes that the total impact left you gasping for air in between uncontrollable laughter. Today, you will find out about the best comedy movies for staying in on a Friday night.
10 Best Comedy Movies of All Time
We have curated a list of the best comedy movies ever. These funniest movies will tickle your funny bone and crack the Laugh-O-Meter.
Monty Python and The Holy Grail
Holy Grail was reportedly created by Reg Llama of Brixton and hundreds of his llama buddies from around the globe, according to the film’s credits (as well as Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones). Well, Reg and company have produced a masterpiece. Holy Grail was the film that catapulted Monty Python to worldwide fame, thanks to its Bergman-mocking title sequence, witty one-liners, and excessively gory violence. Neil Innes’s music and Terry Gilliam’s cartoons are touchstones of British absurdist comedy, while the late Graham Chapman, portraying King Arthur straightforward, was never better.
Withnail & I
The funniest sections in Withnail & I are the early moments. Withnail and Marwood stagger towards the conclusion of a crazy night while festering in a Camden apartment like the inside of a diseased lung. There are delusions, hallucinatory ramblings (‘my thumbs have gone funny’), a failed effort to clean the kitchen, and an endearing visit from Danny’s fearsome friend (Ralph Brown).
Groundhog Day
Nearly three decades have passed since Bill Murray portrayed the cynical weatherman imprisoned in a time loop in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, experiencing the same day again and again. However, Groundhog Day has not aged at all. What causes it to adhere? Perhaps it’s because behind that hysterical humor lie a few universal truths: life is dreary and repetitive, but a little compassion and love go a long way.
Annie Hall
“Annie Hall” is as Woody Allen as Woody Allen gets: humorous, neurotic, and preoccupied with realizing that life will crush you no matter what. It is also one of the finest romantic comedy movies ever created. Allen is Alvy, who has just parted ways with scatty singer Annie (Diane Keaton, his real-life ex). The following is a description of their connection. Allen has said that the picture is not autobiographical; he co-wrote it with Marshall Brickman.
Monty Python’s Life of Brian
Their second feature is their magnum opus. The narrative is steeped in pure absurdity, as the Three Wise Men arrive at the incorrect manger and the innocent Brian Cohen is proclaimed the Messiah. He bumbles along with The Greatest Story Ever Told, concluding the video with a Calvary Cross and a chorus of “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.”
What a staggering accomplishment this is! The Life of Brian mocks everything from school Latin to biblical epics (much of which it ridicules with its attention to historical accuracy) to religious hypocrisy, but never religion itself. This did not prevent the inevitable allegations of blasphemy.
Team America: World Police
Trey Parker and Matt Stone had no clue what they were getting themselves into when they chose to produce a War on Terror-themed puppet film in the manner of Thunderbirds. After a year of 20-hour days — which Stone characterized as the “worst moment of my life” — the film was released. It was worth every minute of the duo’s labor. As they were preoccupied with skewering the dual pomposities of mainstream action filmmaking and liberal Hollywood life as it is with the terrorist armies of Durkadurkastan and North Korea, the film’s self-aware use of wooden marionettes, especially in its infamous bedroom scene, borders on brilliance. Even Matt Damon finds it humorous.
The Big Lebowski
When a burnout Jeffrey’ The Dude’ Lebowski is mistaken for a local billionaire of the same name, he and his bowling team go on a grand adventure. You might easily attribute the popularity of this Coen Brothers comedy to its witty banter alone, but it brings more to the table, including life lessons about friendship and bravery.
Dumb & Dumber
Dumb & Dumber results from your hyperactive kid brother’s brain exploding onto the television screen. Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels act like a couple of dim-witted losers who go on a cross-country journey to return a woman’s briefcase. The film is a mash-up of an immature tone, toilet, snot, and raunchy humor, with no apologies. It is entirely regressive, but in an “oops, I just sprayed my drink everywhere” kind of manner.
Trading Places
Two scheming businessmen plan to replace one of their best workers, Harvard elite Dan Akyroyd, with Eddie Murphy’s clever street bum in this cruel fantasy. The sight of Aykroyd, drunk and suicidal in a Father Christmas outfit on Christmas Eve, says more about the realities of Wall Street than a hundred financial-crash documentaries – and ensures that you are solidly on their side when he and his former competitor pull off the tremendous climactic bait and switch.
Duck Soup
What can one say about a film that is approaching its 100th anniversary yet still seems as pertinent, relevant, and subversive as it did when it was released? The Marx Brothers’ best film, Duck Soup, takes them far from their New York music hall milieu and into a twisted miniature Mitteleuropa filtered through immigrant memory and fairy tales, where a war is brewing between the proud citizens of Freedonia and the crypto-fascists of neighboring Sylvania. With a somewhat lighter touch than Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, this picture lampoons not just fascism but also patriotism and politics in general: this is satire wielded with both a sledgehammer and a scalpel, sometimes in the same scene.
