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From slapstick to deadpan humor, comedy reigns as one of the most versatile film genres that always seems to have something for every kind of movie fan out there. Since the early days of movies, the comedy genre was without question one of the first popular genres in cinema that mainly served as a humorous escape for audiences and, today, it stands to be just as if not more of a cherished genre.
There have been hundreds of monumental comedies and, when it comes to the last decade and a half, there are a handful of titles, such as Wedding Crashers, Borat, and Bridesmaids, that rank higher than the rest. Even though there are countless comedies that successfully raked in the laughs, hits like The Hangover, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Anchorman: The Legend of Rob Burgundry, far exceeded movie goers' expectations with its outrageous scenarios and non-stop laughter.
10 'Hot Fuzz' (2007)
Directed by Edgar Wright
Image via Universal Pictures
Simon Pegg stars in the action comedy, Hot Fuzz, as an elite police officer in London, Nicholas Angel, whose successful track record makes the rest of his unit look bad, ultimately resulting in him being transferred to a small rural village. Once Angel arrives in his less desired area, he's soon assigned to investigating a series of brutal murders, adding a bit of an exciting silver lining to his situation.
Hot Fuzz is a hysterical homage to the traditional buddy cop film featuring the humorous dynamic of Pegg and Nick Frost, who originally caught audiences' attention with the parody film, Shaun of the Dead. The duo have a unique chemistry that is both comfortable and natural, conveying a convincing comedic duo that is one of the best in recent years. Aside from a few negative reviews, Hot Fuzz was overall well received by audiences and critics, who commended the film's use of clichés and puns of the traditional buddy cop genre.
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Release Date February 14, 2007
Director Edgar Wright
Runtime 121 minutes
9 'Team America: World Police' (2004)
Directed by Trey Parker
Image via Paramount Pictures
South Park creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, return to the big screen with the puppetry comedy, Team America: World Police, which is an over-the-top satire on the traditional action film. The film follows a special counterterrorism force who recruit a Broadway actor to help them save the world from Kim Jong Il and his coalition of terrorists and Hollywood's elite.
Inspired by the British science-fiction series, Thunderbirds, Team America had no problem catching audiences' attention with its unusual use of puppetry and miniature effects which conveyed Parker and Stone's signature style of comedy and antics. The movie has been regarded as one that will both equally offend and incite laughter in audiences, showing zero hesitation about the levels of offensive insults and exaggerated depictions of famous names. Team America earned generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its bold comedic formula of offending everyone on an equal scale.
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An elite team of operatives, known as Team America, is tasked with protecting the world from the looming threat of terrorism. When intelligence reveals a plot by terrorists to launch a devastating attack, the team recruits actor Gary Johnston to go undercover and gather crucial information. As Gary integrates into the team, he must navigate the complexities of espionage while confronting his own doubts and fears. The team travels across the globe, engaging in dramatic battles and confronting notorious villains, culminating in a showdown with Kim Jong-il.
Release Date October 15, 2004
Runtime 98 minutes
Main Genre Comedy
8 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' (2005)
Directed by Judd Apatow
Image via Universal Pictures
Funny man, Judd Apatow, made his directorial debut with the outlandish romantic comedy, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, which stars Steve Carell as a middle-aged electronics employee, Andy, who is mortified when his co-workers discover he's still a virgin. Unwilling to let it go, Andy's co-workers help him find a woman to take his virginity, but as they set him up with disaster after disaster, Andy manages to find a woman who is more than just a one-night stand.
While the initial plot of the film seems a bit vulgar, The 40-Year-Old Virgin does have a sentimental side and a series of outstanding performances by an all-star cast including Seth Rogen, Jane Lynch, and Paul Rudd, that are impossible to deny as comedy gold.The 40-Year-Old Virgin takes an uncomfortable, sensitive subject and makes it approachable for audiences with its genuine and lighthearted humor, making it one of the best comedies in the last decade and a half.
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The 40 Year Old Virgin
Release Date August 19, 2005
Director Judd Apatow
Runtime 116 minutes
7 'Borat' (2006)
Directed by Larry Charles
Image via 20th Century Fox
The mockumentary, Borat, was a cultural phenomenon that became one of the most talked about movies of the year, earning a reputation for its improvised humor and overly offensive scenarios by Sacha Baron Cohen. Cohen stars as the titular character, a reporter from Kazakhstan who travels to the United States to make a documentary. Throughout his journey, Borat manages to piss off and offend everyone he crosses paths with, resulting in an unpredictable series of events.
Borat is noted for Cohen's improvised interactions with people who are genuinely under the impression that he is from another country and filming a documentary about America. This leads to uninhibited, uncensored, and outlandish scenes that are the definition of unhinged comedy. Surprisingly, Borat earned positive reviews from critics, including Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, who stated, "You won't know what outrageous is until you see Borat. High-five!"
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Release Date November 3, 2006
Runtime 84 minutes
6 'Bridesmaids' (2011)
Directed by Paul Feig
Image via Universal Pictures
Kristin Wigg stars as a single woman, Annie, whose life is an utter mess ranging from having to move back in with her mom to losing her bakery. When her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), gets engaged, she's asked to be her maid of honor, which she graciously accepts, but she has her work cut out for her as she finds herself competing against Lillian's new, wealthy, and elite friend, Helen (Rose Byrne).
Bridesmaids is hands down one of the funniest and most entertaining movies of the last twenty-five years that accurately conveys the classic frienemy dynamic between women in an honest and hilarious light. While the movie is full of unforgettable, laugh-out-loud moments, it also has immense heart and, at the end, essentially reveals that everyone has their own batch of insecurities and problems in life. Bridesmaids reigns as the perfect rendition of the ups and downs of womanhood and friendship, blended with unhinged, raunchy comedy that never gets old.
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Competition between the maid of honor and a bridesmaid, over who is the bride's best friend, threatens to upend the life of an out-of-work pastry chef.
Release Date May 13, 2011
Director Paul Feig
Runtime 125 minutes
Main Genre Comedy
5 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy' (2004)
Directed by Adam McKay
Image via DreamWorks Pictures
Set in the 1970s, Will Ferrell stars as beloved San Diego anchorman, Ron Burgundy, who, along with his all-star news team, lives the ideal bachelor life. When a new female reporter, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), joins the team, Burgundy can't deny his affection for her, but as her dream of becoming the first female news anchor gets in the way of their relationship, Burgundy's life and career begin to unravel.
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy was another comedy that took the world by storm with its well-developed, quotable characters and authenticity of satire centered around the male-dominated world of the 1970s. The film brilliantly pokes fun at arrogant masculinity and overinflated egos to a certain degree that still features redeeming and likable qualities in the main male characters. While the entire cast puts audiences in stitches, Ferrell and Applegate are the heart and soul of the movie and have all the makings of a comedy duo in a classic screwball comedy.
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In the 1970s, an anchorman's stint as San Diego's top-rated newsreader is challenged when an ambitious newswoman becomes his co-anchor.
Release Date July 9, 2004
Director Adam McKay
Runtime 94 Minutes
4 'The Hangover' (2009)
Directed by Todd Phillips
Image via Warner Bros.
It's no secret that bachelor parties are often times depicted as a wild and crazy night, but no one could have prepared for the outrageous antics of the 2009 comedy adventure movie, The Hangover. The movie follows friends, Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Doug (Justin Bartha), who, along with Doug's future brother-in-law, Alan (Zach Galifianakis), go to Las Vegas for Doug's bachelor party. What is initially supposed to be a chill night out soon takes a disastrous turn when the guys wake up to find Doug is missing and none of them can remember what happened the night before.
The Hangover takes a simple and familiar scenario and jacks it up to a level of insanity that could only happen in a place like Sin City. The movie raises the shock value every step of the way with highly unexpected appearances of characters (notably Mike Tyson) and situations that leave audiences fully floored. From finding a random baby in a closet to being chased by an eccentric man named Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong) and his goons, The Hangover reigns as one of the most absurd comedies of the last decade and a half.
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The Hangover
Release Date June 5, 2009
Runtime 100 minutes
Writers Scott Moore , Jon Lucas
3 'Mean Girls' (2004)
Directed by Mark Waters
Image via Paramount Pictures
Tina Fey's teen comedy, Mean Girls, still reigns as one of the best comedies of all time which effectively captures the cuthroat world of high school from an outsider's perspective. Lindsay Lohan stars as Cady Heron, who, after living in Africa with her scientist parents, moves back to the States and enrolls in public school. Unaware of the hierarchy and unspoken rules of high school, Cady infiltrates the popular group known as the Plastics, eventually leading her down a path of sabotage and pure chaos.
Today, Mean Girls is still a relevant and iconic comedy that gives a raw and sometimes embellished look into life as a teenage girl who is just trying to find herself and her place in the world. While the movie does have the theme of self-discovery, Mean Girls pulls out all the comedy tropes of high school life, including the "cool" mom and the constant backstabbing between so-called friends. The movie softens the harsh moments with relatable, unfiltered humor and memorable characters who each bring a unique element to this signature comedy.
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Cady Heron is a hit with The Plastics, the A-list girl clique at her new school, until she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.
Release Date April 30, 2004
Runtime 97 minutes
2 'Superbad' (2007)
Directed by Greg Mottola
Image via Columbia Pictures
The ridiculous teen comedy, Superbad, is a slight throw back to a classic 80s John Hughes comedy but with a more raunchy and subjective twist of humor. Jonah Hill and Michael Cera star as best friends, Seth and Evan, who are about to graduate from high school and head off to college. When they get invited to an upcoming house party, the guys, along with their nerdy friend, Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), spend the day trying to score alcohol, leading to an infamous night neither of them will ever forget.
Superbad is a hysterical coming-of-age buddy comedy that was both a critical and commercial success, earning triple its original budget and has been compared to other hits including Dazed and Confused and National Lampoon's Animal House. Hill and Cera embody the classic comedy styles of legendary acts such as Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello and John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, effectively playing off each other in every awkward, vulgar scenario they endure throughout the movie.
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Release Date August 17, 2007
Runtime 113 minutes
1 'Wedding Crashers' (2005)
Directed by David Dobkin
Image via New Line Cinema
Longtime friends and womanizers, Jeremy (Vince Vaughn) and John (Owen Wilson) spend their free time successfully crashing strangers' weddings, always becoming the life of the party. When they crash the wedding of the oldest daughter of the U.S. Secretary of Treasury (Christopher Walken), Jeremy becomes entangled with the Secretary's clingy daughter (Isla Fisher) while John tries to woo the other (Rachel McAdams), leading both of them to being invited to the family's home.
Vaughn and Wilson star in the epic romantic comedy, Wedding Crashers, which takes the traditional concept of being a wedding guest to a whole other, insane level. The film brilliantly parallels the growing love story between Wilson and McAdams' characters and the hysterical bind that Vaughn's character finds himself in, ultimately depicting a well-balanced rom-com. Even though the film starts out with a rather unorthodox situation, Wedding Crashers inevitably redeems itself with sidesplitting humor and wildly amusing performances that make it the best comedy of the last twenty-years.
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Wedding Crashers
Jeremy (Vince Vaughn) and John (Owen Wilson) are divorce mediators who spend their free time crashing wedding receptions. For the irrepressible duo, there are few better ways to drink for free and bed vulnerable women. So when Secretary of the Treasury William Cleary (Christopher Walken) announces the wedding of his daughter, the pair make it their mission to crash the high-profile event. But their game hits a bump in the road when John locks eyes with bridesmaid Claire (Rachel McAdams).
Release Date July 15, 2005
Runtime 119 minutes
Writers Steve Faber , Bob Fisher
English (US) ·