Some of the best murder mystery movies double as hilarious comedies. It's not easy to balance these two disparate sides, especially since murder can often feel too heavy. However, with some dark humor and a compelling mystery, comedies about murder can work brilliantly. From the 1930s right up to the present day, there are many fantastic murder mystery comedies for people who can see the funny side of death.
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What makes a great murder mystery movie? From Alfred Hitchcock films to cult classics to Benoit Blanc, we have 35 offerings in the beloved genre.
10 A Shot In The Dark (1964)
The Pink Panther Franchise Moves From Jewel Theft To Murder
The Pink Panther franchise started in 1963 with Peter Sellers' iconic Inspector Clouseau trying to apprehend David Niven's gentleman jewel thief for stealing a priceless diamond. The following year, Sellers returned as the incompetent French detective in a hilarious murder mystery that leaves behind the world of high-stakes heists in favor of a classic Agatha Christie-style whodunnit.
While the mystery elements of A Shot in the Dark are compelling enough, the strength of the movie lies in Sellers' oafish physical comedy. Thrust into a story which suits the wit and cunning of Poirot, Clouseau bumbles his way to the finish line via luck, annoying his suspects into slipping up and falling over several dozen times. To accompany his slapstick style, Clouseau has an endless line of hilarious quotes.
9 The Nice Guys (2016)
Ryan Gosling And Russell Crowe Make An Unlikely But Brilliant Duo
Director Shane Black
Release Date May 20, 2016
Shane Black has long been the king of the buddy cop genre, after his work on the Lethal Weapon franchise and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. The Nice Guys also flaunts his skills for buddy cop comedies, with Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe playing a pair of private investigators whose missing persons case turns into a murder investigation, which also ties into a corporate conspiracy relating to the auto industry.
Gosling and Crowe don't seem like a natural fit on paper, but they balance each other out perfectly. Crowe shows some surprising comedy chops, and his deadpan style counters Gosling's frantic comedic energy. With a splash of 1970s charm and a strong supporting cast, The Nice Guys has grown a considerable following, despite the fact that it was a box office flop. The ending teases a Nice Guys sequel, but the likelihood of this coming to pass seems to have faded.
8 Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
Zemeckis' Blend Of Animation And Live-Action Is A Joy To Watch
Director Robert Zemeckis
Release Date June 22, 1988
Who Framed Roger Rabbit pays tribute to the history of American animation, with iconic characters like Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse and Pinocchio all making appearances. Robert Zemeckis' comedy also has its roots in film noir, another American movie tradition reaching back to the mid 20th century. The combination of these two genres gives Who Framed Roger Rabbit fertile ground for comedy.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit will always be recognized for its unique blend of animation and live-action, but it's also a brilliant mystery comedy, as Roger Rabbit teams up with a grizzled detective to clear his name when he is accused of murder. Bob Hoskins delivers a great performance, considering that many of his scenes feature him interacting with two-dimensional hand-drawn rabbits. Who Framed Roger Rabbit uses its cartoon characters to expose the tropes of the mystery genre.
7 Knives Out (2019)
Rian Johnson's Locked-Room Mystery Shakes Up The Genre
Release Date November 27, 2019
Cast Chris Evans , LaKeith Stanfield , Katherine Langford , Daniel Craig , Toni Collette , Jamie Lee Curtis , Ana De Armas , Michael Shannon , Christopher Plummer , Don Johnson , Riki Lindhome Knives Out features a classic locked-room puzzle, and a respectable household filled with potential suspects. Superficially, it bears all the hallmarks of a much older mystery movie, but Knives Out's twisty narrative frequently surprises its audience by subverting expectations. What starts out as a classic whodunnit with an eccentric detective turns into something much more thrilling and dangerous before too long.
Daniel Craig is captivating as Benoit Blanc, a brilliant detective with a Foghorn Leghorn drawl who isn't above feigning ignorance when he thinks it can help him. He's responsible for most of the funniest moments in Knives Out, just as he is in the first sequel, Glass Onion. Wake Up Dead Man promises more laughs and another intriguing mystery. Rian Johnson has already shown that he likes to toy with his audience, so there's no telling how the third Knives Out movie will unfold.
6 The Thin Man (1934)
The Thin Man Was One Of The Earliest Murder Mystery Comedies
Director W.S. Van Dyke
Release Date May 25, 1934
Cast Myrna Loy , William Powell , Maureen O'Sullivan , Nat Pendleton , Minna Gombell , Henry Wadsworth , Porter Hall , William Henry , Harold Huber , Edward Brophy , Cyril Thornton , Natalie Moorhead , Cesar Romero , Edward Ellis , William Augustin , Polly Bailey , Arthur Belasco , Brooks Benedict , Tui Bow , Raymond Brown , Jack Cheatham , Ruth Channing , Clay Clement , Pat Flaherty , Douglas Fowley
The Thin Man came out at a time when hardboiled detective fiction was all the rage, and it poked fun at the tropes and trends of the genre. 90 years later, it's still a hilarious genre satire, which shows that some mystery tropes never die. The Thin Man was an immense success back in 1934, leading to a long-running movie franchise, which was incredibly rare at the time. It's aged brilliantly, and can still be enjoyed today.
Based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett, The Thin Man follows a husband and wife who team up to solve a murder before things get too personal for them. William Powell and Myrna Loy have a charming push-and-pull dynamic, but their team isn't complete without the canine actor Skippy, who was just as big a star at the time. The dialogue of The Thin Man is scintillating, floating effortlessly between wry comedy and thrilling mystery.
5 Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)
Diane Keaton Shines In A Comedy Of Manners And Murder
Release Date May 2, 1993
Cast Diane Keaton , Woody Allen , Jerry Adler , Alan Alda , Anjelica Huston , Lynn Cohen , Melanie Norris , Zach Braff , Joy Behar , Ron Rifkin , John Doumanian , Sylvia Kauders , Ira Wheeler , Marge Redmond , George J. Manos , Aida Turturro , John Costelloe , Philip Levy , Wendell Pierce , Steven Randazzo , Frank Pellegrino , Gloria Irizarry , William Addy , Yanni Sfinias , Ruth Last Fans of Only Murders in the Building will likely admire Manhattan Murder Mystery, and it's easy to think that the 1993 comedy had some influence on the hit mystery show. Like OMITB, Manhattan Murder Mystery focuses on a group of Manhattanites who start investigating a crime which takes place in their building as a distraction from their cushy, humdrum lives. It has the same blend of comedy and mystery, never letting one outweigh the other.
Diane Keaton reaffirms her status as one of the best comedic actors of her generation in Manhattan Murder Mystery. Without ever mugging to the camera, her wide-eyed enthusiasm is hilarious against the grisly backdrop of murder. Like any of Woody Allen's best scripts, Manhattan Murder Mystery uses its quirky premise to dissect the odd foibles of modern human life. In this case, the amateur murder investigation is treated as some parlor game by a group of middle-class New Yorkers who see everything as entertainment and scandal.
4 Clue (1985)
Clue Has Gotten More Popular Over The Years
Director Jonathan Lynn
Release Date December 13, 1985
Clue is based on the board game of the same name, and it features multiple endings to reflect how players draw different conclusions in a game when presented with the same evidence. When Clue was originally released in theaters, audiences saw just one of the endings, with different theaters playing different versions. The movie is much more enjoyable with all three endings playing out one after another, and it has grown in popularity since it started being shown on TV and sold on home video in this way.
Clue's fascinating ending invites its audience to go back and watch it all over again. It deconstructs the entire mystery genre, in which people so often want all the answers neatly laid out in the end. Clue shows a keen awareness that these answers are rarely as satisfying as the game of trying to figure out what happened, so it essentially keeps this game going forever. Tim Curry leads a fun ensemble cast as the butler, and his frantic energy picks up speed as he rushed toward the finish line.
3 Game Night (2018)
Game Night Is A Hilarious Throwback Comedy
Director Jonathan Goldstein , John Francis Daley , Billy Magnussen
Release Date February 23, 2018
There's something about Game Night that seems like a throwback to the 2000s. It's becoming increasingly rare to see mid-budget comedies with great ensemble casts, like The Hangover, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Anchorman. Game Night takes a fun initial concept and injects plenty of action to keep things running smoothly. Its commercial success proves that there's still a big audience for these types of movies when they're done right.
Game Night follows a competitive group of friends whose murder mystery party suddenly gets a little too real. While there's no real murder, there's theft, kidnapping, assault, blackmail and a litany of other crimes. Game Night mines a lot of comedy from the fish-out-of-water awkwardness of the pedestrian suburban couple who get tossed into a dangerous criminal conspiracy. Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams are both on top form.
2 Hot Fuzz (2007)
The Action Satire Doubles As A Murder Mystery
Release Date February 14, 2007
Each movie in Edgar Wright's Cornetto trilogy parodies a different film genre, and Hot Fuzz pokes fun at the excess of action movies like Bad Boys and Lethal Weapon. The action takes place in a quaint English village, which is as far from the typical action setting as possible. The movie gets a lot of its comedy from this dissonance, with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost donning their sunglasses to look as cool as Dirty Harry while chasing swans away from the model village.
As well as delivering plenty of high-octane action, Hot Fuzz also has a compelling murder mystery. Sergeant Nicholas Angel is used to solving big cases in London, and he goes looking for more of the same in the sleepy village of Sandford. Hot Fuzz pulls off a great plot twist to cap off his murder investigation, and the movie turns into an adrenaline-fueled shootout from then on.
1 See How They Run (2022)
See How They Run Deserves More Love
Director Tom George
Release Date September 9, 2022
See How They Run boasts a great ensemble cast, led by Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan as two mismatched detectives. It's arguably one of the most underrated comedies of the past few years, as it puts a confident spin on the buddy cop genre. Rockwell is excellent as the gruff, world-weary senior detective, while Ronan plays his overzealous partner as they investigate a murder on the set of a West End play in London.
See How They Run is a fun metatextual deconstruction of the murder mystery genre, especially Agatha Christie's stories. The murder takes place during the production of an adaptation of Christie's The Mousetrap, and the plot features as many shady suspects and exciting twists as the author's best works. The two detectives remain the beating heart of See How They Run, however, and their hilarious dynamic carries the story beautifully.
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