This movie is a great concept and very funny for the most part, but has some serious missteps in the second act when one of the protagonists sexually molests the female antagonist. Other than that the movie is great.
Content warning: female nudity
Closest comparison: It’s like Lethal Weapon by way of Blazing Saddles.
Setting: On The Run
Plot: Buddy Cop
Tone: Comedy
This movie is an irreverent comedy that tries to keep one foot in clean family fare and the other in raunchy adult comedy territory, with rocky results. The jokes land intermittently, knocking one joke out of the park just to let the next one fall completely flat. Most (but not all) of the best jokes are in the trailer, and several times a character will flat-out say the implied joke, ruining it. The trans jokes are a non-factor, mileage will vary based on your personal political affiliation. But the scene with girls in bikinis and the one in the aftermath of a bondage session seem to be at odds with the value system of the film’s primary audience.
Closest comparison: It’s like a cross between a Hallmark movie and The Hangover.
Setting: Sports Comedy
Plot: Gettin’ The Band Back Together
Tone: Raunchy Comedy
This movie is an effective comedy with good laughs and a solid plot. It has fun with the jock-dork stereotypes and subversion of their dynamics that is endearing instead of sardonic. I can’t speak to how well it adapts the source material; it stands well on its own, though I don’t think it has the staying power to be considered great.
Closest comparison: It’s like Donnie Brasco by way of Superbad.
Setting: High School Comedy
Plot: Detective
Tone: Buddy Cop
This is a sloppy, silly comedy that is too lazy to be great. It’s ostensibly a parody of The Fugitive but casts a wide parody net. The jokes are uninspired and while it’s still fairly entertaining overall it’s too bland to be memorable.
Closest comparison: It’s like Spy Hard by way of Men at Work (1990).
Setting: Drama
Plot: Thriller
Tone: Screwball Comedy
This movie is the standard David Mamet formula in a fun, small-town comedy. It’s sufficiently interesting and fairly funny, but best of all it doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Closest comparison: It’s like The Holiday by way of The Spanish Prisoner.
Setting: Small Town Drama
Plot: Comedy of Errors
Tone: Slow-burn Comedy
This movie is pretty standard far for Charlie Chaplin. It’s got his signature slapstick, the standard boy-meets-girl narrative, and the pacing and stakes of its era. But for all that it’s still a solid film today, not as ponderously slow as many of its peers but not as break-neck as many comedies today. For those who aren’t too cynical to enjoy a heartfelt older film, you could do a whole lot worse than this.
Closest comparison: It’s more like Modern Times than it is like City Lights.
Setting: Comedy
Plot: Comedy
Tone: Comedy
This movie has a lot of heart, but loses its way in the middle. The sweet undertone of the movie is tinged with an unshakeable creepiness, and although the leads have a lot of chemistry it’s a strange cocktail all told. It’s a fair enough premise that goes a bit wonky in the execution.
Closest comparison: It’s like The Prince and the Pauper by way of Maid in Manhattan.
Setting: Comedy
Plot: Comedy
Tone: RomCom
This movie is a return to an ‘80s style of plot, which I appreciate, with a modern veneer, which I appreciate less. The adventure and romance parts are more goofy than heartfelt, but a fair amount of the comedy lands reasonably well, enough to carry the movie anyway. Everyone is hamming it up in their roles and the film seems to know what it is and never tries to take itself too seriously. It’s familiar, which makes it predictable, but its predictability is comfortable and accessible.
Closest comparison: It’s like Romancing the Stone by way of 21 Jump Street.
Setting: Adventure
Plot: Adventure
Tone: RomCom
This movie is a fun ‘what if’ that meanders along amicably until its ‘sure, why not’ conclusion. It takes itself unseriously enough to relish its own absurdities, which keeps it from subverting its premise in the payoff. It’s a lighthearted film and not much more.
Closest comparison: It’s like My Fair Lady by way of The Philadelphia Story.
Setting: Decadence
Plot: Prince/Pauper
Tone: Comedy
This movie is an old classic, and true to form knocks it out of the park. In parts it’s a slapstick extravaganza, but on the whole it’s equal parts hilarious, heartfelt, and heartbreaking. There’s a purity to silent films that here is used to great effect, using the audience’s loss of one sense and lack of agency to empathize with the heroine. It has antiquated sensibilities and pacing, but it comes across as sincere and meaningful ninety years later.
Closest comparison: It’s like The Pursuit of Happyness by way of Modern Times.
Setting: RomCom
Plot: Rags to Riches
Tone: Comedy/Drama
This is a pretty standard buddy cop movie of its era. The plot is as fun and outlandish, the action scenes as over-the-top, and the dialogue as too-perfectly-quippy as you might expect. There’s more sexuality than most of its contemporaries, which may explain its relative obscurity, but the rest of the film is solid action fare.
Content warning: female nudity
Closest comparison: It’s like Lethal Weapon with Sylvester Stalone and Kurt Russell.
Setting: Buddy Cop
Plot: Exoneration
Tone: Buddy Comedy
This movie is not quite funny enough to justify the detour, but if it’s your brand of comedy of course you’ll get more mileage for your money. The story is darkly whimsical, the double infidelity subplot played for a laugh rather than impact, and all the backstabbing from the protagonist crew is more of a punchline than a plot point. Unfortunately, the film’s tone never seems to understand it’s a comedy.
Closest comparison: It’s like a cross between The Holiday and Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
Setting: Adventure
Plot: Crime
Tone: Comedy
This movie is a silly comedy around a sincere narrative. It’s a pretty typical ‘90s goofball comedy, for better and for worse. The story, though is played fairly straight as a military take on an underdog tale, complete with scrappy crew, rustbucket equipment, and a crew that is inevitably greater than the sum of its parts. If that sounds cheesy then steer clear of this one, but it’s a solid entry in the genre.
Closest comparison: It’s like Cool Runnings by way of RocketMan (1997).
Setting: War
Plot: Underdog
Tone: Comedy
This movie is a pretty standard slacker comedy with Norm Macdonald humor through and through. The comedy is crude, college-style humor which will likely tell you what sort of mileage you’ll get with this movie. It’s main deviation from the formula is a rape joke that lasts a whole scene, which substantially lowers the overall light-hearted tone of the movie.
Closest comparison: It’s like Men at Work by way of Billy Madison.
Setting: Slacker
Plot: Motivational
Tone: Comedy
This movie derives its comedy from a dog destroying everything much to the chagrin of a fastidious man. If that sounds funny, this movie is for you. The murder investigation and romantic subplots are barely window dressing in comparison to the ‘destructive dog’ narrative. That being said it’s very well done and all that, just be aware your mileage may vary wildly.
Closest comparison: It’s like Lethal Weapon by way of Beethoven.
Setting: Drama
Plot: Detective
Tone: RomCom
This is a dumb comedy that knows exactly what it is and plays it for laughs with a long, knowing gaze at the audience. There’s no movie beyond the comedy, so don’t go looking for depth here. If this isn’t your style of comedy you’ll hate this movie, but for everyone else there are pretty some memorable moments.
Closest comparison: It’s like A Night at the Roxbury way of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
Setting: Music Industry
Plot: Zero to Hero
Tone: Dumb Comedy
This movie lives and dies on its ridiculous comedy antics. Everything about this movie is laser focused on hitting its target audience and as such succeeds at feeling like a ‘90s kids TV show with high production value. It’s not really my brand of humor, but if it’s yours you’ll love it.
Closest comparison: It’s like The Waterboy by way of Pee Wee’s Playhouse.
Setting: Back to School
Plot: Back to School
Tone: Screwball Comedy
This movie is crass, dark, crime comedy that is a glorious thing to behold. The script is tightly woven, interconnecting the plot lines with comedic aplomb. Everyone is chewing the scenery at the same time, rising to a hilarious crescendo, each beat right on cue. It’s the quintessential cockney crime comedy, and even after twenty years it hasn’t lost its bite.
Content warning: female nudity, language
Closest comparison: It has the narrative complexity of Crash (2004) crossed with the criminal underground of Shopping (1994).
Setting: Crime
Plot: Thriller
Tone: Dark Screwball Comedy
This movie is hilarious, but the plot and world building are horrible. It takes a whole scene to set up a certain mechanic early on in the film, and the one time that mechanic comes back into play it completely breaks its own rules. If the story beats were even sort of passable this movie would be great because of how funny it is, but the movie goes out of its way to explain normal things that need no explanation in such a way as to make no sense at all.
Closest comparison: It’s like Ready Player One by way of Divergent.
Setting: Sci-Fi
Plot: Dystopia
Tone: Comedy
This movie uses primarily the comedy framework of an awkward situation that goes on so long that it becomes funny, so comedy mileage may vary among audience members. That being said, the antics of Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, and Martin Short are on point and the trio of SNL veterans are having a blast hamming it up. It’s a classic for its comedy, not its depth.
Closest comparison: It’s like a cross between The Magnificent Seven and Galaxy Quest.
Setting: Western
Plot: Fish out of Water
Tone: Screwball Comedy
