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100 best comedy movies
The 100 best comedy movies, picked by experts from across film, TV and comedy
Explore the full list of 100 films
Read our contributors' top tens
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The experts have spoken
From Dan Aykroyd to Edgar Wright, browse through the film lists submitted by over 200 contributor...
Discover more Time Out film lists
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100 Best British Films
The 100 best British films as chosen by a panel of 150 film industry experts, including directors Sam Mendes, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach and Wes Anderson.
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Time Out's 50 greatest animated films
Time Out ushers in the help of master animator Terry Gilliam to run down 50 of the greatest animated features of all time.
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50 Essential comic-book Movies, with Edgar Wright
Strap on your utility belt, starch up your cape, pull your underpants over your trousers and prepare to fly faster than a speeding bullet with Time Out's superheroic countdown.
By Tom Huddleston, David Jenkins, Adam Lee Davies, Derek Adams, Edward Lawrenson, Wally Hammond, Ben Walters, Gabriel Tate and Phil Harrison. Explore the individual top tens of every contributor.
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30
Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder in 'The Producers'
The Producers (1968)
Dir Mel Brooks (Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder, Dick Shawn)
‘I was born in Dusseldorf and that is why they call me Rolf.’
The beginning of the Mel Brooks empire, and arguably his funniest film, ‘The Producers’ combines old-school kvetch comedy, Broadway backstage hi-jinks and outright headline-grabbing bad taste to intoxicating effect. Brooks regular Gene Wilder steals the show as the accountant to Zero Mostel's portly, conniving stage producer. The con itself – an elaborate plan to run with the takings of a show so dreadful it closes overnight – keeps things ticking along at a brisk pace, but it’s that Busby Berkeley scene of actors dressed in Nazi regalia operatically singing the stage show’s tacky title track, ‘Springtime for Hitler’, that remains most vividly in the memory. BW
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29
'Rushmore'
Rushmore (1998)
Dir Wes Anderson (Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams)
‘Best play ever, man.’
Some films create an entire world, one which has its own rules and its own geography but which feels entirely real, a place you could go. ‘Rushmore’ is one of the greatest of these. Its world – the grounds and environs of Rushmore Academy – is at once familiar and strange, populated by bored millionaires and Scottish vagabonds, lost aquatic heroes and their grieving lovers, gruff headmasters and winsome Asian teens and, of course, Max Fischer, arguably the most complex, original, loveable but infuriating movie creation of the past three decades. Yes, there’s a little ‘Harold and Maude’ here, a little Hal Hartley there. But even as it approaches its quarter century, ‘Rushmore’ still feels blindingly original and entrancingly unique. The best film of the ’90s? Very possibly. TH
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28
Mike Myers and Dana Carvey in 'Wayne's World'
Wayne's World (1992)
Dir Penelope Spheeris (Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Tia Carrere)
'Did you ever find Bugs Bunny attractive when he put on a dress and played girl bunny?’
Heavy metal was under fire from all angles in 1992: Nirvana were on the up, Tipper Gore was on the rampage and, weirdly, poodle hair and spandex just didn’t seem that cool any more. But the final nail in the coffin – unintentionally, it seems – was poor old innocent Wayne Campbell. In peeking behind the double denim and studs to uncover the cuddly mid-30s stay-at-home air-guitar nerd who dwells inside every hardcore rocker, Penelope Spheeris and Mike Myers simultaneously celebrated the scene’s finest elements – the solos, the camaraderie, the true icons like Alice Cooper – and lampooned its more ludicrous excesses. The result, ironically but entirely intentionally, is one of the sweetest, cosiest comedies of recent years: ‘Wayne’s World’ is like a warm blanket, albeit a leather one studded with grinning skulls. TH
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27
Matt Dillon in 'There's Something About Mary'
There's Something About Mary (1998)
Dirs Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly (Cameron Diaz, Ben Stiller, Matt Dillon)
‘It's like you're dreamin' about Gorgonzola cheese when it's clearly Brie time, baby.’
As with so many of the comedies in this poll, the plot here takes a backseat to the individual scenes. Let's leave aside the romcom element of two suitors (Ben Stiller and Matt Dillon) going for the same lass (Cameron Diaz) and instead praise two of the film's most hilarious set pieces. Proof that animals always make good foils for a bout of cruel humour, Stiller's floor-wrestling scene with Diaz's perma-tanned mother's obnoxious terrier is one of the funniest moments in film history, but even that is superseded by Dillon's side-splitting couch-bound panic when the little furball has a seizure. If those don't have you falling over, the weirdo hitchhiker and the ensuing false arrest of Stiller for mass murder certainly will. This is a film ripe for the YouTube generation, as evidenced by the surfeit of online clips. It is far and away the pinnacle of the Farrellys' waning career and many will be surprised that this isn't much, much higher up this list. DA
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26
'Best In Show'
Best in Show (2000)
Dir Christopher Guest (Fred Willard, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Parker Posey)
‘Bratwurst and shillelaghs... paging Dr Freud!’
Arguably the best of Christopher Guest’s post-'Tap’ mockumentaries (also see ‘Waiting for Guffman’, ‘A Mighty Wind’ and ‘For Your Consideration’), this chronicle of a dog show overflows with hilarious caricatures, from yuppies and A-gays to laconic backwoodsmen and addled commentators. The largely improvised material is generally geared around character rather than out-and-out gags but the simmering neuroses and blithely inane foot-in-mouth outbursts build to a fist-biting tsunami of excruciation. Also notable for Jane Lynch's turn as a lesbian trainer, which could be seen as a dry run for her role as Sue Sylvester in ‘Glee’. BW
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25
'The Castle'
The Castle (1997)
Dir Rob Sitch (Michael Caton, Anne Tenney, Stephen Curry)
‘Compulsorily acquired? You know what this means don't you…They're acquiring it. Compulsorily.’
Those who live by the dictum that ‘Australia’ and ‘comedy’ are a contradiction in terms may want to get hold of this rough ocker gem from 1997 which plays like a salty modern update of Frank Capra’s eccentric eviction comedy ‘You Can’t Take It With You’. Darryl Kerrigan (Michael Caton) is the affable, easily impressed patriarch lording over his ramshackle, self-built ‘castle’ located on the outskirts of Melbourne and slap-bang at the end of an airport runway. When big business wants to move his mullet-headed clan off the property, Darryl decides to take them to court on the basis that a man’s house is his home. Sentimental, winning and rammed to the gills with neatly layered call-back humour, it’s a small but essential addition to the overcrowded triumph-of-the-little-man canon. DJ
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24
Kayvan Novak in 'Four Lions'
Four Lions (2010)
Dir Chris Morris (Riz Ahmed, Nigel Lindsay, Kayvan Novak)
‘You're gonna die in that gear, lads.’
Islamic fundamentalism satirised through the medium of queasy slapstick? Well it makes a change from the tortured earnestness we’ve come to expect from such enterprises. And it’s surprisingly effective. Not only are these guys misguided but – as we soon realise while watching them blunder through a repertoire involving exploding sheep and comedy marathon costumes – they’re bloody daft too. At times, Morris’s debut feature seems almost affectionate towards its subjects. And why not? The deadly serious reality of what they’re about to attempt seems an anathema to their partially understood ideology and hapless posturing. Surely they’ll come to their senses? Won’t they? PH
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23
'Ghostbusters'
Ghostbusters (1984)
Dir Ivan Reitman (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver)
‘As a duly designated representative of the city, county and state of New York, I order you to cease any and all supernatural activity and return forthwith to your place of origin or to the nearest convenient parallel dimension.’
Big budget, effects-laden comedy is a high-wire act that few films negotiate without hitting the dirt from a very great height. For every one – ‘Men in Black’, for instance – that manages the feat of juggling side-splitters with jaw-dropping spectacle there is a vast and notable slew of overpriced, flat-footed, fun-free clunkers – Spielberg’s ‘1941’, ‘Wild, Wild West’, ‘Hudson Hawk’ – that flop between stools. But the bar was set back in 1984 by Ivan Reitman’s freewheeling spin around a Big Apple overflowing with cosmic (and comic) energy, spectral emanations and lots and lots of corduroy. No film has come close to raising it since. ALD
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22
Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in 'Dumb and Dumber'
Dumb and Dumber (1994)
Dirs Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly (Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels)
'Hey, want to hear the most annoying sound in the world? ARGHHHGHHHER...'
An inspired, infectiously good-natured tribute to the joys of idiocy, this huge hit sees two friends called Harold and Lloyd (no prizes for spotting the silent-cinema reference) head up to a ski resort in Aspen in pursuit of a girl, in their shag-pile-carpet covered, dog-shaped van. A superbly staged blend of slapstick and winter-sports advice (tip: do not – I mean ever – try to lick the ice of a frozen ski-chair), the movie shows Jim Carrey at his livewire best: even his haircut is funny. EL
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21
Steve Martin and John Candy in 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles'
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
Dir John Hughes (Steve Martin, John Candy, Laila Robins, Michael McKean)
‘Those. Aren’t. PILLOWS!!!’
Two guys; bickering; road trip: as formulas go, it's hardly the unified field theory, but while the Hollywood lab boys manage to so consistently naff it up, when they do get it right, we get such alchemical wonders as 'PTA'. Pitched slap bang between ‘Roxanne’ and ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’ in Steve Martin’s late-’80s hot streak, this home-for-the-holidays classic can be seen as the change-up from Steve 'the wild and crazy guy' to Mr Martin, the pastel-sweater-clad patriarch of ‘90s snoozers such as ‘Father of the Bride’. Viewed as such, it’s an enjoyably imbalanced film that balances out its unapologetic sentimentality with foulmouth rants - ‘I want a fucking car RIGHT FUCKING NOW!’ – solipsistic wig outs and unhinged set-piece destruction. And that’s all without taking into account the ample charms of John Candy, who gives a career-best run-through of his inimitable ‘loveable schmo’ schtick. ALD
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Comments
Elf deserves to be there despite whatever the comments say - it is the funniest Christmas movie I have ever seen. Why isn't Coming to America in the top 10? Why isn't Office Space in the top 10? This is Spinal Tap is NOT FUNNY. There were way too many Woody Allen movies and where is Superbad? Galaxy Quest - are you serious? Movies 100 - 91 were not funny. How can you have a movie that is not funny at number one? Are you at all serious?
Down with the naysayers, This is Spinal Tap at No. 1 - need I say more
Egregious omissions:
"Death at a Funeral" had me in apoplectics more than 90% of these films.
"The In-Laws" (original with Peter Falk) and "Blazing Saddles" are also superior to many of these picks.
I do agree with "Top Secret" and "Galaxy Quest".
Spinal Tap at number one? Above Life Of Brian?
Nah mate, nah.
Spinal Tap is one of the most overated THINGS ever, let alone comedies.
Spinal Crap more like....
the list is made by a moron who are the the morons who are supposed to be these experts
This list sucks. I don't think that top 10 movies r really top ten.. I give you 2 out of 10. The point 2 is for your hardwork to make this list not for the movies you add. It's ridiculous.
Wow...most best of lists are awful but this is among the worst Ive seen :(
Shows how subjective a genre comedy is...well any genre to be honest, because I have watched Spinal Tap twice now, and I still think it's not really very funny at all... maybe it's something about the rock n roll attitude thing, but apart from a few very funny moments I thought it was a pretty limp, flat experience. Each to their own...but I would personally have Duck Soup well above Spinal Tap -- it's 50 years younger and about 4 times as funny.
Placing The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) at place 95 makes this list a joke!!
sorry
Travis Bickle's list is a helluva lot better than yours. Were the people who made this list list born in 1990?
Missing in action:
Bringing Up Baby
Our Man Godfrey
The Awful Truth
The Palm Beach Story
The Lady Eve
Ninotchka
Love Me Tonight
It Happened One Night
Modern Times
The Gold Rush
City Lights
Our Hospitality
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Christmas Story
MASH
Moonstruck
My Favorite Year
The Twelve Chairs
A Shot In The Dark
The Lavender Hill Mob
Mon Oncle
Paper Moon
The Graduate
Election
Sideways
Honeymoon In Vegas
Ruthless People
Clueless
Thank You For Smoking
The Cooler
Welcome To The Dollhouse
Something's Gotta Give
As Good As It Gets
Jerry McGuire
Porkies (Just kidding!)
This list is complete b.s. These guys have a chubby for Woody Allen... No 'dazed and confused',happy Gilmore, but no billy Madison? Dont think I saw one John Hughes film... HorsePoop
ok why so much woody allen films? and furthermore where is beetlejuice, brother, where art thou?, in bruge, grosse point blanke and to a lesser extent the exorcist.
This list is absolutely terrible. Napoleon Dynamite was entertaining but should NOT be in the top 100
How much did Woody Allen pay you to take so many spots with his outdated unfunny films?
Factor in the omission of Spaceballs, Idiocracy, Super Troopers, Beverly Hills Cop, PCU and Out Cold and this list is pretentious pointlessness.
Anybody who thinks Will Ferrell is funny ought not to be allowed out of The Home for the Bewildered.
I only had time to look at the top 10, and was astonished that the two laugh-out-loud funniest films ever were not there: Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday, both directed by Howard Hawks and starring Cary Grant. I assume they are lower down the list, but not in the top 10?!!!
its a mad mad mad mad world
the private war of harry frigg
the tiger makes out
THislist is very imcomplete! and the expert used to make that list are from most of them old generation 40 to up...years old, so as we can most of the movies selected are oldies...or unknown at all....There are a lot great cool comedy missing on it....like super heroes parodies or SC-FI parodies are totaly absent that clearly show partiality in jugment....
Napoleon Dynamite is on this list, thus rendering it invalid. Move along.
The downside of the internet is that even someone who ranks Borat and Team America above The Big Lebowski is allowed to publish their "thoughts" to a wide audience.
The Big Lebowski should be number 1, one of the greatest (and funniest) films of all time. Good list though, Spinal Tap had a monumental influence, a deserving candidate for the top spot :)
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I like the choices on this list, for sure, and althought I think some should've been higher than others, I think its a decent list, except for the following:
1) Glaring omission of two Pink Panther jewels: "The Return of the Pink Panther" and, especially, "A Shot in the Dark", both of which are funnier than the original film itself, and as funny as "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" (really happy to see this one included, I must note). "A Shot in the Dark:", especially, showcases, along wtih to "Dr. Strangelove", Peter Sellers's complete comedic forte as a perfomer, and in contrast to Kubrick's opus, while portraying only one role. Just genius.
2) The placing of "Spinal Tap" as number One. Why not "Life of Brian"?
3) Baseketball?! Really? The film is free-loading bunch of BS. Its painfully unfunny, steretypical scatology at its best. Its not only nowhere near Team America or South Park, but its nowhere near the top 500 - no, I did mean five hundred.
4) Glarring omission of M*A*S*H? One of the greatest, bravest anti-war satires of all time is not here - but Baseketball is?
5) Glarring omission of "Spaceballs", aka Mel Brooks's Final Laugh. Why? Maybe it didn't have Gene Wilder in it... Although it should've!!
6) Not-as-glarring omission of "Beverly Hills Cop" and "48 Hrs". Eddie Murphy's shining in them. i can understand not having them, but still missed anyhow.
Otherwise, not a bad list. But the omissions are just glaring - did I mention that? :-D
I hate the number one choice,that doesn`t mean i hate the film but number 1,come on! Also no MASH,no Lost in America,no What About Bob? no Bringing Up Baby?
Not as atrocious as the recent 100 songs list but still a very poor list. And any 100 greatest comedy films list that doesn't include Clueless is not to be taken seriously. And where is Happiness, Love Me Tonight, Singin' in the Rain, The Man Who Came to Dinner, and Welcome to the Dollhouse? A joke.
Team America is much funnier than Ghostbusters.. Anchorman, also, definitely top 10 IF YOU HAVE SMOKED AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF CRACK COCAINE.
Ghostbusters is the best action/comedy to ever grace the silver screen. It is a work of comedic art, true genius, and should be in the top 5 of this list, if not top 3. That is all.
Baseketball?
REALLY?!
Any semblance of respectability goes out of the window with that dross there.
And this is coming from someone who absolutely loves South Park, Team America & The Book of Mormon!
The Annie Hall quote is not actually Woody Allen's, and he mentions that in the film.
The snubbing of the better side of Apatow Productions in this list is disgraceful.
A mockumentary? Really? I hate bloated, self-aggrandizing deadpan bs. Comedies are supposed to be funny.
List is rubbish. It includes Elf, Dodgeball, GalaxyQuest, etc, but leaves out many others far more deserving such as Idiocracy.
Fantastic that Monty Python is in the top 10 twice. Fantastic. I'm a little sad that StepBrothers isn't on the list, though (unless I missed it?).
This was rather awkward way to try to see if my movie is in there but I love the movie "Real Genius" with a teenage Val Kilmer.
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