Film geeks usually get their noble sense of smell for comedies. But over the past decade, so many marvels have appeared that even the most hard-line critic has been up in arms. Old-time favorites like Martin Scorsese and Wes Anderson and new blood like Yorgos Lanthimos and Taika Waititi got even the biggest dry-guy to laugh.
In the meantime, the tsunami of female leads sparked by Paul Feig’s “Bridesmaids” blew an armpit-fresh breeze into the comedy genre that has been dominated by sexism and scintillating beer. Wondering about the best comedies of 2010-2019? If so, sink back and relax for this Top 20 Comedies of the 2010s.
The ranking order of the best comedies of the 2010s is based on the ratings (0 to 10 points) of the Internet Movie Database (short: IMDb) – an internationally valid “directory” of reviews for movies and series.
“We’re the Millers” (2013)
![We're the Millers - Official Trailer [HD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0Vsy5KzsieQ/hqdefault.jpg "15 Best Comedy Movies of the 2010s 1")
- Original title: We’re the Millers
- Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
- IMDb rating: 7.0/10
What is the “We’re the Millers” about?
Small-time dealer David (Jason Sudeikis) has been dealing marijuana since college. He has few other obligations – until he gets his backpack stolen, complete with merchandise and $40,000 in drug money. To pay off his debt, his greasy boss Brad (Ed Helms) “asks” him to smuggle a shipment of marijuana from Mexico across the U.S. border.
To not attract attention, David wants to disguise the trip as a family trip. He hires stripper Rose (Jennifer Aniston) to be his wife and nerd Kenny (Will Poulter) and runaway Casey (Emma Roberts) to be his kids…
Criticism/opinion: An irreverent, finely cast road movie fun with crudely funny gags and wicked sideswipes at the US bourgeoisie.
“Easy A” (2010)
- Original title: Easy A
- Director: Will Gluck
- IMDb rating: 7.0/10
What is the “Easy A” about?
Not wanting to admit to spending the weekend alone at home, Olive (Emma Stone) tells her friend about a made-up night of love with a student. However, the conversation is overheard, so the story spreads like wildfire around her high school campus, where people soon think Olive is a slut. However, the confident girl doesn’t mind.
Quite the opposite: She even plays with her new image and uses it to help her gay buddy Brandon (Dan Byrd). He is suffering from his classmates’ taunts by having a fictitious affair. But when more and more needy outsiders ask her for help, matters get out of hand…
Criticism/opinion: The story is original. Emma Stone plays refreshingly natural. The genre-typical gags below the belt stay within limits. This is how teen comedies are fun!
“21 Jump Street” (2012)
![21 JUMP STREET [2012] - Official Trailer](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oj55KinxZx4/hqdefault.jpg "15 Best Comedy Movies of the 2010s 3")
- Original title: 21 Jump Street
- Director: Phil Lord, Chris Miller
- IMDb rating: 7.2/10
What is the “21 Jump Street” about?
Fresh-faced cops Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill) go on bicycle patrol but screw up an arrest and are transferred to a particular unit because of their youthful appearance. There, they are supposed to investigate undercover among teenagers. Their first assignment is to infiltrate a high school to find the dealer and source of a new drug. Feschak Jenko ends up with the nerds, while Schmidt, who was once not very popular, must mingle with the cool clique…
Criticism/opinion: Over-the-top brute reinterpretation of the cult 80s series 21 Jump Street – Crime Scene Classroom (1987-1991).
“The Death of Stalin” (2017)
- Original title: La Mort de Staline
- US title: The Death of Stalin
- Director: Armando Iannucci
- IMDb rating: 7.3/10
What is the “The Death of Stalin” about?
Even the opening sequence is terrific and gets to the heart of the horror of the Stalin era. A symphonic orchestra is giving a classical concert, with Josef Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin) tuned in, listening in. After the concert, Stalin calls the concert hall director and demands a recording. However, the recording doesn’t exist. What can be done? The concert hall managers hastily try to urge the audience, who have already left the hall, to remain.
They had to play the concert again. It is 1953, and the rule of the dictator Stalin is claiming victims every day. Anyone who does not toe the line is arrested, deported, murdered. After the opening sequence above, the Death of Stalin depicts primarily the days following Stalin’s stroke in March 1953. Who will take power after his death? What do they do with Stalin’s legacy?
Criticism/opinion: based on the French graphic novel La Mort de Staline, director Armando Iannucci staged a bitterly wicked, superbly cast political satire with a top cast (including Steve Buscemi as Nikita Khrushchev, Jeffrey Tambor as Georgi Malenkov and Jason Isaacs as Georgi Zhukov) full of grandiose grotesque comedy about one of the most brutal reigns of terror of the 20th century. And, of course, as you might imagine, the film was banned in Russia!
“Dolemite Is My Name” (2019)
- Original title: Craig Brewer
- Director: Dolemite Is My Name
- IMDb rating: 7.3/10
What is the “Dolemite Is My Name” about?
After several less successful jobs in showbiz, Rudy Ray Moore (Eddie Murphy) hires himself out as a waiter. When he overhears a conversation between homeless people one day, he hears about the street legend of the pimp Dolemite. Rudy assumes this identity without further ado and starts a career as a stand-up comedian. The public so well receives Rudy’s frivolous manner and rampant mouth that he soon embarks on a tour of the USA.
However, after a visit to the cinema, Moore wants more: he too wants to be on the big screen! Said, done. Working with playwright Jerry Jones (Keegan-Michael Key), Moore writes a script that includes guns, kung fu, car chases, pretty women and cool sayings. Actor D’Urville Martin (Wesley Snipes) is hired as director, and even though more obstacles are put in their way than they thought at the beginning, Dolemite still makes it to the cinema – and becomes a surprise success…
Criticism/opinion: comedy expert Eddie Murphy makes his comeback with this Netflix film biopic. Rudy Ray Moore, a seminal artist for comedy and rap, became a blaxploitation phenomenon in the ’70s with his obscene, hilarious, kung-fu-fighting alter ego “Dolemite.” Neatly done!
“The Nice Guys” (2016)
![The Nice Guys - Main Trailer [HD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GQR5zsLHbYw/hqdefault.jpg "15 Best Comedy Movies of the 2010s 6")
- Original title: The Nice Guys
- Director: Shane Black
- IMDb rating: 7.4/10
What is the “The Nice Guys” about?
Los Angeles, 1977: a car speeds down a slope, rushes through a house and overturns. An almost naked young woman is thrown out – porn star Misty Mountain (Murielle Telio). As a result, contract hitman Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) and Holland March (Ryan Gosling), a washed-up single private investigator, cross paths. The different guys are looking for the same girl: Amelia (Margaret Qualley).
Apparently, she is somehow involved in the death of Misty Mountain. It turns out she’s the daughter of the career-minded Attorney General (Kim Basinger), has made a sex tape, and every trace of it, like Amelia herself, has gone missing. Healy and March continue to investigate undeterred and stir up a hornet’s nest…
Criticism/opinion: director and screenwriter Shane Black (Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang) directed an ironic, 70s nostalgia sugar-coated buddy action fun with beautifully absurd dialogues. But the biggest plus: The chemistry between the two main actors, who got along very well even away from the filming.
“Birdman” (2014)
- Original title: Birdman
- Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
- IMDb rating: 7.7/10
What is the “Birdman” about?
Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) used to be a hero; in the cinema, anyway. At the time, what he played was the superhero Birdman. Nowadays, he is an aging ex-star that no one knows anymore. To revive his career and prove himself as an artist, he directs a play.
Financing the project is soon not his only problem: one actor drops out, and replacement Mike (Edward Norton), though well-known and talented, is eccentric and exhausting. In addition, Riggan’s ex, mistress, subsidiary, and critic are all wearing on his nerves. Then there is his alter ego Birdman, who advises him…
Criticism/opinion: Surreal and bitterly wicked satire on showbiz, where fiction and reality blur repeatedly in a masterly way – which, however, also demands a lot of attention from the viewer. It was awarded four Oscars!
“What We Do in the Shadows” (2014)
- Original title: What We Do in the Shadows
- Director: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi
- IMDb rating: 7.7/10
What is the “What We Do in the Shadows” about?
It’s probably the most unusual flat share in the New Zealand capital Wellington: dandy Viago (Taika Waititi), rebel Vladislav (Jemaine Clement), ripper Deacon (Jonathan Brugh) and 8,000-year-old, rather taciturn Petyr (Ben Fransham) namely reveal themselves to be real vampires. The film crew visits the bloodsucker as mentioned earlier commune – documenting the everyday life of the creepy gentlemen.
Filmed in the style of a real documentary, there are not only shots of the daily life of the flatmates – inclusive the usual arguments about who has been neglecting his dishwashing duty for years – and the different lifestyles, but there are also interviews as well as old footage, by which the viewer learns more about the past histories of the undead contemporaries…
Criticism/opinion: The New Zealand comedian duo Jemaine Clément and Taika Waititi, who play two of the main roles, brings a breath of fresh air into the now somewhat overused vampire film genre with this both quirky and funny mockumentary (German: Pseudo-Doku). Horrors can also be funny – and thus, the film proves to be a small but fine genre pearl!
“Paddington 2” (2017)
- Original title: Paddington 2
- Director: Paul King
- IMDb rating: 7.8/10
What is the “Paddington 2” about?
Always wearing a blue duffle coat and a red floppy hat, Paddington (German voice: Elyas M’Barek) settles in well with the Brown family in London. The bear has one worry: Aunt Lucy, who is still living in Peru, is soon celebrating her 100th birthday, so a perfect gift is needed. He discovers just the right thing in an antique shop: London’s affectionately designed pop-up book. But the problem is that the book is too expensive.
The little Petz hires himself out as a hairdresser and window cleaner to scrape together the money through honest work. But just one day before Paddington can buy the pop-up book, a burglar steals it. Because the bear was at the crime scene, he’s arrested – and sentenced to ten years! Now, as the Browns track down the real thief (delicious: Hugh Grant!), Paddington has to cope with the rough treatment behind bars…
Criticism/opinion: A successful example of a feel-good film for the whole family that, despite its sweetness, manages to never seem tacky-annoying and pairs loving ideas with splendid acting performances.
“Moonrise Kingdom” (2012)
- Original title: Moonrise Kingdom
- Director: Wes Anderson
- IMDb rating: 7.8/10
What is the “Moonrise Kingdom” about?
The fictional small island of New Penzance off the coast of New England in September 1965: Scout Master Randy Ward (Edward Norton), leader of the scout camp, is concerned because there is no trace of one of his charges, twelve years old Sam (Jared Gilman). “Gosh kids, he’s gone AWOL,” Randy analyzes and informs island cop Sharp (Bruce Willis).
Even though Sam’s foster parents wouldn’t take the runaway back (!), Randy and his scouts begin searching. Sam is fine, just escaped with his flame Suzy (Kara Hayward), equipped with a tent, canoe, a fishing rod and an air rifle. As Suzy’s parents Walt and Laura Bishop (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand) realize her disappearance, the “rescue operation” is intensified…
Criticism/opinion: Director Wes Anderson – who co-wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay with Francis Ford Coppola’s son Roman – gives at least as much space as his top stars to the young lovers. These (and their dialogue) are as endearingly quirky as the adults.
“Hunt for the Wilderpeople” (2016)
- Original title: Hunt for the Wilderpeople
- Directed by Taika Waititi
- IMDb rating: 7.9/10
What is the “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” about?
Following numerous homes and foster homes, twelve-year-old problem child Ricky (Julian Dennison) finds a home at last with unconventional hermits Bella (Rima Te Wiata) & Hector Faulkner (Sam Neill). However, Bella suddenly dies, and the child welfare authorities want Ricky to be re-homed, so Hector flees with him into the New Zealand bush. The authorities and the police pursue the chaotic duo…
Criticism/Opinion: Wry humor, a lot of heart and great nature shots characterize the underdog story.
“Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014)
- Original title: Guardians of the Galaxy
- Director: James Gunn
- IMDb rating: 8.0/10
What is the “Guardians of the Galaxy” about?
Kidnapped from Earth as a boy in 1988, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) 26 years later is making his way through the galaxy as a thief who calls himself Star-Lord and listens to hits from the 80s via Walkman. However, his newest booty causes him problems: Namely, The contents of the stolen orb is so powerful that even planets can be destroyed with it.
Evil Ronan (Lee Pace) receives an order from the titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) that he should get the orb – and sets the killer Gamora (Zoe Saldana) on Quill. When she confronts the Earthling, Rocket (voice: Bradley Cooper/Fahri Yardim), a gun-loving raccoon, and his pal Groot (voice: Vin Diesel/Hans-Eckart Eckhardt), a huge tree creature, get involved in the conflict because they want to collect a bounty on Star-Lord’s head.
As a result, the flashy quartet ends up in a maximum-security prison. The giant Drax (Dave Bautista) joins them as they break out. The disparate troupe settles their personal scores together and saves the universe along the way…
Criticism/opinion: With Guardians of the Galaxy, director James Gunn created a loose, fluffy and very funny mix of comic action and space opera that is simply fun to watch. The witty characters also subsequently enriched the Avengers universe.
“Deadpool” (2016)
- Original title: Deadpool
- Director: Tim Miller
- IMDb rating: 8.0/10
What is the “Deadpool” about?
Söldner Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) has terminal cancer. To spare his sweetheart Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) from a life at the side of a terminally ill man, he goes to the treatment of Ajax (Ed Skrein), which promises to make a superhero out of him. Through torture experiments, he renders him invulnerable but outwardly a monster. Of course, this screams for retribution…
Criticism/opinion: Original, delightfully self-deprecating and hard comic adaptation (age rating: 16 and up), which breaks the fourth wall. Full of side-swipes at the X-Men – and lead actor Ryan Reynolds himself.
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” (2014)
- Original title: The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Director: Wes Anderson
- IMDb rating: 8.1/10
What is the “Grand Budapest Hotel” about?
In 1968, as many times before, the young writer spent his vacation in the run-down hotel Grand Budapest in the former Republic of Zubrowka. That’s when he meets Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham), the hotel’s owner. He tells him his unusual story: During the interwar period, zero starts as a lobby boy at the “Budapest,” at that time the first house in the mountain resort of Nebelheim.
He was trained by concierge Monsieur Gustave (Ralph Fiennes), the heart and soul of the hotel and a man of the world who reads his guests’ every wish from their eyes. He also physically serves the regular female guests, such as the 84-year-old Madame D. (Tilda Swinton), who is quite infatuated with Gustave.
When the aged lady passes away, she leaves him a valuable painting – much to the annoyance of her relatives who want to inherit. Because the will is to be contested, Gustave steals the painting with Zero’s help, picture after picture, which starts the craziest turbulences…
Criticism/opinion: Be it Rushmore (1998), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and Moonrise Kingdom (2012), Wes Anderson is a master of the bizarre. Grand Budapest Hotel also turns out to be a wonderfully funny tragicomedy with loving ideas in terms of dialogue and visuals and good-humored stars in all the supporting roles. Four Oscars, and rightly so!
“The Intouchables” (2011)
- Original title: The Intouchables
- Director: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano
- IMDb rating: 8.5/10
What is the “The Intouchables” about?
Philippe (François Cluzet), an aristocrat from Paris, has been paralyzed since a paragliding accident. Although he has no financial worries, he has no joy in life. That changes when ex-convict
Driss (Omar Sy), lacking in motivation and actually only at the behest of the employment office, applies for a job as a nurse.
Against all common sense, Philippe employs the unqualified cheeky fellow, lacking any compassion. And really, the carefree nature of Driss awakens in Philippe something like new courag
e to face life. In return, Driss realizes through his educated employer that there is far more to him than a loudmouthed lawbreaker…
Criticism/opinion: In 2012, this story of a paralyzed man who befriends a petty criminal attracted many people worldwide to theaters than many a U.S. blockbuster – touching, free of kitsch, excellently acted and, on top of it all, hilarious! Which, by the way, is more than can be said for the U.S. remake The Upside (2019), despite a top cast including Bryan Cranston, Kevin Hart and Nicole Kidman.
