Annie Hall

Top 25 comedy movies, by the Guardian and Observer’s critics

“Notionally, one of the most loved of genres, comedy persistently finds that it is somehow ineligible for greatness,” said film critic Peter Bradshaw.

Comedies rarely get Oscars. Charlie Chaplin, the great comic, was one of cinema’s first international superstars. Keaton, the Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy produced sublime gems of film-making, arguably cherished more now than at the time. Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot is one of the most loved films of all time, with a miraculously light touch and a glorious romantic chemistry between Curtis, Lemmon and Monroe. In Hollywood, the screwball tradition came to be supplanted in public taste by Woody Allen, whose DNA can be traced through the cerebral creations of Charlie Kaufman.

These are the 25 best comedy films of all time according to the critics of the Guardian and Observer.


[amazon template=custom_thumbnail&asin=B000Y5JFN4&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Reiner This Is Spinal Tap]
15.[amazon text=This Is Spinal Tap&template=custom_title&asin=B000Y5JFN4&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Reiner This Is Spinal Tap] (1984)
Director: [amazon text=Rob Reiner&template=custom_search&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Rob Reiner] Stars: [amazon text=Rob Reiner&template=custom_search&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Rob Reiner], [amazon text=Michael McKean&template=custom_search&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Michael McKean], [amazon text=Christopher Guest&template=custom_search&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Christopher Guest]
[amazon text=Amazon&template=custom_text_price&asin=B000Y5JFN4&multi_cc=1&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Reiner This Is Spinal Tap]
[amazon template=custom_thumbnail&asin=B005D0RDVG&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Dazed and Confused Richard Linklater]
18.[amazon text=Dazed and Confused&template=custom_title&asin=B005D0RDVG&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Dazed and Confused Richard Linklater] (1993)
Director: [amazon text=Richard Linklater&template=custom_search&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Richard Linklater] Stars: [amazon text=Jason London&template=custom_search&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Jason London], [amazon text=Wiley Wiggins&template=custom_search&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Wiley Wiggins], [amazon text=Matthew McConaughey&template=custom_search&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Matthew McConaughey]
[amazon text=Amazon&template=custom_text_price&asin=B005D0RDVG&multi_cc=1&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Dazed and Confused Richard Linklater]
[amazon template=custom_thumbnail&asin=B00AEFXO1I&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Clueless Amy Heckerling]
21.[amazon text=Clueless&template=custom_title&asin=B00AEFXO1I&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Clueless Amy Heckerling] (1995)
Director: [amazon text=Amy Heckerling&template=custom_search&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Amy Heckerling] Stars: [amazon text=Alicia Silverstone&template=custom_search&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Alicia Silverstone], [amazon text=Stacey Dash&template=custom_search&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Stacey Dash], [amazon text=Brittany Murphy&template=custom_search&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Brittany Murphy]
[amazon text=Amazon&template=custom_text_price&asin=B00AEFXO1I&multi_cc=1&search_text=%TITLE%&title=Clueless Amy Heckerling]

The Guardian (founded in 1821) is a British national daily newspaper, and the Observer (founded in 1791) is its Sunday sibling. They are amongst the most influential papers in the world. The Guardian and its journalists have won numerous journalism awards, especially in the last decades.

Source: The Guardian
Last checked on: 16 January 2016
Image: