The best crime comedies balance both of their disparate elements, delivering laughs and thrills for the audience. Crime and comedy don’t intuitively seem like they should go together, but there are countless movies which prove this wrong, often using dark humor, inept criminals and witty detectives.
Crime comedies date back to the early days of cinema, but the genre has changed a lot since then. While early hits likeSherlock Jr.focused on detectives, there are now just as many movies with criminals as the heroes. Heist movies and morally ambiguous gangster movies can be just as funny as buddy cop comedies or hilarious whodunnits.
Ocean’s Elevenis one of thebest heist moviesever made, and it has set the standard for the subgenre throughout the 21st century. Brad Pitt and George Clooney lead a wonderful ensemble cast, filled with enough charisma to easily outdo the Rat Pack’s original movie from 1960.
The ending offers the same kind of rapturous reveal asThe Sting.
Ocean’s Elevenis always light on its feet, bouncing around between different members of the gang while steadily developing the elaborate heist. In the end, the third act delivers twist after twist, and it’s revealed that Steven Soderbergh is the true mastermind. The ending offers the same kind of rapturous reveal asThe Sting,which solidifiesOcean’s Eleven’s status as the ultimate crowdpleaser.
Rian Johnson has often spoken about his admiration for Agatha Christie’s work, butKnives Outis more than a mere imitation. Although it’s clearly dressed as a Poirot-style whodunnit,Knives Outhas a few tricks up its sleeve which it uses to reinvent the mystery genre. It shifts from a guessing game into a terrifying thriller in its second half.
The franchise’s third movie,Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,is slated for release later in 2025.
Daniel Craig’s eccentric performance as Benoit Blanc is key to much ofKnives Out’s comedic appeal. The brilliant detective often demurs and acts like a simpleton, but this is merely a ploy to rope his subjects in.He’s the kind of detective who’s easy to root for, not least because his country charms disrupt the snooty exterior of his surroundings.
Shane Black first rose to prominence as the writer ofLethal Weapon,and he later directedKiss Kiss Bang Bang.By the time he createdThe Nice Guys,he was already a veteran of the buddy cop subgenre, and this resulted in his funniest movie yet. Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe star in a retro crime caper as two mismatched detectives.
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Comedy is one of the great genres of film that frequently gets overlooked, but there isn’t much better than a classic, timeless comedy.
Gosling and Crowe don’t intuitively seem like a great fit, buttheir odd comedic tension is exactly what makesThe Nice Guysso funny. Crowe is a stoic, unflinching mass, while Gosling is given full license to give one of his most expressive and flamboyant performances, complete with childish squeals and fits of anxious rage.The Nice Guyswas a box office bomb, but it’s since been recognized as a cult classic.
A few years after the last of theirMonty Pythonmovies, John Cleese and Michael Palin worked together again onA Fish Called Wanda,a heist comedy that deals with the fallout of a diamond robbery.It’s more structured and less surreal thanMonty Python,but no less hilarious.
Cleese and Palin are both in fine form inA Fish Called Wanda,and the cast is rounded out by Jamie Lee Curtis and an Oscar-winning turn from Kevin Kline. This gives the story an intelligent culture-clash element, as both the Americans and the Brits find their personal foibles getting in the way. It’s a wonderfully chaotic caper filled with dark humor.
Some of thebest Guy Ritchie moviesare his gangster comedies, includingThe GentlemenandLock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Snatchis arguably the best of the bunch, as Rtchie’s flair for neatly orchestrated chaos reaches its peak. The shaggy dog story takes in illegal gambling, underground boxing, weapons trades, murder and a diamond heist pulled by thieves dressed as Hasidic Jews.
Snatchfeatures an ensemble filled with quirky characters, as plenty of warring gangsters collide and collude with one another in a knotty crime saga that can be hard to keep track of. A few performances stand out in this cacophony, including Brad Pitt’s brash boxer and Jason Statham’s surprisingly erudite Cockney thug.
Wes Anderson’s moviesare characterized by the director’s quirky aesthetic sensibilities, andThe Grand Budapest Hotelis arguably his most pristinely beautiful film. It’s also one of his most exciting, as a cosmopolitan hotelier and his trusty lobby boy abscond with a priceless painting, pursued by a merciless hitman.
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While most comedy movies end with a brief moment of sincerity, there are also those that keep the audience laughing until the very end.
The Grand Budapest Hoteldemonstrates so much of what makes Anderson a special director, as his large ensemble cast, colorful compositions and deadpan comedy are all designed to get the best out of a brilliant story. It also packs an unexpected emotional punch, which adds to the richness of the peculiar world.
There have been plenty of instances of actors playing multiple roles in movies, especially comedies, but no one has pushed this idea to the limit quite like Alec Guinness inKind Hearts and Coronets.He plays an entire noble family, as an ousted pretender decides to take a chainsaw to the family tree.
Guinness perfects the art of the comedic death inKind Hearts and Coronets,as each of his characters is picked off one-by-one. It’s as dark as dark comedies come, but Guinness' deadpan performance is vital to maintaining a whimsical tone that draws plenty of laughs. Although it was released back in 1949, there have been few films as funny or as shocking.
Each movie in Edgar Wright’sCornettotrilogy parodies a different film genre.Hot Fuzzsatirizes action movies, with references toBad BoysandLethal Weapon,but it’s also a surprisingly intelligent mystery. The story follows a battle-hardened inner city cop who is sent to a sleepy pastoral village, where he uncovers a criminal conspiracy lurking beneath the surface.
Hot Fuzzis packed with great quotes, and it has a cast stacked with comedic talent to get the best out of its script, but it also has plenty of great physical comedy. Wright’s broad palette means that he can move easily between hilarious film parodies, slapstick and sight gags. All in all,Hot Fuzzhas endless ways of making its audience laugh.
Some Like It Hothas aged surprisingly well, andit still has the power to surprise and entertain an audience over 60 years later. Billy Wilder’s comedy stars Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis as two musicians who flee prohibition-era Chicago after witnessing a gangland hit, but they are tracked all the way to Florida.
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History is littered with once-popular comedies which have aged poorly, but there are also some Old Hollywood classics that have held up.
Some Like It Hothas plenty of great jokes about gender, as the two musicians disguise themselves as women to evade detection. This evokes William Shakespeare’sTwelfth Night,as the confusion caused by the disguises manifests in constantly surprising ways. However,Some Like It Hotnever forgets about its crime plot, as the mob turn up in Florida for a hilariously frantic final confrontation.
Many of thebest Coen brothers moviesshowcase their flair for crime comedies, includingRaising ArizonaandThe Big Lebowski. Any one of these could be ranked among the funniest crime comedies ever, andFargois also worthy of such praise. The narrative follows a man who arranges to have his own wife kidnapped so that he can extort his wealthy father-in-law for a hefty ransom.
Frances McDormand’s pedestrian, by-the-book detective subverts all expectations of the genre’s more violent archetypes.
Fargodelivers an exquisite brand of dark humor, as bumbling criminals devolve into petty arguments despite carrying out heinous crimes. Steve Buscemi’s comedic rage is arguably the highlight of his career, and Frances McDormand’s pedestrian, by-the-book detective subverts all expectations of the genre’s more violent archetypes.Few films balance crime and comedy as perfectly asFargo.
