The Definitive - Top 50 Comedy List
by sandy1873 | created - 18 May 2011 | updated - 19 May 2011 | PublicAn open-minded, Adam Sandler free list of the top 50 comedy films of all time.
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1. Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Drama
A Chicago advertising man must struggle to travel home from New York for Thanksgiving, with a lovable oaf of a shower-curtain-ring salesman as his only companion.
Director: John Hughes | Stars: Steve Martin, John Candy, Laila Robins, Michael McKean
Votes: 160,352 | Gross: $49.53M
2. Dumb and Dumber (1994)
PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy
After a woman leaves a briefcase at the airport terminal, a dumb limo driver and his dumber friend set out on a hilarious cross-country road trip to Aspen to return it.
Directors: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly | Stars: Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Lauren Holly, Mike Starr
Votes: 412,502 | Gross: $127.18M
3. There's Something About Mary (1998)
R | 119 min | Comedy, Romance
A man gets a chance to meet up with his dream girl from high school, even though his date with her back then was a complete disaster.
Directors: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly | Stars: Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon, Ben Stiller, Lee Evans
Votes: 329,028 | Gross: $176.48M
4. Some Like It Hot (1959)
Passed | 121 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
After two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft
Votes: 283,678 | Gross: $25.00M
5. Ruthless People (1986)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Crime
A couple cheated by a vile businessman kidnaps his wife in retaliation, not knowing that their enemy is delighted that they did.
Directors: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker | Stars: Bette Midler, Danny DeVito, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater
Votes: 30,536 | Gross: $71.62M
6. Vacation (1983)
R | 98 min | Adventure, Comedy
The Griswold family's cross-country drive to the Walley World theme park proves to be much more arduous than they ever anticipated.
Director: Harold Ramis | Stars: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Imogene Coca, Randy Quaid
Votes: 120,175 | Gross: $61.40M
7. The Commitments (1991)
R | 118 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Jimmy Rabbitte, an unemployed Dublin boy, decides to put together a soul band made up entirely of the Irish working class.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Robert Arkins, Michael Aherne, Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle Kennedy
Votes: 38,819 | Gross: $14.92M
8. The Birdcage (1996)
R | 117 min | Comedy
A gay cabaret owner and his drag queen companion agree to put up a false straight front so that their son can introduce them to his fiancée's right-wing moralistic parents.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest
Votes: 100,706 | Gross: $124.06M
9. American Pie (1999)
R | 95 min | Comedy
Four teenage boys enter a pact to lose their virginity by prom night.
Directors: Paul Weitz, Chris Weitz | Stars: Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Jennifer Coolidge
Votes: 434,002 | Gross: $102.56M
10. Raining Stones (1993)
Not Rated | 90 min | Comedy, Drama
This Ken Loach film tells the story of a man devoted to his family and his religion. Proud, though poor, Bob wants his little girl to have a beautiful (and costly) brand-new dress for her ... See full summary »
Director: Ken Loach | Stars: Bruce Jones, Julie Brown, Gemma Phoenix, Ricky Tomlinson
Votes: 4,920 | Gross: $0.09M
11. Fletch (1985)
PG | 98 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
While working undercover wisecracking newspaper reporter Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher is offered a large sum by a millionaire with a terminal disease to kill him. Intrigued, Fletch decides to unearth the full story behind the offer.
Director: Michael Ritchie | Stars: Chevy Chase, Joe Don Baker, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Richard Libertini
Votes: 57,951 | Gross: $50.61M
12. Fletch Lives (1989)
PG | 95 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
After receiving an inheritance in Louisiana, Los Angeles reporter Irwin Fletcher heads to the Belle Isle plantation where he gets himself into hilarious trouble.
Director: Michael Ritchie | Stars: Chevy Chase, Hal Holbrook, Julianne Phillips, R. Lee Ermey
Votes: 23,271 | Gross: $35.15M
13. Stripes (1981)
R | 106 min | Comedy, War
Two friends who are dissatisfied with their jobs decide to join the army for a bit of fun.
Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: Bill Murray, John Candy, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates
Votes: 80,048 | Gross: $85.30M
14. Groundhog Day (1993)
PG | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day.
Director: Harold Ramis | Stars: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott, Stephen Tobolowsky
Votes: 685,441 | Gross: $70.91M
15. Caddyshack (1980)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Sport
An exclusive golf course has to deal with a flatulent new member and a destructive dancing gopher.
Director: Harold Ramis | Stars: Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray, Ted Knight
Votes: 127,232 | Gross: $39.85M
16. The Jerk (1979)
R | 94 min | Comedy
A simpleminded, sheltered country boy suddenly decides to leave his family home to experience life in the big city, where his naivete is both his best friend and his worst enemy.
Director: Carl Reiner | Stars: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Catlin Adams, Mabel King
Votes: 64,240 | Gross: $73.69M
17. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Crime
Two con men try to settle their rivalry by betting on who can swindle a young American heiress out of fifty thousand dollars first.
Director: Frank Oz | Stars: Steve Martin, Michael Caine, Glenne Headly, Anton Rodgers
Votes: 78,119 | Gross: $42.04M
18. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
R | 105 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A freewheeling Detroit cop pursuing a murder investigation finds himself dealing with the very different culture of Beverly Hills.
Director: Martin Brest | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Lisa Eilbacher
Votes: 203,457 | Gross: $234.76M
19. Coupe de Ville (1990)
PG-13 | 99 min | Comedy, Drama
Three bickering brothers who don't get along reluctantly go on a cross country road trip together to deliver a car in time for their mother's birthday.
Director: Joe Roth | Stars: Patrick Dempsey, Arye Gross, Daniel Stern, Annabeth Gish
Votes: 2,662 | Gross: $0.72M
20. Young Frankenstein (1974)
PG | 106 min | Comedy
An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle
Votes: 168,957 | Gross: $86.30M
21. Silver Streak (1976)
PG | 114 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
On a long-distance train trip, a man finds romance but also finds himself in danger of being killed, or at least pushed off the train.
Director: Arthur Hiller | Stars: Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Jill Clayburgh, Patrick McGoohan
Votes: 21,724
22. Spies Like Us (1985)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Comedy
Two bumbling government employees think they are U.S. spies, only to discover that they are actually decoys for Nuclear War.
Director: John Landis | Stars: Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Mark Stewart, Sean Daniel
Votes: 52,992 | Gross: $60.09M
23. Gung Ho (1986)
PG-13 | 111 min | Comedy, Drama
When a Japanese automobile company buys an American plant, the American liaison must mediate the clash of work attitudes between the foreign management and native labor.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Michael Keaton, Gedde Watanabe, George Wendt, Mimi Rogers
Votes: 13,939 | Gross: $36.61M
24. Trading Places (1983)
R | 116 min | Comedy
A snobbish investor and a wily street con artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.
Director: John Landis | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche
Votes: 165,890 | Gross: $90.40M
25. Ghostbusters (1984)
PG | 105 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy
Three parapsychologists forced out of their university funding set up shop as a unique ghost removal service in New York City, attracting frightened yet skeptical customers.
Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis
Votes: 450,580 | Gross: $238.63M
26. National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)
R | 109 min | Comedy
At a 1962 college, Dean Vernon Wormer is determined to expel the entire Delta Tau Chi Fraternity, but those troublemakers have other plans for him.
Director: John Landis | Stars: John Belushi, Karen Allen, Tom Hulce, Stephen Furst
Votes: 129,389
27. Christmas Vacation (1989)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy
The Griswold family's plans for a big family Christmas predictably turn into a big disaster.
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik | Stars: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki
Votes: 220,180 | Gross: $71.32M
28. 1941 (1979)
PG | 118 min | Action, Comedy, War
Hysterical Californians prepare for a Japanese invasion in the days after Pearl Harbor.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Treat Williams, Nancy Allen
Votes: 36,280 | Gross: $31.76M
29. Class (1983)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young man in private school spends one crazy night out, and only later does he learn more about the woman who enlivened his night.
Director: Lewis John Carlino | Stars: Jacqueline Bisset, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Cliff Robertson
Votes: 12,072
30. The 'Burbs (1989)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
An overstressed suburbanite and his neighbors are convinced that the new family on the block is part of a murderous Satanic cult.
Director: Joe Dante | Stars: Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Corey Feldman
Votes: 83,569 | Gross: $36.60M
31. Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Crime
In New York in 1928, a struggling playwright is forced to cast a mobster's talentless girlfriend in his latest drama in order to get it produced.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: John Cusack, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Tilly, Chazz Palminteri
Votes: 41,810 | Gross: $13.38M
32. Annie Hall (1977)
PG | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
Alvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian, reflects on his relationship with ex-lover Annie Hall, an aspiring nightclub singer, which ended abruptly just like his previous marriages.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane
Votes: 278,527 | Gross: $39.20M
33. To Be or Not to Be (1983)
PG | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, War
At the onset of WW2, a Polish actor's family and the Polish Resistance help the troupe of a theatre escape Poland and the invading Nazis.
Director: Alan Johnson | Stars: Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft, Ronny Graham, Estelle Reiner
Votes: 12,038 | Gross: $13.03M
34. History of the World: Part I (1981)
R | 92 min | Comedy, History, Musical
Mel Brooks brings his one-of-a-kind comic touch to the history of mankind covering events from the Old Testament to the French Revolution in a series of episodic comedy vignettes.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Mel Brooks, Gregory Hines, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn
Votes: 55,255 | Gross: $31.67M
35. Semi-Pro (2008)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Sport
Jackie Moon, the owner-coach-player of the American Basketball Association's Flint Michigan Tropics, rallies his teammates to make their NBA dreams come true.
Director: Kent Alterman | Stars: Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André 3000, Maura Tierney
Votes: 86,046 | Gross: $33.47M
36. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy
In the 1970s, an anchorman's stint as San Diego's top-rated newsreader is challenged when an ambitious newswoman becomes his co-anchor.
Director: Adam McKay | Stars: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd
Votes: 378,747 | Gross: $85.29M
37. Zoolander (2001)
PG-13 | 90 min | Comedy
At the end of his career, a clueless fashion model is brainwashed to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Director: Ben Stiller | Stars: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Christine Taylor, Will Ferrell
Votes: 292,022 | Gross: $45.17M
38. Tin Men (1987)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama
A minor car accident drives two rival aluminum-siding salesmen to the ridiculous extremes of man versus man in 1963 Baltimore.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Danny DeVito, Barbara Hershey, John Mahoney
Votes: 9,788 | Gross: $25.41M
39. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
PG-13 | 108 min | Comedy, Sport
Number one NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby stays atop the heap thanks to a pact with his best friend and teammate, Cal Naughton, Jr. But when a French Formula One driver, makes his way up the ladder, Ricky Bobby's talent and devotion are put to the test.
Director: Adam McKay | Stars: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Gary Cole
Votes: 199,996 | Gross: $148.21M
40. High Fidelity (2000)
R | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Rob, a record store owner and compulsive list maker, recounts his top five breakups, including the one in progress.
Director: Stephen Frears | Stars: John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Todd Louiso, Jack Black
Votes: 189,837 | Gross: $27.29M
41. What About Bob? (1991)
PG | 99 min | Comedy
A successful psychotherapist loses his mind after one of his most dependent patients, an obsessive-compulsive neurotic, tracks him down during his family vacation.
Director: Frank Oz | Stars: Bill Murray, Richard Dreyfuss, Julie Hagerty, Charlie Korsmo
Votes: 74,494 | Gross: $63.71M
42. Starsky & Hutch (2004)
PG-13 | 101 min | Comedy, Crime
Two streetwise cops bust criminals in their red and white Ford Gran Torino, with the help of a police snitch called "Huggy Bear".
Director: Todd Phillips | Stars: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Snoop Dogg, Vince Vaughn
Votes: 154,573 | Gross: $88.24M
43. The Ladykillers (1955)
Not Rated | 91 min | Comedy, Crime
Five oddball criminals planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.
Director: Alexander Mackendrick | Stars: Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom
Votes: 31,414
44. Carry on Up the Khyber (1968)
Not Rated | 88 min | Adventure, Comedy
Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond looks after the British outpost near the Khyber Pass. Protected by the kilted Third Foot and Mouth regiment, you would think they were safe but the Khazi of Kalabar has other ideas.
Director: Gerald Thomas | Stars: Sidney James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Roy Castle
Votes: 5,464
45. Life of Brian (1979)
R | 94 min | Comedy
Born on the original Christmas in the stable next door to Jesus Christ, Brian of Nazareth spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.
Director: Terry Jones | Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam
Votes: 421,948 | Gross: $20.05M
46. Zombieland (2009)
R | 88 min | Action, Comedy, Horror
A shy student trying to reach his family in Ohio, a gun-toting bruiser in search of the last Twinkie and a pair of sisters striving to get to an amusement park join forces in a trek across a zombie-filled America.
Director: Ruben Fleischer | Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Abigail Breslin
Votes: 621,711 | Gross: $75.59M
47. When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Harry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby
Votes: 242,889 | Gross: $92.82M
48. Midnight Run (1988)
R | 126 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A bounty hunter pursues a former Mafia accountant who is also being chased by a rival bounty hunter, the F.B.I., and his old mob boss after jumping bail.
Director: Martin Brest | Stars: Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto, John Ashton
Votes: 94,282 | Gross: $38.41M
49. Running Scared (1986)
R | 107 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Two street-wise Chicago cops have to shake off some rust after returning from a Key West vacation to pursue a drug dealer who nearly killed them in the past.
Director: Peter Hyams | Stars: Gregory Hines, Billy Crystal, Steven Bauer, Darlanne Fluegel
Votes: 15,016 | Gross: $38.50M
50. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
PG-13 | 85 min | Comedy, Crime
Incompetent police Detective Frank Drebin must foil an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.
Director: David Zucker | Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, O.J. Simpson, Ricardo Montalban
Votes: 185,130 | Gross: $78.76M
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