--In a multipart feature, Highbrow Magazine film staff rave about the best comedies they have ever seen, from the lowbrow to the highbrow, of course.
Our senior writer and film critic Ulises Duenas previously shared his list.
--Ben Friedman: Contributing Writer and Film Critic
In selecting the 12 best comedies I have ever seen, I found myself having the same debate many movie lovers have: Is greatness in comedy defined by the standard structural prism through which we view film—editing, pacing, performances, artistic endeavor—or do we judge it purely by what makes us laugh the most? I chose the latter for this exercise. My biggest criterion for making it onto this list was the laugh ratio. Essentially, how much does this movie make me laugh?
In curating this list of comedies, something struck me as I asked my father to peruse it and help me narrow down the funniest movies ever made. While brainstorming, I realized my understanding of comedy is largely inherited from him. He raised me and curated the films that shaped my idea of what’s funny. So, my comedic preferences are deeply tied to my upbringing and Father’s sense of humor, which defines about half of the entries on this list.
The other half comes from my teenage years when I began seeking out films on my own and became the curator—deciding for myself what I found funny. These 12 films best illustrate where my comedic sensibilities lie. Are they the best comedies ever? Who knows. Films I adore—such as Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Happy Gilmore, Dumb and Dumber, and The Princess Bride—all failed to make the list. Still, I believe these curated films hold emotional truths for a generation born in the late '90s raised by parents who introduced them to the stars of their days, only to later shape their own comedic tastes through YouTube and other forms of social media.
Jackass Number Two
Equal parts masochistic and wildly funny, Jackass defined a generation’s sense of humor by blending skater culture, stunt absurdity, and prank anarchy into something that now echoes across YouTube and TikTok. Led by Johnny Knoxville, the crew turned chaos into camaraderie, carrying on the physical comedy lineage of legends like Buster Keaton and Chevy Chase. For Knoxville, he is the jester, and the viewing world is his royal court.
Jackass Number Two captures their essence best. It’s not just a collection of stunts, but a group of men exercising personal demons through laughter, lunacy, and pain. In one scene, Knoxville convinces Bam Margera and the late Ryan Dunn to stand in front of a large crowd-dispersing weapon used outside embassies that fires 700 rubber bullets in a second. Panic sets in, to which Knoxville just grins and convinces his team by telling them the magic phrase: “Come on, it’s footage.”
The Jerk
I knew I had to include a Steve Martin movie on this list, and Carl Reiner’s The Jerk was the only choice. Martin plays Navin, who’s “born a poor Black child” in the South only to one day discover he was adopted. He leaves his family of sharecroppers in Mississippi to see the world, and what follows is chaotic, sincere, and wonderfully funny.
Steve Martin has an incredible gift for comedic delivery. Whether it’s not realizing he’s being shot at and blaming the defective cans, or beating up a group of racist real estate agents for using slurs, the brilliance of Reiner’s delightful comedy gem lies in its total commitment to the joke. Beneath the absurdity is a sweet emotional core about acceptance, love, and the journey to find oneself.
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
I debated which Zucker Brothers’ film to include on this list, but ultimately, this is the one I’ve watched and laughed at the most in large part due to the completely straight-faced, committed performance from Leslie Nielsen in a world of total lunacy. Nielsen plays Detective Frank Drebin, quite literally the dumbest man in the world, who somehow always manages to succeed at his job. It’s a tour-de-force performance: Nielsen never flinches at a punchline, never breaks for a second, and never winks at the audience to let them know he’s in on the joke.
Hot Rod
The most recent entry on my list, the comedic work of Andy Samberg and The Lonely Island was a rite of passage for anyone growing up in the early 2000s. His viral SNL hit Lazy Sunday was one of the first YouTube videos I remember watching. At 8 years old, I didn’t know why it was funny, but I knew it was. A few years later, at age 12, my dad insisted on showing me what he called “one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen,” and turned on Hot Rod. The film follows an inept stuntman (Samberg) who plans the most dangerous stunt his town has ever seen—not to save his stepfather, but to raise money for his heart transplant so he can recover… and then beat him up to prove his manhood.
The cast is rounded out by a who’s who of future comedy icons, including Danny McBride and Bill Hader, just before their breakout fame. Hot Rod is the definition of offbeat, absurdist humor full of random non-sequiturs, over-the-top physical gags, and an earnest heart beneath the ridiculousness. It’s a perfect time capsule of mid-2000s comedy that only gets funnier on repeat viewing.
Zoolander
Zoolander follows Derek Zoolander, a dimwitted male model and survivor of a tragic gasoline fight accident, on a journey to discover if there’s more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good-looking. Directed, written by, and starring Ben Stiller, the film initially flopped when it premiered just weeks after 9/11, but time turned it into a cult classic that defined early 2000s comedy.
From a walk-off judged by David Bowie to the gloriously unhinged villain Mugatu (played by Will Ferrell), Zoolander is packed with iconic moments and endlessly quotable lines. It’s absurd, self-aware, and stupid in all the right ways—anchored by the comedic chemistry of Stiller and Owen Wilson, who ended up becoming the defining comedic duo of the 2000s.
The Royal Tenenbaums
“I’m sorry about your mother. She was a terribly attractive woman.” Gene Hackman delivers that line with an unmatched comedic bite in what stands as his last truly great role. In The Royal Tenenbaums, Hackman plays Royal, a washed-up patriarch who fakes a terminal illness to reconnect with his estranged genius children, dragging us into the meticulously crafted dollhouse world of Wes Anderson at his most stylistically assured.
It’s a bittersweet, whimsical story about loss, regret, and the complicated path to healing, anchored by wonderfully restrained performances from Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Luke Wilson as the wounded Tenenbaum siblings. Each of them is stuck in their own arrested development—haunted by past glory and heartbreak—until their father’s chaotic return sets off a series of funny and melancholy events that set them all on a path of redemption and love, in their own unique way.
Annie Hall
Being a Woody Allen fan in the year 2025 comes with a certain level of shame. And yet, no comedic voice looms larger in my life than Allen’s. His writing struck a nerve in me as a young, Jewish, neurotic kid trying to make sense of romance, sex, and identity. Annie Hall is the culmination of that voice: the greatest romantic comedy ever made, a bittersweet story of relationships, loss, and the maddening unpredictability of love.
What makes Annie Hall so enduring nearly 50 years later is its emotional honesty about why we keep trying, even when love fails us. In the film’s closing monologue, Alvy tells a joke about a man whose brother believes he’s a chicken. When asked why he doesn’t turn him in, the man replies, “I would, but I need the eggs.” Despite the irrationality of love, we desire still this. It’s funny, sad, and perfectly captures the contradictions of the human heart.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Twenty years later, Sacha Baron Cohen saying “My wife!” still gets a laugh out of me. Based on his hit HBO series Da Ali G Show, Borat follows Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev as he travels across America in a mockumentary that places real people in absurd situations exposing, with unsettling clarity, the ignorance, bigotry, and contradictions embedded in American culture.
The film is relentless in its satire, holding up a mirror to a post-9/11 America during the George W. Bush era, capturing a strain of xenophobia and cultural fear that would only grow louder in the years to come. While the sequel doesn’t land quite as hard, it still manages to offer biting commentary on the rise of MAGA politics. In both films, the results are often ugly, occasionally shocking, and undeniably hilarious.
The Spongebob Squarepants Movie
A staple for any child growing up in the 2000s, the adventures of SpongeBob SquarePants and his starfish best friend Patrick Star were a rite of passage. The goofy shenanigans of the underwater town Bikini Bottom helped define a generation’s early relationship with comedy. Voiced by comedian and voice actor Tom Kenny, SpongeBob reached new levels of mainstream appeal when Nickelodeon and Paramount brought him to the big screen in 2004.
Packed with celebrity voice cameos, razor-sharp self-referential humor, and absurd visual gags, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is arguably the single most influential film in shaping Gen Z’s comedic sensibilities (much to our parents’ dismay). Whether it’s the duo going on an ice cream bender or riding David Hasselhoff back to Bikini Bottom to save the day, the film is overflowing with belly laughs for a generation raised on the sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea.
Young Frankenstein
Mel Brooks’s comedic masterpiece, Young Frankenstein, showcases the talents of a director, writer, and performer whose innate sense of humor has kept audiences laughing for over half a century: a loving and hilarious send-up of Mary Shelley’s classic novel and the iconic Universal monster films of the 1930s and jampacked with comedic powerhouse performances, most notably Gene Wilder’s best performance as the tormented yet eccentric Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, and Marty Feldman delivering a career-defining turn as the mischievous Igor. Yet, perhaps the film’s most famous moment—the Monster and Frankenstein performing Puttin’ on the Ritz—remains one of the most delightfully absurd scenes in comedic history.
National Lampoon’s Vacation
No phrase better sums up Chevy Chase’s comedic persona than his iconic SNL catchphrase: “I’m Chevy Chase, and you’re not.” And no film showcases his full range of charm, timing, and manic unraveling quite like National Lampoon’s Vacation.
As Clark Griswold, Chase embodies the suburban everyman—handsome but bumbling, warm-hearted yet neurotic, with a relentless optimism that borders on delusion. He’s got the dream: a classic station wagon, two mostly willing kids, and a stunningly gorgeous wife—played by Beverly D’Angelo.
What makes Vacation endure is how it walks the tightrope between absurdity and sincerity. Chase plays Clark like a man constantly on the edge, boiling over with frustration, libido, and ambition, because beneath all the mishaps and meltdowns, is a guy desperate to give his family the kind of joy he never had in his childhood. Even in the film’s raunchiest, most unhinged moments, there’s an oddly sweet core: a suburban dad who wants to be everything for his family. The world may be against him, but Clark Griswold’s driving forces—familial devotion and stubbornness —refuse to let him quit.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
In my opinion, Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the only perfect comedy. Not a single line is wasted, nor a single comedic performance falls flat. Every joke, no matter what, is delivered with anything less than full commitment to absurdity. This film captures Monty Python at the absolute peak of their comedic powers. Yet, what makes the film even more remarkable is how it thrives on limitation. With a notoriously tight budget, the comedy troupe turned every constraint into an opportunity for comedy. The low production value isn’t a hindrance, but rather an inspiration to deliver more comedy, becoming part of the joke, making the film all the more charming and clever, proving that great comedy doesn’t require A-list stars, massive budgets, or even traditional narrative logic. Instead, passion, commitment to the bit, fearless creativity, and impeccable comedic instincts define the genius of Monty Python and the Holy Grail: a film so joyfully ridiculous and tightly constructed that it remains endlessly quotable and laugh-out-loud funny, generation after generation.
--Garrett Hartman: Contributing Writer and Film Critic
Deadpool 2
It’s not often that a sequel tops the original, but in my book, Deadpool 2 is one that does. Directed by David Leitch, starring Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, and Zazie Beetz, Deadpool 2 ups the ante on the action and jokes of the original, while maintaining a compelling, if slightly cliché, story. Its litany of references and cameos, mixed with Deadpool’s respectful disrespect of the Marvel universe, makes it one of if not the best comic book movies released to date.
Monty Python’s Life of Brian
A list of the best comedies would be incomplete without a film by comedy troupe Monty Python. Every film seems to be a comic masterpiece and Life of Brian certainly is. The film takes aim at the story of Jesus, following the titular character Brian, Graham Chapman, as he is mistaken for the messiah as a result of being born next door to the Son of God on the same day. Monty Python’s blend of wit and stupidity satirizes religion with no shortage of heresy.
Popstar: Never Stop Stopping
This mockumentary, written, directed, and starred in by members of The Lonely Island pokes fun at pop music and celebrity culture broadly. Inundated with cameos from terrific comedians and musicians, Popstar is a fun celebration of music as much as it is a critique. The story follows Connor 4 Real, Andy Samberg, and the fallout of his failed new album. The movie features offensive and funny parody songs, which you can stream.
Snatchers
Snatchers is an absurd horror comedy that follows Sara, Mary Nepi, after she becomes nine months pregnant with an alien overnight. While initially it might seem like a cheap “so bad it’s good” film riding off of a zany premise, it is effortlessly funny. It manages a tone that is perfectly self-aware. Its leading ladies, Nepi and Gabrielle Elyse, have terrific chemistry in delivering the film’s witty lines.
Charlie Bartlett
Despite being released in 2007, Charlie Bartlett feels like an ‘80s teen comedy akin to Ferris Bueller's Day Off or the Breakfast Club. It follows rich kid Charlie Bartlett, Anton Yelchin, who opens a makeshift psychiatry practice in his public school boy’s bathroom. The film has the obvious comic antics of teens accessing controlled substances. However, like those ‘80s films, Charlie Bartlett addresses serious topics like mental health, substance abuse, and growing up in genuinely heartwarming ways.
Cunk on Life
The feature follow-up to the Netflix series Cunk on Earth, Cunk on Life continues Philomena Cunk’s (Diane Morgan) quest to ask some of the most profound questions about life on our planet. In this mockumentary, Philomena asks real experts dumb, off-the-wall questions to provide viewers a misguided understanding of the science, history, and culture of our planet. Morgan is perfect in her role, delivering absurd lines hilariously while keeping a straight face. Unlike other mockumentaries, Cunk on Life has a “nature show” tone to it, which sets it apart from similar works.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy adapts Douglas Adams’s book of the same name, which itself is an adaptation of the original radio show. Like the other British comedies on this list, Hitchhiker thrives on a sense of humor that almost paradoxically feels clever and idiotic at the same time. It faithfully adapts the book and visually captures the bizarre universe in Hitchhiker. The film also features an excellent cast with Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent, who plays well against a supporting cast including Sam Rockwell, Zooey Deschanel, and Yasiin Bey.
Team America: World Police
Headed by Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame, Team America is a hysterical parody of patriotism and the war on terror. Portrayed entirely through marionettes, there is nothing quite like Team America. Some of the jokes don’t necessarily age well, but given that Parker and Stone are at the helm, it is certainly edgy and may offend some viewers, but if you can excuse those insignificant offenses, it’s absolutely worth watching.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Like Team America, Borat is somewhat objectionable, yet there are few films like it. Sacha Baron Cohen’s iconic film is vulgar, absurd, cringe-inducing, and at times hard to watch. It is difficult to not be embarrassed while watching Cohen's conduct and how people react to it. Nevertheless, it humorously exposes the lengths to which bigotry is ingrained in American culture.
Zoolander
Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson shine in this parody of fashion culture. The film goes over the top with flamboyant outfits, spies, and gasoline water fights. More dumb fun than witty commentary, Zoolander isn’t groundbreaking, but it achieves exactly what it sets out to do.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
A classic, Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a must see. It follows the antics of Ferris and his friends as they ditch school and try not to get caught. With fun sequences of mischief, a subplot where Bueller's cult of personality rallies the entire town around his fake illness, and its admittedly cliche “carpe diem” message, it ticks the boxes of a great story. The 4th wall breaking main character and Matthew Broderick’s great portrayal of the remarkable Ferris makes the film so charming, you can almost overlook the fact that Ferris Bueller is actually kind of a jerk.
Idiocracy
Joking that Idiocracy was ahead of its time, or a documentary, or any number of cynical ties to our current culture is a bit overdone. Prophetic testament to the ridiculous state of domestic affairs or not, Idiocracy is a great comedy. All about laughing at the stupidity of stupidity and the lowbrow, it offers incredibly dumb jokes (such as the film’s proposed future names for the “Fuddruckers” burger chain). A perfect film to wax indignant at the state of American culture.
For Highbrow Magazine