Everyone remembers how funny movies were in the 1980s. And the 1990s. And the 2000s. But what about the 2010s? Contrary to what some might say, the second decade of the 21st century has its own share of classic comedies. But which are actually the greatest of all time?
While comedies in the 2000s saw a resurgence in raunchiness, it also saw a shift in tone and cadence for humor. Movies like Wedding Crashers, Napoleon Dynamite, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Superbad changed the vibe of R-rated comedies. The 2010s picked up the baton and kept certain trends and talent going, but a few mega-hit releases also shook up the status quo. Not only did more women star and take creative lead, but earnestness and sincerity snuck into some of the funniest movies of the decade. Here are 32 of the greatest comedies of the 2010s.
32. The Big Sick (2017)
The Big Sick, a 2017 rom-com, is loosely inspired by Kumail Nanjiani's real-life love story with his spouse, Emily V. Gordon (who co-wrote the film with Nanjiani). Nanjiani plays a version of himself, that of a stand-up comic in Chicago who falls in love with Emily (Zoe Kazan) only for her to end up in a medically induced coma for several months. Kumail then strikes up an uneasy but close friendship with her parents (played in the movie by Holly Hunter and Ray Romano) as they come together to share anxieties over Emily's health. The Big Sick is a sweet romantic comedy (with one of the all-time greatest 9/11 jokes you'll ever hear) in a time when Hollywood was starved of them.
31. The Disaster Artist (2017)
Oh, hi Mark! Based on real events (and actor Greg Sestero's 2013 memoir), The Disaster Artist chronicles the bizarre creation of The Room, the notorious indie drama widely considered to be the worst movie of all time. The Disaster Artist chronicles The Room's writer, director, and star Tommy Wiseau (played in the movie by James Franco, who also directs) whose arrival in Los Angeles kicks off a fateful journey that, unbeknownst to everyone in Tinseltown, changes everything forever. A straightforward biopic would have sufficed, but The Disaster Artist intelligently muses on the emotional brutality of chasing dreams and the irony of what it takes to actually find artistic success. It's also deeply funny, with Franco's interpretation of Wiseau nothing short of a spectacle in and of itself.
30. Bridesmaids (2011)
If you went to a wedding circa early 2010s, chances are you've seen the bridal party recreate the iconic poster. That's because Bridesmaids was one of the biggest hits of 2011, earning rave reviews and serving up female-oriented counterprogramming to Marvel's Thor. From director Paul Feig, Bridesmaids follows the escalating misfortunes of a troubled young woman (played by Kristen Wiig, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Annie Mumolo) after she's named maid of honor for her best friend's wedding. Perfectly timed to the first wave of millennials getting engaged, Bridesmaids' success has made it a generational touchstone and the start of more comedies with and about women that also weren't exclusively romantic.
29. Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
In 1993, Richard Linklater helmed the ultimate teen summer movie with Dazed and Confused. Decades later in 2016, Linklater tapped into that same wellspring for Everybody Wants Some!!, channeling that same spirit into the first few days of college. In Everybody Wants Some!!, Blake Jenner plays a former high school baseball star who strikes up an immediate friendship with his fellow collegiate teammates. Described as one of the greatest hangout movies in the modern era, Everybody Wants Some!! transforms bawdy bro antics into tender celebrations of fleeting joy. In other words: It's about hilarious dudes who have big hearts, and Everybody Wants Some!! invites us all to get a piece of the action.
28. Booksmart (2019)
Sitting behind the director's chair for the first time, Olivia Wilde knocked it out of the park with Booksmart, a new entry to the canon of greatest teen comedies. Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever co-star as two Ivy League-bound girls on the verge of high school graduation who decide to finally party it up and make up for lost time. This kicks off one crazy night where their lives change forever. A critically lauded movie celebrated for its own spin on raunchy teen comedies, Booksmart makes the honor roll as one of the best of the 2010s.
27. Easy A (2010)
The breakout hit for Emma Stone, Easy A enjoys enduring popularity as one of the finest teen comedies of the 2010s. Stone plays an ordinary teenage girl, Olive, who is suddenly the talk of her high school hallways when a false rumor spreads about her promiscuity. Inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Olive leverages her new reputation by allowing all the desperate boys at school say they "got" with her (in exchange for shopping sprees). Things get bad when the rumor inevitably spirals out of control. The coming-out party for Emma Stone as a leading actress, Easy A also cleverly subverted the abundant luridity of 2000s teen comedies to offer a cleaner spin on being filthy.
26. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
Love is a game in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Based on Bryan Lee O'Malley's acclaimed graphic novel series, Edgar Wright's star-studded movie version follows the adventures of Toronto bassist Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) who is challenged in hand-to-hand combat by the seven evil exes of his new girlfriend Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Breathless in its barrage of pop culture and video game parodies mixed with young adult millennial angst, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World ranks up as one of the decade's greatest and most hilarious offerings.
25. Goon (2011)
Go pucks deep, establish the forecheck – and always hit 'em where it hurts. In Goon, Seann William Scott hits the rink to throw down as Doug Glatt, a simple but kind bar bouncer who finds local stardom as the new enforcer of a struggling minor league hockey team. (The movie is loosely adapted from Doug Smith's autobiography Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey.) He is eventually pitted against hockey veteran Ross "The Boss" Shea (played by Liev Schrieber). Though Goon came a little too late to ride the wave of 2000s sports comedies with Dodgeball, Talladega Nights, and The Longest Yard, Goon hits the funny bone hard, skating by on Scott's affable aura.
24. The Lego Movie (2014)
When The Lego Movie came out, everything was awesome. After Phil Lord and Christopher Miller proved their cinematic comedy chops with Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street, the duo unleashed their acclaimed animated family comedy The Lego Movie. Hailed for its stunning animation (especially its faithful recreation of how kids actually play with Lego bricks), excellent voice acting – including Parks & Recreation's Chris Pratt as the wholesome, if naive everybrick protagonist – and triumphant tale about underdog heroes, The Lego Movie exceeded low expectations as a mere "toy movie" to be something so much more.
23. Ted (2012)
The best friend a boy could have is his teddy bear. The best friend a man could have is… his teddy bear, who has a foul mouth and a thing for girls with "Lynn" in their names. From writer/director Seth McFarlane, 2012's Ted follows the distressing friendship between 30-something slacker John (Mark Wahlberg) and his miraculous talking teddy bear, Ted (McFarlane). After brief celebrity status in the 1980s, John and Ted now languish as unambitious buds and roommates, and their relationship gets tested when John's girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis) wants things to be more serious. One would assume an R-rated movie from the creator of Family Guy would wear out its hilarious premise, but Ted is actually super stuffed with heart and humor.
22. Pain & Gain (2013)
In 2013, between his many Transformers sequels, Michael Bay went back to his R-rated action roots with the muscular crime comedy Pain & Gain. Inspired by a real life '90s crime spree in Miami carried out by bodybuilders, Pain & Gain follows the desperate efforts of Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg), a personal trainer eager to live the high life by attempting to extort one of his affluent clients (Tony Shalhoub); Anthony Mackie and Dwayne Johnson co-star as his conspirators. While Pain & Gain gets uncomfortably dark, it recognizes the humor in its own absurdity, being a movie that reflects on how funny the chase of the American dream can be.
21. Horrible Bosses (2011)
Let's be real. We've all had bosses we've wanted nothing more than for… well, bad things to happen. (Right?) Seth Gordon's 2011 comedy Horrible Bosses explores that legally problematic "What if?" situation in its hilarious story of three best friends – played by Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day – who commit to killing each of their abusive, morally reprehensible bosses, only for their efforts to blow up in smoke. Snappy dialogue and a dark sense of humor made Horrible Bosses a surprise box office hit when it opened in summer 2011, spawning a direct sequel in 2014.
20. This Is the End (2013)
At the height of Hollywood's new class of dude comedy stars, actors Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Craig Robinson, and Jonah Hill played fictionalized versions of themselves in the outrageous apocalypse comedy This Is the End. During a party at Franco's L.A. mansion, the biblical rapture unfolds and hell's minions are unleashed all across Burbank. While most of the movie documents the hilarious efforts of these pampered movie stars to stay sane – including staging their own crude sequel to 2008's Pineapple Express – This Is the End soon becomes a laugh riot of a survival horror where it's every A-lister for themselves.
19. The Other Guys (2010)
He's a peacock, captain – and you gotta let him fly! The Other Guys, directed by Adam McKay, cleverly satirizes buddy cop comedies of the '80s and '90s with its own dynamic duo, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. The two star as desk-bound New York police officers as they stumble upon the case of their careers. With the NYPD's two best cops six feet under (with Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson in an A-plus cameo), it's time for these other guys to rise to the occasion. While the whole movie is a riot, it's the opening that really makes the movie a modern classic. Remember: Make sure there's actually bushes before you "aim for the bushes."
18. Long Shot (2019)
The United States does not negotiate with terrorists. But it does negotiate with homies. In 2019, Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron co-starred in the lively and lovely romantic comedy Long Shot. Directed by Jonathan Levine, the movie follows two childhood friends, Fred and Charlotte, who reunite as adults when grown-up Fred (Rogen), an unemployed journalist, winds up the speechwriter for grown-up Charlotte (Theron), who is now Secretary of State on the fast-track to the Oval Office. Rogen is predictably funny, but Theron is in especially top form as a surprisingly vulnerable person whose steely politician persona is just an exterior. It's a sweet and ridiculous movie, capped off with maybe one of the greatest comic book-related jokes of all time.
17. The Night Before (2015)
'Twas the night before Christmas, and somewhere in New York, three friends are stirring for some booze to uncork. One of the greatest if also most underrated grown-up Christmas comedy of the 2010s, The Night Before stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, and Anthony Mackie as best friends who, on account of growing up, decide to end their annual Christmas traditions on a high note – including an invitation to the debaucherous Nutcracker Ball. While The Night Before has all the R-rated antics one might expect, there's actually a lot of serious feelings in its story about learning to move on without having to actually let go. The Night Before isn't just a funny movie, but one of the funniest Christmas movies you'll ever find under the tree.
16. Lady Bird (2017)
Before Barbie grossed billions of dollars, Greta Gerwig helmed her critically acclaimed 2017 teen comedy Lady Bird. A contender for Best Picture at the 90th Academy Awards ceremony, Lady Bird takes place in the early 2000s to follow a wisecracking Sacramento teenager (played by Saorise Ronan) who navigates the last year of high school alongside her turbulent relationship with her mother (Laurie Metcalf). Lady Bird soars in its genuinely funny exploration of first loves and first heartbreaks, and how the last days of high school mark the last days of innocence.
15. Swiss Army Man (2016)
"Daniel Radcliffe plays a farting corpse" sounds like a bad joke, or a weird sketch put on by teenagers on YouTube. But it's actually Swiss Army Man, the Daniels' cult hit 2016 comedy that eventually set them on the path to collecting Oscars for 2022's Everything Everywhere All at Once. In Swiss Army Man, Paul Dano plays a marooned man named Hank on a remote island who finds the corpse of another man, Manny (Daniel Radcliffe). The flatulence of the corpse stops being funny and winds up the man's path back to civilization, but along the way, Hank and Manny bond over their affections for a mysterious woman, Sarah (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). It just doesn't get funnier than fart jokes, and Swiss Army Man is one impossibly gorgeous movie about shame, perceptions, and the lies we tell ourselves to make life worth living.
14. Blockers (2018)
We all remember our first time – which is why John Cena, Ike Barinholtz, and Leslie Mann do everything they can to make sure it doesn't happen. In Blockers, the three stars play parents who team up to stop their respective daughters from losing their virginities on that most unholy of high school rituals: prom night. Upon release in 2018, Blockers was hailed by critics as an intelligent and mature sex positive movie about making decisions for oneself. It helps that it's also very funny, with John Cena – who cannot shake off his chiseled professional wrestler's physique – a particular standout as an overbearing dad with a dorky iPhone belt clip.
13. The Art of Self-Defense (2019)
Cobra Kai taught us to strike hard and strike first. But The Art of Self-Defense showed us to kick with your first and punch with your feet. In this droll black comedy, Jesse Eisenberg plays a timid, emasculated male who signs up for karate classes after he's physically beaten by a motorcycle gang. Things get weird when Eisenberg's character slowly becomes a toxic presence, only to be balanced out by a deserving fellow student (Imogen Poots). The Art of Self-Defense is, like karate itself, methodical in its takedown of toxic masculinity and gender discrimination. But it's also just an offbeat movie that makes The Karate Kid look like child's play.
12. Deadpool (2016)
When Marvel movies were the ruling class of mainstream cinema, the bloodthirsty, R-rated action-comedy Deadpool gave superhero movies an overdue wedgie. Spinning off (and totally embarrassed by) the unpopular 2009 films X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds reprises his role of Wade Wilson – a wisecracking, fourth-wall breaking mercenary. After falling in love, Wade is diagnosed with a terminal illness which draws him into a dark, experimental procedure he believes would cure him only to turn him into a hideous living weapon for sale. Thus begins Deadpool's bloody road to revenge and quest to get back to beautiful Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). While Deadpool is loved by the worst people you might know, the movie is actually smarter and deeper than its red spandex looks, being a movie about the dangerous and extreme lengths people are willing to go for the ones they love.
11. Sorry to Bother You (2018)
Boots Riley takes on race, class, and privilege in his searing cultural satire Sorry to Bother You, released in 2018. LaKeith Stanfield stars as a telemarketer named Cassius who discovers he has a secret power – an alternate voice that makes him sound like a white man. Cassius uses this newfound ability to skyrocket to success at his job, even currying favor with his unstable CEO (Armie Hammer). All the while, his friends and co-workers band together to form a union in protest to their corporate overlords. Beyond its vibe of a satirical newspaper political cartoon, Sorry to Bother You entertains with its legitimately hysterical gags and intelligent jabs at modern America's general inelegance.
10. Hail, Caesar! (2015)
In the star-studded 2015 gem Hail, Caesar!, the Coen Brothers throw it back to the Golden Age of Hollywood when Tinseltown was anything but shining bright. As McCarthyism breathes down the industry's necks and America is on the cusp of great postwar change, Josh Brolin's Eddie Manix – head of production and low-key "fixer" at Capitol Pictures – tries to keep his head on straight. When one of his biggest stars, dimwitted Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is kidnapped and held for ransom by Communist screenwriters, it begins a very long and tiresome day in Hollywood. Although Hail, Caesar! may not be the Coens' best movie, it's undoubtedly terrifically funny, with George Clooney always playing a convincing idiot.
9. Crazy, Stupid, Love (2010)
In a time when romantic comedies were passé, Crazy, Stupid, Love had us feeling butterflies again. Half romantic comedy and half bro-mantic comedy, Crazy, Stupid, Love stars Steve Carrell as a divorced man in his forties who turns to handsome ladies' man Jacob (Ryan Gosling) to help him get back into the dating pool. But while Jacob grooms Carrell's helpless bachelor, Jacob starts to question his ways when he begins developing real feelings for a lively young woman, Hannah (Emma Stone). Crazy, Stupid, Love didn't reinvent the romantic comedy, but it practically perfected the formula just in time before the genre vanished for the rest of the decade.
8. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)
A brilliant parody of pop star documentaries full of catchy songs you can't sing in public, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping should have dominated the box office. The brainchild of The Lonely Island, Popstar chronicles the rise and fall of Connor4Real (Andy Samberg), a former boy band rapper turned solo act. (Think Justin Timberlake meets Justin Bieber, with a healthy dash of Macklemore.) While Popstar unfortunately bombed in theaters, the movie is a nonstop laugh riot that never stops never stopping.
7. What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Before it was an FX hit, What We Do in the Shadows was an outrageous (and outlandish) Kiwi comedy from writer/director Taika Waititi. Like its spin-off TV show (of which they share the same continuity), What We Do in the Shadows follows vampire roommates who share a house in modern day Wellington in New Zealand. While the characters in the movie are different from the US-centric series, the story and overall vibe remains the same: How exactly do vampires live in the age of electricity and the internet? What We Do in the Shadows was wildly popular with critics when it was released in 2014, offering something different in the aftermath of the Twilight franchise. It put Waititi on the fast-track to Marvel success, and of course, spawned a sinfully delicious TV darling that's changed how we all say "New York City."
6. Knives Out (2019)
Not long after Rian Johnson divided the Star Wars fandom with his 2017 epic The Last Jedi, the writer/director divided a family of rich jerks in his delectable murder mystery comedy Knives Out. Featuring a star-studded ensemble, the movie follows a live-in nurse (Ana de Armas) who is thrust into the center of a family feud when her patient, a famous crime author (Christopher Plummer), dies and leaves her the inheritor of his wealth. Tasked with solving the mystery of the author's murder is gentleman detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, clearly having fun in a role that isn't James Bond). A handsome homage to Agatha Christie mysteries with abundant autumn vibes, Knives Out makes family bickering and insults a hilarious time.
5. A Stupid and Futile Gesture (2018)
While it earned mixed reviews, A Stupid and Futile Gesture soars when you don't look up the history of National Lampoon on Wikipedia prior to viewing. Ostensibly a biopic of comedy writer Douglas Kenney (played in the movie by Will Forte) and the founding of National Lampoon, A Stupid and Futile Gesture plays with expectations by not merely breaking the fourth wall but vandalize it, scrawling it with doodles and dirty pictures before leaving the scene with a bit of poetry. Director David Wain doesn't try to faithfully recreate the era nor accurately tell the story of National Lampoon. Rather, it ruminates about the quiet tragedy of one man's lifelong effort to tell jokes on his terms. It also wouldn't be National Lampoon if it weren't funny, and A Stupid and Futile Gesture honors its subject with excellent jokes and a funky vibe of its own.
4. 21 Jump Street (2012)
If not for Johnny Depp, the 1980s television show 21 Jump Street would be a footnote in the big textbook of pop culture. But directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, along with stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, gave 21 Jump Street renewed relevance in their balls-to-the-wall reboot. True to the premise of the show, 21 Jump Street follows two former classmates who now work together as cops. They are given a chance to redo their high school years when a case forces them to pose as students to snuff out a crime ring. Tatum and Hill pass with honors in this high energy high school action-comedy. Due to the movie's success, a sequel came in 2014, along with plans for a crossover with Sony's other action-comedy franchise, Men in Black, before they were ultimately scrapped.
3. The Nice Guys (2016)
This one's for the birds. While The Nice Guys struggled when it hit theaters in 2016, it now enjoys cult classic status thanks to excellent work by writer/director Shane Black and similarly brilliant performances by Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. Set in the 1970s, The Nice Guys follows two freelance private eyes who reluctantly work together to investigate a conspiracy involving nudie movies, the American automobile industry, and even the government. Overrun with quotable lines ("Don't say, 'and stuff'") and a chillax atmosphere, The Nice Guys deserved so much more than what it got.
2. The World's End (2013)
Edgar Wright's finale to his thematically unified Cornetto Trilogy went out like a blackout in The World's End. Years after they've outgrown their rambunctious boyhoods, a group of busy men reunite in their ho-hum hometown to appease their former leader, Gary King (Simon Pegg), who convinces them to finish a legendary bar crawl. It just so happens that the town is secretly invaded by an evil presence, and these drunk dudes are the only ones who can stop it. While opinions vary if The World's End lives up to the magic and finesse of Wright's earlier movies, The World's End keeps its place as one of the greatest and funniest movies of the 2010s – even if it stumbles the whole way.
1. Game Night (2018)
Directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein put on the ultimate game night with their impossibly brilliant 2018 comedy, aptly named Game Night. Anchored around an annoyingly competitive couple – played by Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams – the movie follows friends who unknowingly find themselves playing a more serious game of life and death after one of their own is kidnapped by real criminals. Few movies stay consistently funny while balancing more serious ideas like commitment and honesty like Game Night. The movie enters sublime levels through both McAdams – who has some of the single best line deliveries of her career in this film – and Jesse Plemons, who is simply otherworldly. Call your friends and microwave the popcorn, Game Night will make your whole week.
