Tim Burton’s first feature might just be proof that the blockbuster visionary is better off with lower budgets, so long as he has a solid collaborator.

'There's a lotta things about me you don't know anything about, Dottie.’Ĭast: Paul Reubens, Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton Grodin and Shepherd do wonders in making their shallow characters believable, and the fact that charming Ben Stiller and Michelle Monaghan couldn’t do the same in the Farrelly Brothers’ ill-conceived remake is a testament to the tightrope walked by May in her underseen classic. In a masterpiece of awkward tension, Grodin stars as an aloof salesman who suddenly – as in, en route to the honeymoon – realises his new bride (Jeannie Berlin, May’s real daughter) is the absolute worst, then promptly falls for another guest (Cybil Shepherd) while his unsuspecting spouse heals from a bad sunburn. In a just world, her Heartbreak Kid would be her calling card – a proto cringe comedy from the pen of Neil Simon that features one of the best jittery performances of Charles Grodin’s career. Improv pioneer Elaine May completely changed comedy through her influential stage work with Mike Nichols, yet as a director she’s mostly associated with the unfairly maligned mega-bomb Ishtar. ‘They should have warned us that there was a danger of running out of pecan pie.’Ĭast: Charles Grodin, Cybill Shepherd, Jeannie Berlin RECOMMENDED: London and UK cinema listings, film reviews and exclusive interviews Written by Anna Smith, Alim Kheraj, Tom Huddleston, Phil de Semlyen, Phil Harrison, Cath Clarke, Dave Calhoun, Trevor Johnston, Gabriel Tate, Derek Adams, Adam Lee Davies, Wally Hammond, Dan Jolin, Michael Juliano, Kate Lloyd, Ben Walters and Andy Kryza. So the next time you need something to turn that frown upside down, you’ll know where to start.

To help us with the task, we enlisted the help of comedians (such as Russell Howard and Diane Morgan), actors (John Boyega and Jodie Whittaker, among others), directors and screenwriters (including Richard Curtis), as well as several Time Out writers. And finally, when we need to get into the festive spirit, the Christmas film archives are crammed with titles that leave you giggling into your eggnog.Īll of which makes choosing the 100 best comedies of all time a little tricky. Then there are the political satires, like The Death of Stalin, which serve up uncomfortable truths alongside the funnies. Classic romcoms like The Philadelphia Story have us yearning for true love while teen movies like Mean Girls get us cringing at memories of being too dorky to join the cool gang at school. The best comedies in the history of cinema achieve more than just making you laugh (although, granted, it’s not a great comedy if it barely makes you crack a smile).

House of the dead funny version