Comedies from the 2000s

Eagle vs. Shark
      2007 | New Zealand | Laughs: 2.5 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.8
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

Four stars. Offbeat, shot in New Zealand with Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords, perhaps the cutest romantic comedy of all times. (Last viewed: Feb 2010 June 2011)

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Beerfest
      2006 | USA | Laughs: 2.5 (Just Awful) | imdb: 6.3
      wikipedia | who was involved?

After laughing hard on Super Troopers, I looked for other movies by the Broken Lizard comedy group and settled on Beerfest, which had the highest IMDB rating (6.1) of director Jay Chandrasekhar's other films, most of them poorly rated. The plot has to do with the American branch of a German family training for a beer-drinking competition. If you enjoy movies with grotesque characters, Beerfest might make you laugh, but it just didn't work for me. (Last viewed: April 2011)

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Tell Me if You're Happy (Chiedimi se Sono Felice)
      2000 | Italy | Laughs: 2.3 (Just Awful) | imdb: 7.1
      who was involved?

If you enjoyed Three Men and a Leg and the characters of Aldo, Giovanni and Giacomo, you may consider watching this movie for one very funny scene that starts 27 minutes into the movie and ends about a minute later, a scene where Aldo, baffled, listens in while his two friends pretend to discuss which "third man" they should invite to a dinner where three ladies will attend, ignoring Aldo. Apart from that, it's a solid "skip". These three have made several movies together, and Chiedimi seems little more than a complacent exercise in showing their faces, riding on the goodwill accumulated in prior work. Apart from the weak plot that involves an altogether implausible theatrical production, one major shortcoming of the film is that for a major part of it, the trio are no longer friends. Their dynamic as enemies is far less interesting than that when they get along. That's Life (Così è la Vita) is much stronger. (Last viewed: November 2011)

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Herr Lehmann
      2003 | Germany | Laughs: 2.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.2
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I would not call this a comedy—light-hearted might capture it, if there were such a genre. Set in Berlin in the days before the fall of the wall, it weaves about a group of friends and acquaintances who work in night bars. The soundtrack, though excellent, has a number of anachronisms. A lovely little movie with many actors I'd never seen before. (Last viewed: July 2014)

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French Fried Vacation 3 (Les Bronzés 3: Amis pour la Vie)
      2006 | France | Laughs: 2.0 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 3.9
      wikipedia | who was involved?

28 years after the original Les Bronzés, the same team is reunited at an Italian holiday resort. I chuckled twice, so on the comedy level this clearly isn't worth watching. However, there are two great things about this movie. First, it is simply fascinating to see what happens to the human body in 28 years. I watched this sequel the night after watching the original again, and that was really interesting. Second, the theme song, Baila Morena, makes you want to get up and dance. (Last viewed: September 2012)

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Choke
      2008 | USA | Laughs: 2.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.4
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This is definitely not a laugh-out-loud comedy, but it is an excellent light-hearted movie. Summarizing the plot would do severe injustice to this beautifully layered film, so I'll just say that the story involves two men with addictions, a mother in a mental hospital run by nuns, a good friend, a nurse, Heimlich maneuvers, the staff of a historic colonial village, and a big surprise near the end. Despite the occasional nudity, there is none of the usual exploitation of the female body. The movie features the two least gratuitous scenes of intercourse I have ever seen on film. A must-watch. (Last viewed: October 2013)

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Adventureland
      2009 | USA | Laughs: 2.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.8
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

To pay for his first term at college, a high-school graduate spends the Summer working at an adventure park in his home town. There are good characters and the movie is endearing—just don't watch this expecting to laugh, as it's a light-hearted movie rather than a true comedy. (Last viewed: October 2013)

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Mr. Deeds
      2002 | USA | Laughs: 2.0 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 5.8
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When the owner of a rural pizza restaurant learns that he has inherited a controlling stake in a New York media conglomerate, he has to swim with the sharks, while they have to learn to handle a straight-shooting small-town boy. Adam Sandler tries his best, but the producers spent too much money on wardrobe and too little on the script. That's too bad, because the story had potential: the only missing ingredient is the laughs. In the instant-millionaire genre, forget this one and watch the very funny Trading Places instead. (Last viewed: October 2012)

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Shallow Hal
      2001 | USA | Laughs: 2.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 5.9
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

A man who only judges women on their looks is hypnotized into seeing their inner beauty, and starts dating a large woman whom he believes to have a model-like figure. This was a sweet movie, and it could be recommended as a Sunday night rom-com to watch with your honey. I didn't laugh, but it certainly wasn't torture as I like Jack Black and Jason Alexander (George from Seinfeld). (Last viewed: June 2017)

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Muggers
      2000 | Australia | Laughs: 2.0 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 5.6
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Strapped for the cash they need to study in comfortable conditions, two promising medical students resort to harvesting kidneys from live patients and selling them to a private clinic. I liked the premise and the cast. Sadly, that's probably all it took for the Australian Film Commission (or whoever was involved) to give the green light, and the final product is one of those two-legged stools that are all too common in Aussie theaters. I was glad to see one of the actors from the terrific TV series Rake, but the movie failed to deliver in the laughs department. (Last viewed: December 2014)

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Danny Deckchair
      2003 | Australia | Laughs: 2.0 (Watch Once) | imdb: 6.7
      wikipedia | who was involved?

A man in dire need of escaping the tedium of his suburban life ties air balloons to a chair to see if they will lift him in the air, to discover that his cooky idea works all too well as he is carried high into the skies, to finally land in a country town where, incognito and while half the country is looking for him, he starts to live a blissful life among fast friends.

Don't expect big laughs out of this cute little rom-com—even though every viewer knows this moment is coming all along, my biggest chuckle was when the chair is airlifted—but I expect you'll find it entertaining enough for the demands of a movie date. The lead character has that constant smirk that most will find charming and a few irritating. Although not in the same league as The Castle and The Wog Boy, it is a worthwhile window into Australian culture.

I'm not sure how I managed to miss the movie when it came out—I was living in a suburb of Sydney then—but watching the film fifteen years later arouses nostalgia for a country that has known such growth and other changes that in many respects it is no longer recognizable. (Last viewed: May 2018)

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Don't Die Too Hard (La Tour Montparnasse Infernale)
      2001 | France | Laughs: 2.0 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 5.7
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Two inept window cleaners on Paris's tallest office tower get in the way of a robbery. The first ten minutes were pretty funny (I love comedy involving heights). The rest was goofy but uninspired. (Last viewed: March 2018)

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Love is All (Alles is liefde)
      2007 | Netherlands | Laughs: 2.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.0
      who was involved?

This is a bit of a Dutch Bridget Jones' Diary, except they ran out of mean, arrogant characters in Amsterdam (they must all be working in London) so everyone is nice and understanding all the time. As a result, there is less space for comedy, but if someone in your household is badgering you to watch a squishy romance, this may just be the ticket. (Last viewed: July 2014)

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Asterix and Obelix Mission Cleopatra (Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre)
      2002 | France | Laughs: 2.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.6
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This is a film adaptation of a volume in the famous series of comic books. It didn't make me laugh (the humor mostly relies on wordplay) but it was funny and entertaining. The movie has good rhythm and it's beautiful to look at—I was impressed with colors and texture. Adapting a comic book for the screen is a tall order. This is one of the rare successes. (Last viewed: August 2014)

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Spread
      2009 | USA | Laughs: 2.0 (Watch Once) | imdb: 5.8
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A young man in Los Angeles lives off his good looks as he entices successful women ten years his senior to open their luxurious homes to him.

Although there is humor in it, this movie is not what one might think of as an "Ashton Kutcher comedy", as he plays a role far removed from the goofy characters you may have seen in his earlier films.

The character was fascinating, the cast did a good job and the movie entertained me, but your life probably won't be much poorer if you give the movie a miss.

(Last viewed: August 2022)

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