The 15 Best Comedy Movies of the Last 25 Years, Ranked

Image via Universal Pictures Updated Nov 9, 2026, 5:11 AM EST Andrea M. Ciriaco is a long-time script reader and former entertainment editor who specializes in classic movies and Hollywood history. She was a student film critic at Kent State University for three years and worked at Warner Bros Studio in Burbank and The Safran Company for several years. Based on her vast taste and range of knowledge, many consider Andrea to be a walking IMDb who knows dozens of underrated movies and is a vital assesst to any trivia night. While movies are her expertise, Andrea is also a diehard fan of iconic shows including The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, Will & Grace and South Park. Some of her favorite filmmakers are Walt Disney,John Huston, Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Mel Brooks, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese and Howard Hawks. Sign in to your Collider account From slapstick to deadpan humor, comedy reigns as one of the most versatile film genres, always offering something for every kind of movie fan. Since the early days of movies, comedy has been one of cinema's first popular genres, serving as a humorous escape for audiences; today, it remains just as cherished, if not more so. There have been hundreds of monumental comedies but, when it comes to the last decade and a half, there are a handful of titles, such as Wedding Crashers, Borat, and Bridesmaids, that rank higher than the rest. Even though there are countless comedies that successfully raked in the laughs, hits like The Hangover, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy far exceeded moviegoers' expectations with outrageous scenarios and non-stop laughter. 15 'We're the Millers' (2013) We're the Millers is a raunchy comedy starring Jason Sudeikis as David Clark, a small-time weed dealer who, after being robbed of his product, must travel to Mexico to pick up his supplier's latest shipment. To cross the border without arousing suspicion, Clark recruits a fake family: his stripper neighbor, Rose (Jennifer Aniston); a no-nonsense runaway, Casey (Emma Roberts); and a socially awkward teenager, Kenny (Will Poulter), leading them on a wild, unexpected road trip. We're the Millers was released when R-rated comedies were thriving, and despite mixed reviews, the movie was a box office success, grossing over $200 million. The cast's chemistry is the real heart and soul of the movie, with each bringing their own unique style of comedy to the table and essentially keeping audiences invested from start to finish. Even though the film's humor is initially rather aggressive, the movie gradually turns into a story of misfits who become a family, creating a warmth that softens the crude jokes and outrageous scenarios. 14 '21 Jump Street' (2012) Image via Columbia Pictures 21 Jump Street is a hilarious buddy-cop comedy based on the hit '80s show of the same name and stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as rookie cops, Greg Jenko and Morton Schmidt, who go undercover as high school students to try and shut down a dangerous drug ring. Compared to other comedies at the time, 21 Jump Street stands out because it knows exactly the kind of movie it is and constantly pokes fun at Hollywood's resilience in reboots and remakes, subtly winking at the audience without becoming smug. 21 Jump Street was a major success, with many critics praising both Hill and Tatum for their performances. The bromance between Hill and Tatum's characters is what ultimately carries the movie, specifically the role reversal, which sees Tatum's character, a former popular jock, struggle to fit in while Hill's character, a former nerd, thrives with his classmates, essentially giving the movie real emotional stakes. It also didn't hurt the movie to have a few unexpected cameos by original stars of the show, Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise, who bring the perfect touch of nostalgia to the film. 13 'What We Do in the Shadows' (2014) Image via Unison/Paladin What We Do in the Shadows is a mockumentary horror comedy that follows a group of vampires and roommates, Viago (Taika Waititi), Vladislav (Jemaine Clement), and Deacon (Jonny Brugh), who try to navigate their way through the modern world while also showing a recently turned human, Nick (Cori Gonzalez-Macuer), some of the perks of being undead. The movie was both a critical and commercial success, and in 2019, it was adapted into a television series by FX and ran for six successful seasons. At the time, vampires were popular subjects of the entertainment world, but unlike the rest, What We Do in the Shadows delivers a fresh and clever take on the concept that ultimately sets it apart from the crowd. The central joke never runs out of fuel, and the premise of immortal, centuries-old vampires who are petty, vain, and bad at modern life is one with endless variations. They struggle to get into clubs without being invited, they argue about chores, and what to wear for a night out, which audiences can surprisingly relate to on a certain level. 12 'Old School' (2003) Image via DreamWorks Pictures The 2003 comedy Old School earns a place on the list because it captured the best of the early-2000s "Frat Pack" era and turned a simple premise into a comedy that people still quote on a regular basis today. The movie follows an attorney, Mitch Martin (Luke Wilson), who, after discovering his fiancée's infidelity, tries to start over and moves into a house that happens to be near a local college campus. As Mitch settles into his new life as a bachelor, his friends Frank (Will Ferrell) and Beanie (Vince Vaughn) decide to turn his place into a party pad and eventually start their own fraternity. While the premise of Old School seems a bit absurd, the concept of being able to relive your glory days with all the recklessness and lack of good judgment is irresistible to audiences, making it one of the best comedies of the last 25 years. The entire cast is an endless stream of comedy gold, notably Ferrell, who delivers a career-defining performance as Frank "The Tank", while Vaughn's fast-talking charm and Wilson's low-key sincerity round the trio out. Quotes, such as "You're my boy, Blue!" and "Ear muffs!", have since become staples in pop culture, with many fans still quoting the movie even decades later. 11 'Tropic Thunder' (2008) Image via Paramount Pictures The 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder is a ruthless and fearless satire of Hollywood that also happens to be relentlessly funny. Ben Stiller directs and stars as a washed-up action hero, Tugg Speedman, who is cast in an epic Vietnam War movie alongside an intense method actor (Robert Downey Jr.), a drug-addicted comedian (Jack Black), and a rapper with aspirations for the big screen (Brandon T. Jackson). When production is delayed, the director decides to send the actors into the jungle, where they will be filmed by hidden cameras, leading to a series of unfortunate events that eventually land the unknowing group in a real war zone. The greatest strength of Tropic Thunder is its unwavering commitment to the bit. The fake trailers that open the film, the unhinged jokes, and Oscar bait all show a movie that is unafraid to push the boundaries even if it involves taking shots at the industry itself. While the entire cast delivers sidesplitting performances, Tom Cruise's eccentric performance as the profane, bald studio boss Les Grossman nearly steals the show. Even though the movie earned some backlash, no amount of criticism can diminish how bold, outrageous, and endlessly quotable Tropic Thunder remains to this day. 10 'Hot Fuzz' (2007) Image via Rogue Pictures Simon Pegg stars in the action comedy, Hot Fuzz, as an elite police officer in London, Nicholas Angel, whose successful track record makes the rest of his unit look bad, ultimately resulting in him being transferred to a small rural village. Once Angel arrives in his less desired area, he's soon assigned to investigating a series of brutal murders, adding a bit of an exciting silver lining to his situation. Hot Fuzz is a hysterical homage to the traditional buddy cop film featuring the humorous dynamic of Pegg and Nick Frost, who originally caught audiences' attention with the parody film, Shaun of the Dead. The duo has a unique chemistry that is both comfortable and natural, conveying a convincing comedic duo that is one of the best in recent years. Aside from a few negative reviews, Hot Fuzz was overall well received by audiences and critics, who commended the film's use of clichés and puns of the traditional buddy cop genre. 9 'Team America: World Police' (2004) Image via Paramount Pictures South Park creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, return to the big screen with the puppetry comedy, Team America: World Police, which is an over-the-top satire on the traditional action film. The film follows a special counterterrorism force that recruits a Broadway actor to help them save the world from Kim Jong Il and his coalition of terrorists and Hollywood's elite. Inspired by the British science-fiction series, Thunderbirds, Team America had no problem catching audiences' attention with its unusual use of puppetry and miniature effects, which conveyed Parker and Stone's signature style of comedy and antics. The movie has been regarded as one that will both offend and incite laughter in audiences, showing zero hesitation about the levels of offensive insults and exaggerated depictions of famous names. Team America earned generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its bold comedic formula of offending everyone on an equal scale. COLLIDERInteractive Ballot sealed Movies/Academy Awards/Best Picture Collider · Best Picture Which Oscar Best PictureIs Your Perfect Movie? Five winners · ten questions · one envelope Five Oscar Best Picture winners. Five completely different visions of what cinema can be and what it can do to you. One of them is the film made for the way your mind works, and ten questions will work out which. The nominees 2020Parasite 2023Everything Everywhere All at Once 2024Oppenheimer 2015Birdman 2008No Country for Old Men Open the envelope Question 01 of 10TONE 01 What kind of film experience are you really after? The best movies do not just entertain. They leave something behind. ASomething that pulls the rug out, that makes me think I am watching one kind of film and then reveals I am watching another entirely. BSomething overwhelming: funny, sad, absurd and genuinely moving, all at once. CSomething grand and weighty, a film that makes me feel the full scale of what I am watching. DSomething formally daring, a film that pushes what cinema can even do. ESomething lean and relentless, pure tension with no wasted frame. ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 02 of 10THEME 02 Which idea grabs you most in a film? Great films are driven by a central obsession. What is yours? AClass, inequality, and what people are willing to do when desperation meets opportunity. BIdentity, family, and the chaos of holding your life together while everything falls apart. CGenius, moral responsibility, and the catastrophic weight of a decision you can never take back. DEgo, legacy, and the terror of becoming irrelevant while you are still alive to watch it happen. EEvil, chance, and whether moral order exists at all or we just tell ourselves it does. ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 03 of 10STRUCTURE 03 How do you like your story told? Form is content. The way a story is shaped changes what it means. AGenre-twisting. I want it to start in one lane and migrate into something completely different. BMaximalist and genre-blending: comedy, action, drama and sci-fi in one ride. CEpic and non-linear, cutting between timelines to build a mosaic of cause and consequence. DA single unbroken flow. I want to feel like I am living it in real time with no cuts to safety. ESpare and precise, every scene doing exactly what it needs to do and nothing more. ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 04 of 10VILLAIN 04 What makes a truly great antagonist? The opposition defines the protagonist. What kind of opposition fascinates you? AA system: invisible, structural, and almost impossible to fight because it has no single face. BThe self, and the ways we sabotage, abandon and fail the people we love most. CHistory, and the unstoppable momentum of events no single person can stop or redirect. DThe industry, the machinery of culture that chews up talent and spits out irrelevance. EPure, implacable evil, a force so certain of itself it becomes almost philosophical. ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 05 of 10ENDING 05 What do you want from a film's ending? The final note is the one that lingers. What do you want it to sound like? AShock and inevitability, a conclusion that recontextualizes everything before it. BEarned emotion. I want to cry, laugh and feel hopeful, even if the world is a mess. CDevastation and grandeur, an ending that leaves me sitting in silence for a few minutes. DAmbiguity, something open enough that I am still turning it over days later. EBleakness, an honest refusal to pretend the world is tidier than it is. ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 06 of 10WORLD 06 Which setting pulls you in most? Where a film takes place shapes everything: mood, stakes, what is even possible. AA gleaming modern city with a hidden underside, beauty masking rot and wealth masking desperation. BA collapsing suburban life that opens onto something infinite, the multiverse inside one ordinary person. CThe corridors of power and science at a world-historical turning point, where decisions echo for decades. DThe grimy, alive chaos of New York and Hollywood, fame as both destination and trap. EVast, indifferent landscape, desert and highway where violence arrives without warning or reason. ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 07 of 10CRAFT 07 What cinematic craft impresses you most? Every great film has a signature, the element that makes it unmistakable. AProduction design and mise-en-scène, every frame composed to carry meaning beneath the surface. BEditing and tonal control, the ability to move between registers without losing the audience. CScore and sound design, music that becomes inseparable from the dread and awe of what you see. DCinematography as performance, the camera not recording events but taking part in them. ESilence and restraint, what is left unsaid doing more work than any dialogue could. ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 08 of 10PROTAGONIST 08 What kind of main character do you root for? The protagonist is the lens. Who you follow says something about you. ASomeone smart and resourceful who makes increasingly dangerous decisions under pressure. BSomeone overwhelmed and ordinary who turns out to be capable of something extraordinary. CA brilliant, tortured figure whose gifts and flaws cannot be separated from each other. DA self-destructive artist whose ego is both their superpower and their undoing. EA quiet, principled person trying to make sense of a world that has stopped making sense. ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 09 of 10PACE 09 How do you feel about a film that takes its time? Pace is a choice. Some films sprint. Others let tension accumulate slowly, deliberately. AI love a slow build when the payoff is going to be seismic. Patience for a devastating reveal. BGive me relentless momentum. I want to feel breathless and emotionally spent by the end. CEpic runtime does not scare me. If the material demands three hours, give me three hours. DI want it propulsive even when nothing is technically happening, restless energy throughout. EDeliberate and unhurried. I want dread to accumulate in the spaces between the action. ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 10 of 10AFTERMATH 10 What do you want to feel walking out of the cinema? The best films leave a mark. What kind of mark do you want? AUnsettled, like I have just seen something I cannot fully explain and cannot stop thinking about. BMoved and energized, like the film reminded me what matters and gave me something to hold onto. CHumbled, like I have been in the presence of something important and overwhelming. DExhilarated, like I have just watched cinema do something it has never quite done before. EHaunted, like a cold, quiet dread that stays with me for days. ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Reveal my film The envelope, pleaseAnd the Oscar goes to ★ Best Picture, 2020 Parasite Bong Joon-ho, 2019 A film that hides its true intentions until the moment it is ready to reveal them. You are drawn to films that operate on several levels at once, that begin in one genre and quietly, brilliantly migrate into another. Bong Joon-ho's Parasite is a film about class, desire and the architecture of inequality that manages to be darkly funny, deeply suspenseful and genuinely shocking across a single extraordinary running time. Your instinct is for cinema that rewards close attention and punishes assumptions, right up to its devastating final image. From the Collider file The first film not in the English language to win Best Picture, in the Academy's 92-year history to that point. It took four Oscars in one night: Picture, Director, Original Screenplay and International Feature. It won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2019 by a unanimous jury vote, the first Korean film to do so. The Park family's modernist house was not a location. It was built from scratch on an outdoor lot. Reads between the lines Loves a reveal Attention to detail ★ Best Picture, 2023 Everything Everywhere All at Once Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, 2022 A film that refuses to choose between being entertaining and being meaningful. You want it all, and this one gives you all of it. The Daniels' Everything Everywhere All at Once is among the most maximalist films ever made: action comedy, multiverse science fiction, family drama, existential crisis, and an emotional core that sneaks up on you in the middle of the chaos. You respond to ambition. Being overwhelmed is the design, not the side effect, because the feeling of being crushed by infinite possibility is exactly what the film is about. From the Collider file Seven Oscars, including three acting wins for Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis. Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian woman to win Best Actress. The visual effects were handled by a team of fewer than ten people, most of them self-taught. Ke Huy Quan had all but left acting for two decades before this role brought him back. Wants everything Big swings Soft center ★ Best Picture, 2024 Oppenheimer Christopher Nolan, 2023 A film about the gap between what we can do and what we should do. You are drawn to cinema on a grand scale, films that treat history not as a backdrop but as a force, then place their characters inside that force and watch what happens. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer sits inside one of the most consequential moments in human history and refuses to look away from it. You want your films to feel important without being self-important, earning their ambition through craft and the gravity of the subject. This one is enormous, complicated, and offers no easy comfort. From the Collider file Seven Oscars, including Nolan's first wins for directing and for Best Picture. Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. both took their first Academy Awards for it. Kodak engineered a black-and-white 65mm stock that did not previously exist so Nolan could shoot those sequences on IMAX. A three-hour, R-rated drama about theoretical physics that passed 950 million dollars worldwide. Thinks in decades Scale and weight No easy comfort ★ Best Picture, 2015 Birdman Alejandro G. Iñárritu, 2014 A film doing something that probably should not be possible. You are drawn to films that foreground their own construction, where the how of the filmmaking becomes part of the what it is about. Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Birdman, stitched to appear as one continuous take, is cinema examining itself through the cracked mirror of a fading actor's ego. You respond to formal daring. Michael Keaton's performance and Emmanuel Lubezki's restless camera make something unlike anything else: a film about creativity, relevance, self-destruction and never quite knowing whether your work means anything at all. From the Collider file Four Oscars, among them Best Picture and Best Director for Iñárritu. Emmanuel Lubezki's win here was the middle of three consecutive cinematography Oscars, after Gravity and before The Revenant. Antonio Sánchez's improvised drum score was ruled ineligible for the score category, which caused a minor uproar. The long-take illusion was built from a handful of extended shots joined by hidden cuts. Formally daring Camera as character Ego and art ★ Best Picture, 2008 No Country for Old Men Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007 A film that treats dread as a form of meaning. You are drawn to cinema that trusts silence, refuses to explain itself, and lets unease do the talking. The Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men is about the arrival of a new kind of evil: implacable, arbitrary, and indifferent to the moral frameworks we use to make sense of things. It is one of the most tightly controlled films ever made, and that control is the source of the terror. You want your films to haunt you rather than comfort you, and you have no interest in a resolution that would be a lie. From the Collider file Four Oscars: Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, and Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem. Adapted from Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel, with much of his dialogue carried over intact. Carter Burwell's score runs about sixteen minutes and is nearly inaudible by design. Roger Deakins was nominated twice that year, for this and The Assassination of Jesse James, and won for neither. Trusts silence Dread over answers No tidy endings Ballot tally · your top three 1 2 3 ↻ Retake the quiz Copied to your clipboard Ballot counted byCOLLIDERCollider.com · The Awards Desk 8 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' (2005) Image via Universal Pictures Funny man, Judd Apatow, made his directorial debut with the outlandish romantic comedy, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, which stars Steve Carell as a middle-aged electronics employee, Andy, who is mortified when his co-workers discover he's still a virgin. Unwilling to let it go, Andy's co-workers help him find a woman to take his virginity, but as they set him up with disaster after disaster, Andy manages to find a woman who is more than just a one-night stand. While the initial plot of the film seems a bit vulgar, The 40-Year-Old Virgin does have a sentimental side and a series of outstanding performances by an all-star cast, including Seth Rogen, Jane Lynch, and Paul Rudd, that are impossible to deny as comedy gold. The 40-Year-Old Virgin takes an uncomfortable, sensitive subject and makes it approachable for audiences with its genuine and lighthearted humor, making it one of the best comedies in the last decade and a half. 7 'Borat' (2006) Image via 20th Century Studios The mockumentary, Borat, was a cultural phenomenon that became one of the most talked-about movies of the year, earning a reputation for its improvised humor and overly offensive scenarios by Sacha Baron Cohen. Cohen stars as the titular character, a reporter from Kazakhstan who travels to the United States to make a documentary. Throughout his journey, Borat manages to piss off and offend everyone he crosses paths with, resulting in an unpredictable series of events. Borat is noted for Cohen's improvised interactions with people who are genuinely under the impression that he is from another country and filming a documentary about America. This leads to uninhibited, uncensored, and outlandish scenes that are the definition of unhinged comedy. Surprisingly, Borat earned positive reviews from critics, including Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, who stated, "You won't know what outrageous is until you see Borat. High-five!" 6 'Bridesmaids' (2011) Image via Universal Pictures Kristin Wiig stars as a single woman, Annie, whose life is an utter mess, ranging from having to move back in with her mom to losing her bakery. When her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), gets engaged, she's asked to be her maid of honor, which she graciously accepts, but she has her work cut out for her as she finds herself competing against Lillian's new, wealthy, and elite friend, Helen (Rose Byrne). Bridesmaids is hands down one of the funniest and most entertaining movies of the last 25 years that accurately conveys the classic frienemy dynamic between women in an honest and hilarious light. While the movie is full of unforgettable, laugh-out-loud moments, it also has immense heart and, in the end, essentially reveals that everyone has their own batch of insecurities and problems in life. Bridesmaids reigns as the perfect rendition of the ups and downs of womanhood and friendship, blended with unhinged, raunchy comedy that never gets old.