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The comedy genre is as old as the film industry itself. Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton’s slapstick aesthetic dominated the early 20th century, eventually giving rise to subcategories like screwball comedy and cringe humor. Comedy movies today might be radically different in terms of both style and vision, but it’s still important to have a good ending.
The best comedy films almost always stick the landing. While a few masterpieces get away without a proper conclusion because they have other selling points to fall back on, there are plenty of great comedies that have a satisfying and fitting ending.
10/10 The FBI Agent Finally Tracks The Logan Brothers Down
Logan Lucky
The heist genre is oversaturated with movie franchises like the Oceans series, but Logan Lucky manages to breathe new life into this genre. Critics lauded the film’s presentation, cast, and Steven Soderbergh’s directorial vision.
While the story is packed with several truly mind-bending heists, the conclusion packs a far more impressive punch. With Hilary Swank’s FBI agent hot on the protagonists’ heels, Logan Lucky leaves its most important narrative thread untucked. There’s no sequel in the works, but fans really want to know if the Logan brothers would survive this new ordeal.
9/10 Osgood Fielding Glibly Dismisses Jerry’s Shocking Revelation
Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot is not only a comedy masterpiece, but it’s also one of the greatest movies ever made. Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, and Tony Curtis embark on back-to-back adventures, each more implausible than the next, before ending on a remarkably progressive note for the 1950s.
Although Jerry desperately attempts to convince his wealthy suitor that he shouldn’t wed “Daphne,” Osgood Fielding III casually dismisses every single argument against the marriage. Jerry eventually gives up, discards his wig, and reveals himself to be a man. In a great ending, Fielding glibly responds with, “Well, nobody’s perfect.”
8/10 Beetlejuice Is Sentenced To An Eternity In A Bizarre Waiting Room
Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice showcased Michael Keaton’s eccentric side, approximately a year before the actor took on his most iconic role as Batman. A few critics openly denounced the story’s macabre sense of humor, with The New York Times calling the film “about as funny as a shrunken head.”
Meanwhile, other reviewers praised Beetlejuice‘s authentic vision, deeming it a comedy masterpiece. The movie takes several unpredictable twists and turns over the course of its 92-minute runtime, concluding with the shameful defeat and expulsion of the eponymous character. Beetlejuice is sentenced to an eternity in a bizarre waiting room, a justified and hilarious punishment for his crimes.
7/10 Phil Connors Eventually Acknowledges And Cherishes Life’s Little Joys
Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day is a classic genre hybrid, blending concepts as diverse as romance and sci-fi to craft a story that remains as impactful today as it did in 1993. Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell’s performances received near-universal praise, while the film itself became a shining example of ’90s comedy.
The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus states that “Groundhog Day highlights Murray’s dramatic gifts while still leaving plenty of room for laughs.” Phil Connors remains trapped in a time loop until he finally learns how to acknowledge and cherish the little things in life. At the end, he decides to stay back in Punxsutawney with Rita, much to the audience’s delight.
6/10 The Backstreet Boys Perform “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” In Heaven
This Is The End
This is the End is a brilliantly written and directed comedy movie that involves real-life celebrities playing semi-fictional versions of themselves. Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, James Franco, Michael Cera, Channing Tatum, Mindy Kaling, Rihanna, and Emma Watson take viewers on a devastatingly funny trip through the Biblical apocalypse.
Despite its self-effacing tone, This is the End concludes with most of the protagonists in Heaven. Here, Jay requests the Backstreet Boys to perform “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).” Viewers can probably find a moral somewhere in this story if they look hard enough, but it isn’t needed for the entertaining ending.
5/10 King Arthur And His Knights Are Arrested By 20th-Century Police Officers
Monty Python & The Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail begins as a straightforward British comedy chronicling the wacky adventures of the legendary King Arthur. The movie includes anachronistic elements like witch trials, anarchist farmers, Trojan Rabbits, and homing beacons to great effect.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail also incorporated over-the-top concepts such as the dreaded Rabbit of Caerbannog, the Knights Who Say “Ni,” and the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, many of which have since become famous memes. The Holy Grail‘s ending is foreshadowed long before it actually happens, but audiences were still taken by surprise when King Arthur and his knights are arrested by 20th-century police officers.
4/10 The Invading Aliens Explode When They Listen To A Hilariously Boring Operetta Song
Mars Attacks!
Based on the eponymous trading card series, Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! is best characterized as an exercise in experimental slapstick. The story barely makes any logical sense, but this intentional incoherence is an integral part of the movie’s idiosyncratic charm. Mars Attacks! is simultaneously a sci-fi B-movie and a parody of the genre, a rather difficult narrative balance to achieve.
In this regard, it can be compared to Bong Joon-ho’s Gwoemul, which relies on comedic timing despite its otherwise bleak atmosphere. Unlike H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, where the invading Martians are killed off by Earth pathogens, the aliens in Mars Attacks! explode when they listen to “Indian Love Call,” a hilariously boring operetta song from the 1920s.
3/10 Blue Shirt Guy Learns To Value His Own Existence, Despite His Digital Origins
Free Guy
Although Free Guy may not be as funny as other great video game movies, Ryan Reynolds triumphantly pulls off his role as the NPC protagonist. Peter Debruge of Variety referred to the movie as an “unwieldy mashup of multiple-reality blockbusters like The Matrix and The Lego Movie.”
That said, Free Guy pays homage to everything it satirizes without sacrificing its unique sense of appeal. The titular hero would have gladly martyred himself to save his video game universe from destruction, but he luckily doesn’t have to. Blue Shirt Guy doesn’t get to spend the rest of his digital life with the woman of his dreams, but he certainly finds value in his own existence.
2/10 Ferris Bueller Concludes With A Fourth-Wall Breaking Post-Credits Scene
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus summarizes Ferris Bueller’s Day Off with a hint of redundancy, calling it an “irrepressibly fun movie about being young and having fun.” In all fairness, it’s nearly impossible to describe this wonderfully heartwarming film using any other words.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off contains very few jokes and punchlines, deriving its intrinsic humor from the interactions between its three main characters. The movie concludes with Ferris escaping the school principal’s wrath and Cameron choosing to confront his father. However, there’s a nifty little post-credits sequence where the protagonist exhorts the audience to leave the theater because “it’s over.” Deadpool pays tribute to this scene while wearing Ferris’ iconic bathrobe.
1/10 The Rich Are Eaten Alive By A Horde Of Alien Carnivores
Don’t Look Up
Don’t Look Up was heavily criticized for its morbid perspective. Despite critical disapproval, climate scientists have gone on record citing Don’t Look Up as one of the most realistic satires of the 21st century. This Adam McKay black comedy doesn’t hold anything back as it highlights the bleak outlook of modern society.
The uber-wealthy elites manage to escape the Earth’s destruction by hitching a ride on a presumably unaffordable spaceship, leaving everyone else to die a horrible death. It almost feels like a bitter ending until a mid-credits scene reveals the helpless rich being eaten by a horde of alien carnivores. Don’t Look Up demonstrates that money and power are going to be useless when the environmental apocalypse comes, but in a way that makes audiences laugh their heads off.
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