Plenty ofcomedymoviescome out every year but not many of them are over-the-top. Comedy is a genre where performers are generally given more free rein to do their own thing in the pursuit of getting laughs. Once in a while, a comedy movie comes out that pushes the boundaries of humor, going to any heights to make the audience smile. Whether it’s Simon Pegg as a ridiculously strict cop inHot Fuzzor Will Farrell as a relapsed alcoholic partying with frat boys inOld School, there are many comedy movie characters that could be considered over-the-top.
While it would be almost impossible to put together a comprehensive list of all the over-the-top comedy movies ever made, there are some that stand out over time. Many comedy movies from the ’70s are still funny today, like Mel Brooks’sBlazing Saddlesor Monty Python’sAnd Now For Something Completely Different. Here are some movies from the last six decades that took things to the extreme just to get a laugh.
20National Lampoon’s Animal House
National Lampoon’s Animal Houseis a canonical ’70s comedy movie. When two college boys are rejected while trying to pledge at an upscale fraternity, they change course and join a lower frat house instead. While there, they meet John Blutarsky (nicknamed “Bluto”), played by the hilarious John Belushi, and the antics begin. The house throws a toga party where things get wild.
Animal Houseis over-the-top because of its excessive partying and drinking scenes. The late Belushi in particular was a performer who was game for anything to get a laugh, which resulted in some great physical comedy. In one scene, Bluto and his buddies steal the answers for a test but don’t realize the rival frat house has switched it for a fake. The boys fail their exams and end up being eligible for military service. For all of its belly laughs,Animal Houseis considered one ofIvan Reitman’s best movies.
19The Hangover Part II
Released in 2011,The Hangover Part IIis the inevitable sequel to the wildly successful first film,The Hangover. The second film in the franchise once again follows Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) as they attempt to recount the debauchery that happened the night before. When the group travels to Thailand for Stu’s wedding, they wake up with no memory of what happened the night before. For some reason they have a stolen monkey, Stu has a face tattoo, and they’re missing Stu’s soon-to-be brother-in-law Teddy.
The Hangoverfilm series is full of over-the-top scenes, butThe Hangover Part IIpushes the boundaries of good taste. For instance, there are jokes about Stu hooking up with a prostitute and the group inciting a riot outside a tattoo parlor. Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong) returns as well and helps the guys figure out exactly what happened. Everything aboutThe Hangover Part IIis exaggerated for full belly laughs.
18Happy Gilmore
InHappy Gilmore, Adam Sandler stars as a hockey player who gets banned from his professional league for taking off his skate while fighting. Happy’s grandmother is about to lose her house, so Happy reluctantly enters a golf tournament to attempt to win enough money for her to keep it. But he’s a guy with anger management issues, so trying another sport is going to be difficult. Unfortunately, Happy’s rage transfers from the ice rink to the golf course, making him a pretty terrible golfer at first.
Happy Gilmoreis driven by Sandler’s ridiculous, over-the-top antics. At one point, he gets down on the green and yells at a golf ball. Later, Happy fights Bob Barker and loses, even though he’s much younger than Barker. It’s the movie most people know Sandler for, and it’s the actor basically just being an exaggerated version of himself.
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17Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Classic comedy duoAbbott and Costello helped create a new genrewithAbbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Released in 1948, the film is centered around Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) who wants to reactivate Frankenstein’s monster. Realizing he needs a strong brain to keep the monster alive, Dracula seeks out Wilbur Grey (Lou Costello), a baggage clerk who has recently received a mysterious package to be delivered to a wax museum.
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankensteinis an over-the-top whodunit where nobody seems to be who they say they are. Characters accuse each other of being Dracula at the masquerade ball, sparking comedy and causing confusion. It all comes to a head with a crazy ending that throws The Wolfman and The Invisible Man into the mix as well.
16Jackass: The Movie
InJackass: The Movie, Johnny Knoxville and his band of ragtag misfits take their pranks from TV to the big screen. Based on the popular show,Jackassfeatures Knoxville and his buddies Chris Pontius, Steve-O, Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, and others pulling off insane stunts and painful pranks. Each performer is insistent on one-upping the others throughout the movie. For instance, Knoxville is knocked out after speeding around in and subsequently flipping a golf cart, while Steve-O snorts a spicy mixture of wasabi and soy sauce.
Everything aboutJackassis over-the-top. The stunts have become more and more extreme over the years, with some of the guys going head-to-head with live bulls, smashing into garage doors, and voluntarily being bitten by various animals. The most recent installmentJackass Foreverintroduced some new performers as well, ensuring theJackasslegacy will continue for years to come.
15This Is Spinal Tap
This Is Spinal Tapis a fictional mockumentary about a washed-up metal band trying to regain popularity in the mainstream. Directed by Rob Reiner, the movie follows Spinal Tap as they release a new album, create a new stage show, and go on tour. The problem is that everything they do is ridiculous, from ordering stage props that are way too small to using amps that “go to 11.”
Everything that could go wrong does for Spinal Tap in their quest for stardom. Their drummers keep getting blown up, their relationships with women fall apart, and their record label won’t let them release the album cover they want to use. It’s the epitome of everything that’s over-the-top about the music industry, and it works as a social commentary on the silly things people are willing to do to get famous. It’s hilarious and fun to watch, making it one of the10 best mockumentaries ever made.
14Old School
Old Schoolis similar toAnimal Housein concept, but it also goes to the extreme. Released in 2003, the movie follows Mitch (Luke Wilson) as he tries to recover from a broken relationship. He moves into a new apartment near a college campus and soon his place is turned into a frat house. Mitch’s friends Beanie (Vince Vaughn) and Frank (Will Ferrell) convince him to join a fraternity so that they can party every night and relive their past college lives.
A lot of the exaggeration inOld Schoolcomes from Ferrell’s performance as Frank, which is absolutely hilarious. Frank is a recovering alcoholic who easily gets sucked back into his old ways. He ends up getting drunk, running naked through the streets, and getting scorned by his wife.Old Schoolis a wild movie with tons of laughs.
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13And Now For Something Completely Different
Monty Python’sAnd Now For Something Completely Differentis a feature film that’s really a compilation of shorter sketches. It mixes satire with physical sight gags and random cartoons to create an odd, over-the-top movie. The sketches vary in theme and tone. For instance, one bit is about a man trying to return a dead parrot, while another is about a man who writes a joke so funny that it’s able to take out military forces in the middle of battle.
Anyone familiar with Monty Python knows the comedy troupe always pushes satire to the extreme just to get laughs. The characters inAnd Now For Something Completely Differentare full of exaggerated quirks and eccentricities. As funny as the film is, it’s still not thebest Monty Python movie.
12Mean Girls
Mean Girlsis a 2004 movie based on the bookQueen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman. When Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) goes to a new high school, she quickly feels left out by the popular girls, who have established cliques. Regina (Rachel McAdams), Gretchen (Lacey Chabert), and Karen (Amanda Seyfried) are a group known as The Plastics who reject and mock Cady and her friends every chance they get.
The movie is an extreme version of what real high school life is like. While viewers can relate to the movie,Mean Girlstakes it to the next level with its stereotypical depictions of the people you knew in high school. The girls are downright nasty to each other and even create a “burn book” with the names of people they want to seek revenge on.
11The Princess Bride
The Princess Brideis another Rob Reiner film that earns laughs with its over-the-top characters. Buttercup (Robin Wright) is a princess-to-be who is set to marry the obnoxious Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon). Before the wedding, she is kidnapped by a trio of misfits led by Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), an outlaw seeking revenge for his father’s death.
The Princess Brideis a spoof on the popular fantasy movies that were popular in the ’80s. There’s silly slapstick comedy, funny one-liners, ridiculous accents, and unrealistic plot turns along the way. It’s over-the-top in its campiness but it’s a beloved movie nonetheless.
