ByBrian Tallerico,
a film critic with over 20 years of experience covering movies and TV.He is the president of the Chicago Film Critics Association, the co-producer of the Chicago Critics Film Festival, and managing editor of RogerEbert.com.
The Apartment.Photo: Courtesy of the Studio
This list is regularly updated as movies rotate on and off of Prime Video. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk.
Who needs a good laugh? Prime Video has a deep catalog of comedies for every mood from romantic classics to modern blockbusters to the laugh-busters you loved when you were young. However, navigating their interface to find the best comedies can be tough, so we’re here to help Amazon connect with your funny bone with this updated list of the best comedies on Prime Video.
How We Pick Our Films
Critic Brian Tallerico watches and writes about movies and TV every day. To curate this list, he dives into Amazon Prime Video’s comedy catalogue every month to surface laugh-out-loud funny titles — using his taste and a lifetime of cinema study as his guide, instead of whatever the algorithm happens to be pushing. After triple-checking to make sure they’re still available, he watches each and writes his recommendation. We highlight more than just the crowdpleasers: Comedy can be a venue to present interesting ideas, make an impact on cinema, and change our culture. Read on to find something to watch.
*Airplane!
Year: 1980 Runtime: 1h 24m Director: David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams
Movies just don’t get much funnier than this classic from David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams. Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, and Leslie Nielsen star in a parody of the disaster flicks of the ‘70s but Airplane! has far transcended its roots to become one of the most quotable and beloved comedies of all time.
Year: 2023 Runtime: 1h 56m Director: Cord Jefferson
First-time director Cord Jefferson won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for this 2023 dramedy about pop culture expectations of Black entertainment. The great Jeffrey Wright also landed his first Oscar nod for playing Monk Ellison, a writer who struggles to sell his books until he leans into exaggerated, stereotypical portrayals of Black life. Wright is the fuel to this film’s engine, but Sterling K. Brown is also strong, earning a surprise Oscar nod himself too.
The great documentarian Chris Smith broke through this story of two unforgettable Wisconsin-based filmmakers: Mark Borchardt and Mike Schank, who are trying to get their indie movies off the ground. The early ‘90s saw waves of independent filmmaking across the country and Smith’s film really taps into the love of movies that one needs to get their projects off the ground. It’s hysterical but never in a way that feels like it’s mocking the movie dreams of its memorable subjects.
Billy Wilder’s masterpiece is over six decades old, but it still feels as timeless as ever. The template for so many movies to come, The Apartment is a daring dissection of toxicity in the story of an insurance clerk (Jack Lemmon) who lets his coworkers use his apartment to support their infidelity. It’s a perfect movie.
Year: 1983 Runtime: 1h 44m Director: Lawrence Kasdan
The template for reunion movies came in 1983 with this star-studded dramedy about a group of University of Michigan grads reuniting 15 years after they graduated, and in the wake of the death of one of their own. The script here is strong, but it’s a really a study in great ensemble casting as Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Kurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, and JoBeth Williams make us believe that they’ve known each other for years.
Year: 2017 Runtime: 2h Director: Michael Showalter
The wonderful screenwriters Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon basically told their own love story in this sweet and funny rom-com that Amazon picked up after audiences fell for it at Sundance. Nanjiani plays a loose variation on himself, a struggling stand-up who falls for a woman (Zoe Kazan) just before she becomes incredibly ill, forcing their relationship to move at an unusual pace. A smart, sweet, genuinely human film, this is one of the best romantic comedies of the 2010s.
Did you know that a legendary music video director made a rocking dramedy about the battle rap scene that was produced by Eminem himself? Probably not given the minimal release of Bodied, but this movie rocks. Calum Worthy plays a grad student who becomes obsessed with the battle rap scene, only to discover that he’s pretty damn good at it himself. This was once a YouTube Red exclusive when that was a thing so it feels like a cult hit waiting for its cult.
Year: 2023 Runtime: 1h 31m Director: Emma Seligman
The writer/director of Shiva Baby avoided the sophomore slump with a film that feels completely different. Rachel Sennott and Emmy winner Ayo Edebiri star as a pair of high school girls who basically start a fight club to get closer to their crushes. Consistently funny in that surreal dark comedy way that Hollywood stopped doing about a quarter-century ago, it’s a movie that feels destined to be beloved by the generation to whom it’s most directly speaking to.
Few films of the ‘80s are more influential to this day than John Hughes’ collection of misfits, a comedy that has basically been remade almost every year since it came out. Look at any of the modern teen movie and you can pick out the Judd Nelsons, Anthony Michael Halls, Molly Ringwalds, and Ally Sheedys. See where a subgenre basically changed forever.
You can keep all those stuffy Jane Austen adaptations — one of the best remains Amy Heckerling’s updating of the 1815 classic Emma to mid-‘90s L.A. Perhaps even the most ‘90s movie ever? From its fashion to its references to its beloved characters, Clueless is certainly one of the most iconic, and it grows even more popular with each generation that discovers it.
Year: 2022 Runtime: 1h 45m Directors: Carey Williams
Carey Williams adapted his short film of the same name into this Sundance hit that Amazon picked up and dropped on Prime in May 2022. It’s the story of Sean and Kunle, two average friends who decide to go on a frat party tour but have their night of debauchery interrupted by an unconscious body on their living room floor. An insightful and hysterical blend of college comedy and racial commentary, it’s a sharp piece of filmmaking.
Truly classic comedies can be hard to find on streaming services, so take this chance to watch an all-timer, one of the best silent movies ever made. The phenomenally talented Buster Keaton stars and co-directs this action-adventure-comedy that has a little bit of something for everyone, and is really a great introduction to people who may not be familiar with Keaton’s remarkable skills.
Year: 1989 Runtime: 1h 43m Director: Michael Lehmann
Talk about a movie ahead of its time. Coming-of-age teen comedies were never quite as wonderfully cynical before this movie about four teenage girls whose lives are upended by the arrival of a new kid, played by Christian Slater. More than just seeking to destroy the damaging cliques at his new school, Slater’s character has plans for something a little more permanent in this comedy that really shaped the teen genre for years to come.
Year: 2023 Runtime: 2h 13m Director: Alexander Payne
Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph were Oscar-nominated for this phenomenal comedy (and Randolph won!), which was exclusive to Peacock but has now escaped out to Prime Video. The ‘70s-set story of a boarding school over holiday break already feels like a comedy classic, a movie that people will be watching, especially around the end of the year, for generations to come.
Year: 2011 Runtime: 1h 38m Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Comedies don’t get much darker than this 2009 film about a con artist named Steven Jay Russell, played expertly by Jim Carrey in his last truly interesting performance. While behind bars for one of his many cons, Steven falls in love with Phillip Morris, played by Ewan McGregor. This truly oddball film was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay by the Writers Guild of America.
Year: 2003 Runtime: 1h 41m Director: Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola exploded onto the filmmaking scene with her second film, this 2003 dramedy about a fading movie star who meets an American girl in Tokyo and both of their lives change. Bill Murray does career-best work in the film (and should have won an Oscar), and he’s matched by Scarlett Johnansson, but this really is Coppola’s film — a tender, brilliant character study with personal resonance.
Year: 2012 Runtime: 1h 38m Director: Stephen Chbosky
Stephen Chbosky adapted his own book into this tender and moving coming-of-age comedy starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller. It’s a remarkably smart film when it comes to teen issues that are rarely reflected accurately like depression and anxiety. And Chbosky directs his ensemble to beautiful, nuanced performances.
Year: 2012 Runtime: 2h 2m Director: David O. Russell
Sometimes a director finds a cast at just the right time and that’s exactly what happened when David O. Russell tapped Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, and Jacki Weaver in this romantic dramedy. They’re all perfect, making Silver Linings Playbook one of the more likable and easy-to-watch movies you could possibly bring up on Amazon.
Mel Brooks’ last great parody is this hysterical spoof of the world of Star Wars, filtered in a comedic style that is distinctively that of one of movie history’s greatest writers. Spaceballs takes most of its direct aim at the Lucas trilogy (yes, there were only three back in 1987), but Brooks tackles other sci-fi properties too, and he does it all with his wicked sense of timing and hysterical wordplay.
It’s a little crazy that it’s been over two decades since Ben Stiller stepped into the expensive shoes of Derek Zoolander and came back with one of the more memorable comedies of the 2000s. Directed by Russell Bates, Zoolander really spins the manic energy that Stiller had on his show into something fresh and original. And it also features a great supporting turn from Will Ferrell as the ridiculous Jacobin Mugatu.
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