Summary
- Underrated comedy movies on Netflix offer a range of comedic styles, from slapstick to spoof, with memorable characters and hilarious performances.
- Despite critical backlash, movies like "The Happytime Murders" and "Dirty Grandpa" remain guilty pleasures and box office successes.
- "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga" and "Accepted" are surprising, underrated comedies on Netflix that deserve more recognition.
When it comes to the underrated comedy movies on Netflix, there are several to choose from that are both underappreciated and often labeled as guilty pleasures. It could be argued that most comedy movies are guilty pleasure movies that simply vary between comic tastes. The more ridiculous, far-fetched, or over-the-top a comedy is, the guiltier the pleasure of watching it. As a pure form of escapism, the comedy genre tends to sit near the top of the heap, offering audiences a chance to forget about life for a while with a big smile on their face.
Underrated comedy movies on Netflix range from slapstick to spoof comedies, some with heartfelt themes, others full of hijinx and mayhem instead. There are legit masterpieces that most people can agree on when it comes to comedies, including some giant comedic masterpieces on Netflix, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Groundhog Day. However, there are also a lot of comedies that are better than their reputation. They all come with hilarious, memorable characters and performers. Whatever the viewer's taste, there is a guilty pleasure comedy for them on Netflix right now.
25 The Happytime Murders (2018)
When Peter Jackson first started his movie-making career, he made an R-rated movie with puppets called Meet the Feebles. It has since become a cult classic and in 2018, another director wanted to do something similar. This was another familiar name, as Brian Henson took his dad Jim Henson's puppet studio and used it to make the R-rated comedy The Happytime Murders. Here, Melissa McCarthy starred as a human detective who teamed with a puppet PI to find out who has been killing retired sitcom stars. The movie was a critical bomb, picking up six Razzie nominations. However, it remains a guilty pleasure and is one of the more underrated comedy movies on Netflix.
24 The Benchwarmers (2006)
In 2006, some comedy stars tried to keep their brand of comedy going with the sports comedy The Benchwarmers. The cast included several Saturday Night Live stars including Rob Schneider and David Spade and the star of Napoleon Dynamite, Jon Heder. However, even with all these funny comedians in one movie, critics hated it and blasted it as juvenile humor. However, when it comes to comedy movies, it is always subjective and fans often don't care what critics think, making it a box office success. Now, it is one of the more underrated comedy movies on Netflix for anyone looking for some goofy laughs.
23 Swearnet: The Movie (2014)
From the team that brought audiences the TV series Trailer Park Boys comes Swearnet: The Movie. Robb Wells, John Paul Tremblay, and Mike Smith play themselves and decide to create an uncensored internet network after being annoyed by all the censorship that followed them after their Trailer Park Boys careers. Fans of the series that made them famous are in for a treat with this one, and newcomers to the Trailer Park Boys world who love tasteless humor will also get a kick out of Swearnet. The trio is well-known for their anything-goes depiction of their characters and plotlines, and they don't disappoint here.
22 Dirty Grandpa (2016)
For most of his career, Robert De Niro was one of the most famous and beloved crime thriller actors on the planet. However, there came a point in his later years when De Niro decided he was going to move into more comedy roles. His most popular turns came in the Meet the Parents franchise, but he went one step further into absurdist comedy with the 2016 movie Dirty Grandpa. The movie received universally bad reviews, sitting at just 10% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it was a box office success and remains one of the more underrated comedy movies on Netflix.
21 Hubie Halloween (2020)
Adam Sandler has been almost exclusive to Netflix in recent years, and most of his movies have been met with harsh reviews from critics. However, Netflix keeps bringing him back for more, and with Hubie Halloween, the movie delivered what most Sandler haters despise the most about his movies. Sandler plays a dimwitted citizen of Salem, Massachusetts who sets out to make sure everything on Halloween goes by the rules. However, he soon realizes supernatural forces are falling on the town and he alone can save them. The movie has quickly become a Halloween staple and had better reviews than a lot of Sandler's recent projects.
20 The Pink Panther (2006)
It is hard to remake a beloved comedy classic that had an iconic star in the lead. The original Pink Panther was directed by Blake Edwards and starred the incomparable Peter Sellers as Detective Jacques Clouseau, a bumbling detective who somehow managed to solve crimes in spite of his own ineptitude. The best way to fix the problem of replacing Sellers is to bring in a comic legend to do it, and the remake did so with Steve Martin. Critics shredded the movie with bad reviews, but it was a box office success and even received a sequel, making it one of the most underrated comedy movies on Netflix.
19 Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga (2020)
Before American Idol and The Voice, the longest-running music competition show in history was the Eurovision Song Contest, which has run in Europe for almost 70 years. It is something that was never as popular for American audiences but was a huge success for Europeans. That might be why the 2020 movie Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga wasn't as popular in America as Netflix might have hoped. While it received mixed reviews, the movie remains one of the more surprisingly underrated comedy movies on Netflix and even has an Oscar nomination to its credit for Best Original Song.
18 Accepted (2006)
One of the more underrated comedy movies on Netflix is the seldom talked about 2006 comedy Accepted. The movie starred Justin Long and Blake Lively and told the story of outcast high school students who created a fake college after the ones they applied to rejected their application. The cast has some recognizable faces early in their careers, including Jonah Hill, and some big-name talent in supporting roles, including comedian Lewis Black and Anthony Heald, the man known as Hannibal Lecter's jailer in Silence of the Lambs.
17 The Dilemma (2011)
Ron Howard directed a dark comedy in 2011 called The Dilemma. While it had an Oscar-winning director behind the camera and two recognizable comic actors in the lead roles, it failed to break even at the box office. The movie stars Vince Vaughn as his leading man career was winding down and Kevin James as his comedy career began to take off as best friends and business partners who hit a rough patch when one friend sees the other's wife kissing another man. While the movie was a bomb upon release, reappraisals have seen it rise in stature, and it is one of the more underrated comedy movies on Netflix.
16 Between Two Ferns: The Movie (2019)
In 2019, Netflix released a comedy that was based on a hilarious internet sketch series of shorts starring Zach Galifianakis called Between Two Ferns. This was a tough sell, as the sketch series was always best in short bursts, and it was funny because it never wore out its welcome. Here, the idea was stretched into a feature-length movie. Zach realizes he has become a laughingstock when his show is uploaded to the Internet. The movie does have a great cast, with people like David Letterman, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Jon Mann, among others. The movie has great reviews and is easily one of the most underrated comedy movies on Netflix.
15 The Bounty Hunter (2010)
Jennifer Aniston is a staple of the romantic comedy and one of her early outings in the genre was the 2010 movie The Bounty Hunter. In this movie, she plays a reporter who skips a bail hearing to chase a story and ends up with her ex-husband, a bounty hunter, capturing her to bring her in. However, when he figures out that her lead might be a huge criminal case that they can help break, he decides to help her bring it to the public before taking her back to jail. The movie was a huge success at the box office, but as with many comedies, had bad critical reviews, and remains one of the more underrated comedy movies on Netflix.
14 About Last Night (2014)
About Last Night had a tough task. It took a classic romantic comedy that had a small niche fanbase and tried to remake it for Netflix with a predominantly Black cast. The original About Last Night starred Rob Lowe and Demi Moore while the new movie featured Kevin Hart and Reginal Hall. However, it seemed to work. Both were based on a David Mamet play and have two friends testing how their romantic relationships work in the new world of dating. The movie made a profit at the box office, although it wasn't a major success, but it received a second life as one of the more underrated comedy movies on Netflix.
13 Sausage Party (2016)
Sausage Party is one of the most underrated comedy movies on Netflix because it is one that many people don't know what to do with it. This is an animated movie about anthropomorphic food items in a grocery store who don't know how the real world really is. They believe there is another side, where they will be in a perfect world when someone buys them. However, when they learn the truth, it does not go over well, especially for a hot dog and bun who have fallen in love. The Sausage Party cast includes names like Seth Rogen and Kristen Wiig, and Sausage Party remains one of the better R-rated animated comedies.
12 The Dictator (2012)
Released in 2012, by Larry Charles, The Dictator is one of the most underrated comedy movies on Netflix because it was misunderstood since its release. Sacha Baron Cohen stars in the movie, following his immense success in Borat and Bruno. Those two movies had Cohen in a sort of mockumentary, while many people who appeared with him had no idea what kind of movie they were in. Many thought The Dictator was the same, and when it ended up as an actual fictional movie with Borat playing an evil dictator, it ended up with mixed reviews. However, it still made a great box office and remains a funny movie now that people know what to expect.
11 Funny People (2009)
Judd Apatow released Funny People in 2009 and most of the viewers have no idea what they were walking into. Apatow had mostly made sex comedies over his career and star Adam Sandler was the king of low-brow comedy movies. This was neither of those things and was instead a black comedy where Sandler plays a successful comedian diagnosed with a terminal disease who wants to fix the relationships in his life while helping an aspiring comedian. The movie was a box office bomb thanks to poor word of mouth but is one of Apatow's more heartwarming films, and it is one of the most underrated comedy movies on Netflix.
10 Not Another Teen Movie (2001)
In the 2000s, spoof movies picked up a bad reputation. Movies hit almost every year that spoofed a different genre, and they all received terrible reviews, poor box office results, and Razzies for the worst of them. However, there was one that started the trend that remains a great movie and one of the most underrated comedy movies on Netflix. Not Another Teen Movie spoofed teen movies such as those by John Hughes and even got a badge of honor by throwing in Molly Ringwald in a fun cameo. It also starred a young Chris Evans with a whipped cream bikini scene based on Varsity Blues that has to be seen.
9 Ted (2012)
It might have been a hard sell, but having a movie where everyone was live-action except for a living teddy bear ended up as a huge box office success. Part of it was the fact that Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane directed the movie, and part of it was that it was R-rated and had a lot of raunchy humor, with the likable Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis in the lead human roles. The movie had Wahlberg as a man whose only friend was a teddy bear when he was a child, and his love brought it to life. The movie was a monster success, making $549 million at the box office, and remaining one of the most underrated comedy movies on Netflix.
8 Pee-Wee's Big Holiday (2016)
It seemed like a risk for Netflix, but in 2016, the streaming service released a new Pee-Wee Herman movie years after his last movie (Big Top Pee-Wee in 1988) and years after his ostracization from Hollywood thanks to an incident at an adult theater. However, the risk paid off and fans fell in love with Paul Reubens' Pee-Wee Herman once again. This was also the last movie role for Reubens, who died in 2023. The movie sees Joe Manganiello star as himself as he invites Pee-Wee to leave his hometown to visit New York City for the first time ever. The movie sits at 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.
7 Murder Mystery (2019)
Adam Sandler's films have been hit-and-miss in this latter part of his career, though in 2019 fans were treated to a hit with one of the underrated comedy movies on Netflix, Murder Mystery. Sandler plays a cop, who along with his wife (Jennifer Aniston) goes to Europe to rekindle their relationship. They unwittingly become a party to the murder of a billionaire and are wanted as the main suspects. Murder Mystery is a whodunit film with the addition of Sandler's peculiar type of humor. The film is full of colorful, quirky characters and features plenty of action alongside the comedy, making for a worthy entry into the murder mystery film genre.
6 Ride Along (2014)
Ride Along saw Ice Cube continue his role as a tough guy, here a police officer who disapproves of his sister's boyfriend. However, he is also the straight man in this buddy comedy where that boyfriend, played by Kevin Hart, goes on a ride along with him to try to prove he is worthy of the sister's love. The movie works best thanks to the mismatched Ice Cube and Kevin Hart playing off each other, and it ended up as a giant success, helping Hart in his rise to the top of the Hollywood comedy world. The movie picked up a sequel, and it remains one of the more underrated comedy movies on Netflix.