When it comes to the Academy Awards, it’s fairly obvious for the most part which movies are going to get nominated for certain awards. The Academy is predictable for picking dramas, biopics, and historical epics. When it comes to comedies, even the best of the lot are unfairly overlooked.
However, every now and then, a comedy comes along that’s impossible for the Academy to ignore. Whether it’s a Saturday Night Live alumni flexing their feature-length creative muscles, romantic comedies that are surprisingly philosophical, or indie movies taking the world by storm, these movies managed to get a nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
The Big Sick (2017)
The Big Sick is a movie that had a tiny budget, but its content was strong enough to find huge audiences and made 1000% of its budget back, and that’s even with just a limited release. Being one of the best Amazon Prime originals, as it’s a heartwarming romantic comedy, The Big Sick managed to do what so few other movies could at the time. The movie became one of the first streaming flicks to be nominated for Best Original Screenplay.
Birdman (2014)
Birdman is many things; it’s surreal, it’s philosophical, and it’s absolutely hilarious. As the movie looks at and criticizes the current state of the movie industry and features an amazing cast who play exaggerated versions of themselves, it’s much more than cheap comedy fodder and the Academy ate it up. With Michael Keaton and Edward Norton leading the way, Birdman features some of the best performances of the decade.
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood might combine many different genres as well as comedy, as it’s also a period drama, a pseudo-biopic, and it obviously still features some of Tarantino’s most violent scenes, but the movie is the funniest of Tarantino’s filmography. The boisterousness between Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt throughout the movie is enthralling and that final scene is as hilarious as it is brutal. And above all else, it wouldn’t be a Tarantino penned movie if it wasn’t nominated for Best Original Screenplay.
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Wes Anderson has been a darling of the Academy ever since his 2001 movie the Royal Tenenbaums, which was also nominated for best original screenplay, but The Grand Budapest Hotel is the director’s magnum opus.
It’s obvious why the movie was nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Anderson’s most successful movie at the box office. The movie isn’t just funny, but it features an amazing ensemble cast and is one of the most colorful and vibrant movies of the decade.
In Bruges (2008)
Given the movie’s nature and genre, it comes as a surprise that In Bruges was nominated at The Academy Awards, as the Academy usually ignores black comedies such as this. As the movie follows two Irish hitmen on the run after a hit went wrong, In Bruges is a brutally dark, but it’s also just as hilarious. The film is one of the most underrated movies streaming on Netflix.
The Lobster (2015)
It almost seems that, if a dark comedy is released starring Colin Farrell, it’s almost a certainty that the movie will get nominated for an Oscar or two. The Lobster is one of the strangest comedies of the 21st century, as it follows Farrell’s character who enters a hotel and has 45 days to find a life partner or else he gets turned into a lobster. However, despite its strange premise, the movie is full of fantastic dialogue and a cliff hanger that will leave viewers stunned.
Bridesmaids (2011)
Bridesmaids is possibly the most overt comedy that has ever been nominated for the Academy Award, as it’s full of toilet humor and sex jokes, but it’s also a completely original and more grounded version of The Hangover.
Thanks to the incredible writing, as the screenplay was penned by Kristen Wiig herself, the movie was not only a huge success at the box office but also one of the funniest movies of the 2010s too. It wasn’t the only award that Bridesmaids was nominated for, as Melissa McCarthy was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Though Steve Carell has made a name for himself in the post-The Office world for his dramatic roles in The Big Short and Foxcatcher, many people forget that he has been starring in Oscar-caliber movies since 2006. Little Miss Sunshine is a hilarious comedy, but it’s also a wonderful coming of age movie that featured Paul Dano in his breakthrough role. The movie was a huge success, and not only gained an enormous amount of attention for an indie movie, but it also won the award for Best Original Screenplay.
Big (1988)
On paper, Big seems like a silly, childish movie with a narrative that has been attempted millions of times in trashy body-swap movies, but no film has pulled it off as gracefully as the Tom Hanks starring comedy. Thanks to another powerful performance from the actor and a screenplay that treats a seemingly immature plot with maturity, Big is a profound movie that was deservedly nominated for Best Original Screenplay. It also introduced millions of children to the idea of a walking piano.
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Being one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time, arguably no other movie in the genre has come close to the genius dialogue in the time since it was released. When Harry Met Sally isn’t just a romantic comedy, as it tries to answer the age-old question of whether or not men and women can be just friends. It’s one of the funniest movies ever made, has magnificent performances from Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, and it features one of the most famous scenes in movie history.