Everyone has his or her own taste in comedy movies that it is an achievement for one comedy to appeal to most (if not all) tastes. Regardless of quality, if it succeeds in its job on bringing the laughs, then it succeeds.
One of the factors to determine the types of movie audiences is through the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator. And for this list, the focus is on the individuals under the personality type INTP (Introverted Intuitive Thinking Perceiving) or “The Logician”. So, here are five comedy movies that may appeal to those under INTP (and five they may dislike).
Love: The Big Short
Anchorman director Adam McKay adapts the Michael Lewis bestseller and turns it into a scathing portrait of capitalism during the 2007-2008 global financial crisis. Led by a tremendous cast of stars that include Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt, the story centers on several businessmen cashing in on the economic crash.
As the book is an intricately technical study of the financial market, McKay employs meta-references, pop culture, and fourth-wall-breaking to give a layman’s depiction. And while this is far from a laugh-out-loud comedy, The Big Short has bits of absurdist humor for INTPs to surmise about.
Hate: Camp Rock
Disney is not everyone’s cup of tea, especially their Disney Channel Original Movies. While some are easily tolerable, there are some that get on the nerves. One of them is the 2008 musical comedy Camp Rock, starring a then-newcomer Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers. The story centers on a girl named Mitchie (Lovato) who attends a summer music camp where she meets teen idol Shane Gray (Joe Jonas).
This movie has all the hallmarks of a cheesy Disney romp that trumps logic over clichés. The high school cliques and the wacky slapstick is all over the place. Just overblown.
Love: Amélie
Amélie Poulain (Audrey Tautou) is a girl with an active imagination, a mischievous attitude, and a sense of adventures. Her views in life were reshaped after she discovered a metal box filled with memorabilia and returned it to its original owner. From there, she resolved to create elaborate schemes as a way to show kindness, including a man named Niño.
Any INTP viewer can easily associate with Amélie for being an out-of-the-box thinker and a determined problem solver. And for its breezy vibe and idealistic depiction of Parisian life, it is a fine escapist comedy and a whimsical romance.
Hate: Rush Hour 3
While the Rush Hour trilogy is not a middling waste of time for INTP audiences, the third part has to be the most detested for them. The relentless charm and witty banter from the first two films are gone on this third part that primarily consists of racial stereotyping, misogynist content, immature humor, and a convoluted plot.
The story finds Chief Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) and Detective Carter (Chris Tucker) in Paris, where they aim to protect a lead to China’s dangerous triads. While that seems interesting, INTPs will get a load of mind-boggling tomfoolery, especially the “hilarious” you-me bit.
Love: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson is an auteur of his own right. He brings intricately woven stories to life through elaborate world-building and witty dialogue that may come off as either lifeless or lifelike. But for INTP audiences, Wes Anderson is a reliable lifelike comic who inspires out-of-the-box thinkers and gifted prodigies.
Of all the films in his catalog, his most cerebral is definitely The Grand Budapest Hotel. While the film is mostly known for its Central European-inspired production design, the story about a hotel concierge and his protégé wanting to clear their names has layers of inspiration as to how inspirations last.
Hate: Couples Retreat
Couples Retreat is anything but a treat for INTP viewers who wanted to be inspired about a movie that celebrates intelligence, creativity, and uniqueness, both in execution and in execution. This movie does neither any of them and instead settles on crass humor, improvisational dialogue, and witless jokes. It does not help that a talented cast that consists of Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Jon Favreau, and a desperate Vince Vaughn sank low to the abysmal script.
Even, the concept of “couples retreat” would immediately alienate INTP individuals who seek leisure and relaxation in their vacation escapades, not couples therapy sessions.
Love: Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python’s brand of comedy is purely groundbreaking, if not weird. Their penchant for surrealist wit, apolitical humor, and philosophical themes makes their comedies purely timeless. One of the best to recommend for INTPs from their filmography is Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This farcical take on the Arthurian legend is a quotable and hilarious laugh trip.
The comedy features all six Monty Python members in multiple roles, basically reinventing the formula of Monty Python’s Flying Circus with doses of fourth-wall breaks, meta-humor, and brilliant non-sequiturs. With the execution of its comedy, INTPs will have a glorious time.
Hate: Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son
Lowbrow humor is never on any INTP’s radar. Take the Big Momma trilogy as an example. This Martin Lawrence vehicle relies on three tiresome gags: fat people pratfalls, racial stereotypes, and groin smashing. So, any movie that has this inspiration would be a skip for them.
The worst has to be the 2011 entry, Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son. This time, Martin Lawrence’s FBI Malcolm Turner infiltrates an all-girls college with his stepson Trent (Brandon T. Jackson) to retrieve a flash drive by cross-dressing as mother and daughter. Cue juvenile slapstick and dumb jokes that irritate more than entertain.
Love: The Great Dictator
Charlie Chaplin is one of the best known comic performers of all time. Though his films are essential showcases for his physical comedy under his Tramp character, there are substantial themes lying underneath. Modern Times is a satire about the workman conditions during the Great Depression. The Gold Rush makes a sharp commentary about the Klondike Gold Rush. And his first talkie The Great Dictator condemns its subject for his fanaticism towards anti-Semitism and dictatorship.
Speaking of the latter film, The Great Dictator pokes fun directly at Adolf Hitler but acknowledges his malevolent nature and the Third Reich. The clever notches of the script culminates in a stirring speech that even INTPs can get behind.
Hate: Disaster Movie
On the opposite of the great parody movies are the bad ones. The most despicable of them came from the minds of “parodists” Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, directors of Date Movie, Epic Movie and Vampires Suck. Their brand of humor is spouting out pop culture reference after pop culture reference to numbing degrees.
Their most reviled effort Disaster Movie sums up the worst parts of their parody films. Taking the template of Cloverfield, the film centers on a group of partygoers on a rescue mission around a pop culture-devastated city. Even as a comedy, the film is devoid of anything creative or tolerable for INTPs. Even the film’s logic is too hard to comprehend.