When it comes to comedies, the first things that spring to mind are sidesplittingly funny movies about news anchors and male models. Those movies generally star Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, or some other comedic genius that probably started on SNL. But, there are other comedy movies that are more subdued, and, while great, don’t actually come with that many laughs.
What’s even more interesting is that otherwise great comedies that aren’t actually that funny are, on average, reviewed much higher than the laugh-out-loud classics, and it’s probably because they blend genres. Many of the movies here are also heavy on drama, real-life events, and satire, but the dry wit is the throughline in all of them.
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Celebrated director Stanley Kubrick has been called many things in the past—genius auteur, provocateur, the greatest director of all time—but 'funny' is not typically one of them. It has been well documented that he is very strict and demanding on set, so it’s hardly surprising that the only comedy he ever made isn’t exactly laugh-out-loud funny.
Dr. Strangelove is one of the best political satires ever made, but the clever jokes are often hidden, such as the B-52 being refueled in midair in the opening sequence, which is used because of how “sexual” it looks, but nobody would really ever know unless they were told about it.
Thank You For Smoking (2005)
Thank You For Smoking is one of the most overlooked comedies of the decade, and it’s the reason why Christopher Nolan decided to cast Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight. The movie follows the chief spokesman of Big Tobacco and how he becomes conflicted when promoting a product that kills millions of people every year. There are no big laughs in the movie, but it’s another brilliant satirical film with razor-sharp writing.
Burn After Reading (2008)
The Coen brothers are the masters of making unfunny but great comedies, as so many of the duo’s films are all complex comedies, whether it’s A Serious Man, Barton Fink, or even Fargo. Arguably, the only outright funny movie they’ve ever made is The Big Lebowski.
Burn After Reading belongs to the former group, as it’s a supremely clever movie about two dimwitted gym trainers who find the secret memoirs of a former CIA analyst. The narrative reads like a ridiculous and hilarious laugh-out-loud comedy, but the Coen brothers typically turn it into a dark and detailed movie.
The Big Short (2015)
Adam McKay is one of the most influential and successful comedy directors of the 21st century, as he directed Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and many other Will Ferrell-led laugh-out-loud movies. But, in 2015, there was a paradigm shift in the director’s career. The Big Short saw the filmmaker take on the serious subject of the 2007 housing crisis.
Instead of working with Saturday Night Live alumni, he was working with Academy Award-nominated actors like Christian Bale and Margot Robbie, but it was still ultimately a comedy. However, it’s much more subdued than any of his 2000s movies, and it set the foundation for even more serious movies to come from McKay in the future, as he also directed the political drama Vice.
Ed Wood (1994)
Ed Wood is an outlier in Tim Burton’s filmography, as it’s just as quirky and creative as all of his other movies, but it’s more grounded in reality than anything else he’s done.
The movie is based on a true story about the titular filmmaker who was completely delusional in his ambitions, and it follows his attempt at directing Plan 9 From Outer Space, which has become known as “the worst movie ever made.” The movie is fascinating, especially for cinephiles, as it takes a deep dive into the movie industry in the 1950s, and the black-and-white aesthetic of the movie make it look more stylish than anything Burton has ever made. But, it‘s far from his funniest movie to date.
American Psycho (2000)
Being yet another satire, American Psycho is also a slasher, but it’s different from any other. What the movie does so brilliantly is that it makes the audiences imagine something far worse than what they’re actually seeing, as most of the violence is off-screen.
So, in a way, the comedy-slasher isn’t a comedy or even much of a slasher movie, but it is completely unique and one of the most original movies of the 21st century. Even though it isn’t very funny, “I Have To Return Some Videotapes” remains one of the most iconic lines in a comedy ever.
Adaptation (2002)
Of all the movies that aren’t funny, Adaptation is perhaps the biggest culprit, as not only is it not that funny, but it’s actually depressing and morbid. Adaptation follows an aging screenwriter who becomes obsessed with the woman who wrote the novel he’s adapting.
The movie makes viewers think, and the two narratives that run concurrently are works of genius, but the only funny part of the movie is the screenwriter’s overly confident twin brother—and even then, the humor is a bit too dry for most.
High Fidelity (2000)
The heart of High Fidelity is in the way Rob Gordon reconnects with ex-girlfriends to try and find out why his relationships always fail, and it’s more of a drama than anything. But, due to the somewhat cringy scenes and quirky characters, it’s classed as a comedy.
Any time the plot gets too heavy, Barry Judd (Jack Black) appears. Barry works in the record store, and he is ridiculously mean to customers who don’t have the same taste in music as him. The character is brilliant, especially as it was specifically written for him, but, as Barry’s overbearing personality doesn’t appear for too long, High Fidelity is still more dramatic than anything.
The Lobster (2015)
The Lobster is possibly the driest comedy ever made, as it’s about a hotel where people are sent when they hit 40 years old if they are still single. They are given 45 days to find a partner, and, if they don’t, they get turned into an animal.
Though the premise of the movie genuinely sounds like an absurd Ben Stiller-type comedy, it’s treated as a serious drama, and every character intentionally delivers ridiculous lines in such a deadpan manner. But, due to the premise, it makes for a fantastically strange comedy and ends on one of the most shocking cliffhangers ever.
Punch Drunk Love (2002)
When director Paul Thomas Anderson began to work on the follow-up to his magnum opus, 1999’s Magnolia, which was a 3+ hour melodramatic epic, he intended to make the exact opposite. The filmmaker created an Adam Sandler comedy that clocked in at 90 short minutes, but it’s unlike any Sandler movie that came before it.
It’s free of any slapstick humor, barely any of Sandler’s best friends are cast in main roles, and it’s more romantic than anything. Punch Drunk Love turned out great, and it features Adam Sandler’s best dramatic performance, but the few laughs that come are only when Barry (Sandler) falls into fits of rage.