The best comedy movies to watch on Netflix MENA

Clueless (1995)

Director: Amy Heckerling
Cast: Alicia Silverstone, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd
Based on Jane Austen’s Emma, Clueless follows Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone), a teenager obsessed with shopping and clothes, as she guides newbie Tai (Brittany Murphy) through high school. It’s much more than a teen movie, however – for a film that’s over 20 year old, Clueless still holds a lot of cultural clout, whether it’s inspiring music videos and fashion trends. Mostly, though, it’s that stellar performance from Silverstone that gives this film so much charm and wit.

Coming to America (1988)

Director: John Landis
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones
Just a few years after he became the biggest box-office draw in America, Eddie Murphy’s golden period was already drawing to a close. But this tale of African princes and fast-food heiresses is a scrappily suitable swansong for the Eddie we loved in the ’80s, offering his signature blend of crudity, sweetness, wit, style and vague politicking, all wrapped up in a high-concept rom-com package.

Dumb & Dumber (1994)

Directors: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly
Cast: Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels
Imagine the contents of your hyperactive little brother’s brain splatted on to a TV screen and you have Dumb & Dumber. Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels star as a pair of stupendously stupid no-hopers who head on a road trip across America to return a woman’s briefcase. Unapologetically gross-out, the movie’s a mulch of butt jokes, toilet jokes and snot jokes. It’s totally regressive but in a whoops-just-snorted-my-drink-everywhere-laughing kind of way.

Ghostbusters (1984)

Director: Ivan Reitman
Cast: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd
When New York is invaded by ghastly ghouls, who you gonna call? You know the answer: four self-styled Ghostbusters ready to dash in and zap the spirits into oblivion. Much of this sci-fi-comedy’s charm lies in its have-a-go-heroes: these underdogs are thrown into the spotlight with delightful results. Bill Murray’s deadpan, womanising scientist is an undoubted highlight, while Rick Moranis brings crazy character humour as the dork living in the most haunted building in Manhattan.

Lost in Translation (2003)

Director: Sofia Coppola
Cast: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Anna Faris
Worlds collide in Sofia Coppola’s pitch-perfect tale of a movie star Bob Harris (Murray) and newlywed Charlotte (Johansson) in Tokyo. Coppola approaches each of her characters with a warmth and sensitivity that exudes from the screen – and ensures that The Pretenders’ Brass in Pocket will remain a karaoke favourite around the world (pink wig optional). Why has the film endured so vividly in viewers’ hearts? Maybe because it captures those gloriously melancholic moments we’ve all experienced that seem to be gone in a flash, yet linger forever.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Directors: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
Cast: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Michael Palin
We all love Monty Python’s slapstick savaging of the legend of King Arthur, but we always forget about the llamas: according to the credits, Holy Grail was the creation of Reg Llama of Brixton, and thousands of his llama friends across the world (as well as Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones). Well, Reg and co. created a masterpiece. With its Bergman-ribbing credit sequence, its one-liners and its extravagantly gruesome violence, this was Python’s launch pad to international stardom. Neil Innes’s music and Gilliam’s animations are touchstones for British absurdist humour, while the late Graham Chapman, playing it straight as King Arthur, was never finer.

Sightseers (2012)

Director: Ben Wheatley
Cast: Alice Lowe, Steve Oram
A caravanning couple’s dream holiday turns sour in this deliciously dark comedy penned by its stars Alice Lowe and Steve Oram. As the tension mounts, so does the body count and the pair must decide whether to turn Bonnie and Clyde. Sightseers combines alternative British character comedy with horror tropes and amusing sidekicks: if comedies were drinks, this would be a very bitter, black builders’ tea.

The Blues Brothers (1980)

Director: John Landis
Cast: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd
The controversy around The Blues Brothers has been raging since its release. Is this a case of two white comedians exploiting the heroes of soul music to make themselves look cool? Or is the film actually a loving tribute to a great American art form? The truth is, a bit of both. But luckily, there’s a brilliantly paced plot, a punchy script and a riot of car chases to keep you distracted every time Belushi and Aykroyd’s mugging gets a bit much. Of course, the heart of the movie is in its musical performances: Cab Calloway, Ray Charles and James Brown all hit hard, but it’s Aretha Franklin’s Respect that’ll have you jiving in your seat.

The Lobster (2015)

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Barden
In a surreal edge-of-town hotel, it’s compulsory for singles to find a partner, under the watch of an oppressive staff. If you don’t within 45 days, you’ll be surgically turned into an animal of your choice (star Colin Farrell has already decided to be a lobster). This is a movie in quote marks, tongue-in-cheek storytelling that uses absurdity to hold a mirror to how we live and love.

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

Director: David Wain
Cast: Janeane Garofalo, Paul Rudd
The ground rules for twenty-first-century Hollywood comedy were laid by this ridiculous summer camp movie. The cast is amazing with Bradley Cooper making his debut, alongside Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Amy Poehler and Niles from Frasier – and the script is deeply silly and consistently hilarious.