MomSkoop
Some movies just have a special power to make you forget your worries and laugh until your sides hurt. Whether you are having a rough day or just want to relax, a great comedy can instantly lift your mood.
Over the years, filmmakers have created some truly hilarious movies that audiences keep coming back to again and again. Here are 17 comedies that have stood the test of time and never fail to bring on the laughs.
1. Home Alone (1990)
What happens when an eight-year-old accidentally gets left behind while his entire family flies to Paris for Christmas?
Pure comedy gold, that is what.
Kevin McCallister, played by Macaulay Culkin, turns his house into a booby-trap paradise when two bumbling burglars try to break in.
Every trick he sets up is more outrageous than the last, and watching the bad guys stumble through each one never gets old.
This film became one of the highest-grossing comedies of all time.
Families have been rewatching it every holiday season since 1990, and it somehow gets funnier each time.
2. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Few movie characters have ever pulled off a day of truancy with as much style and charm as Ferris Bueller.
He fakes being sick, borrows a Ferrari, and drags his best friends on the ultimate Chicago adventure.
Director John Hughes packed this film with unforgettable scenes, including a parade performance that somehow nobody questions.
The running joke of the school principal desperately trying to catch Ferris adds a hilarious layer of tension throughout.
What makes this comedy timeless is how relatable it feels.
Almost everyone has dreamed of skipping responsibilities for one perfect, spontaneous day, and Ferris makes it look absolutely glorious.
3. Superbad (2007)
Superbad is the kind of comedy that feels almost embarrassingly real.
It follows two best friends, Seth and Evan, on a chaotic mission to buy alcohol for a party before they graduate high school and go their separate ways.
Every scene is loaded with awkward moments, bad decisions, and genuinely funny dialogue that feels like it was ripped straight from real teenage conversations.
Jonah Hill and Michael Cera have chemistry that is impossible to fake.
Underneath all the crude humor, there is actually a sweet story about friendship and growing up.
That emotional core is exactly why audiences still quote this movie more than fifteen years later.
4. Bridesmaids (2011)
Before Bridesmaids came along, Hollywood had a bad habit of thinking women could not carry a raunchy comedy blockbuster.
Kristen Wiig and her co-stars proved that idea completely wrong.
The film follows Annie, a down-on-her-luck woman trying to be the perfect maid of honor while her own life falls apart.
The airplane scene alone has made countless viewers laugh so hard they cried.
What sets Bridesmaids apart is that it balances big slapstick moments with genuinely touching friendships.
It opened the door for a whole new wave of female-led comedies and remains one of the funniest movies of the past two decades.
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Wes Anderson built an entire universe inside a fictional European hotel, and the result is one of the most visually stunning and surprisingly hilarious films ever made.
Ralph Fiennes plays Monsieur Gustave H., a fastidious and wildly quotable hotel concierge caught up in a murder mystery and art heist.
The humor here is dry, quick, and layered with clever wordplay that rewards paying close attention.
Anderson’s perfectly symmetrical camera shots add to the absurdity in ways that feel almost like a living cartoon.
Even viewers who normally avoid quirky films end up charmed by this one.
It is the rare comedy that also works as a gorgeous piece of cinematic art.
6. Dumb and Dumber (1994)
There is something almost scientific about how reliably Dumb and Dumber makes people laugh.
Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels play Lloyd and Harry, two spectacularly clueless friends who drive across the country to return a briefcase to a woman Lloyd has a crush on.
The genius of this movie is that the jokes are layered.
There are obvious slapstick gags for casual viewers, but sharper viewers catch the subtle absurdist humor hiding underneath.
The “most annoying sound in the world” scene remains legendary.
Released in 1994, it became a cultural touchstone for an entire generation.
Even people who have seen it a dozen times still find themselves laughing at the same moments.
7. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Ron Burgundy might be the most quotable comedy character of the 2000s.
Will Ferrell plays a pompous 1970s San Diego news anchor whose perfectly ordered world gets disrupted when a talented woman joins his all-male team.
The humor swings wildly between deadpan delivery and complete absurdity, and somehow every swing lands.
The jazz flute scene, the gang fight, and the bear attack are just a few moments that have permanently lodged themselves in pop culture memory.
Anchorman was not a massive hit when it first came out, but word of mouth turned it into a comedy classic.
Today, “I’m kind of a big deal” is recognized almost everywhere.
8. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Almost fifty years after its release, Monty Python and the Holy Grail still makes audiences laugh out loud.
The British comedy group took the legend of King Arthur and turned it into a masterpiece of absurd, irreverent humor that has influenced virtually every comedian who came after.
From the knights who say “Ni” to the Black Knight insisting he has merely suffered a flesh wound, every scene is packed with jokes that work on multiple levels.
The coconut horses alone became one of cinema’s most beloved running gags.
Students studying comedy filmmaking still analyze this movie today.
Its low budget actually became part of the joke, making it even more charming and endlessly rewatchable.
9. The Hangover (2009)
Nobody walks into Las Vegas expecting to wake up with no memory, a missing tooth, a baby in the closet, and a tiger in the bathroom.
Yet somehow that premise became the foundation of one of the most successful R-rated comedies ever made.
Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis play three friends who must piece together a wild night to find their missing groom before his wedding.
The mystery structure keeps viewers hooked while the jokes keep coming fast.
The Hangover won a Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy.
Its end-credits photo slideshow alone is worth the entire runtime and has inspired countless imitations since.
10. Airplane! (1980)
Airplane! is widely considered one of the greatest comedies ever made, and for very good reason.
The film fires jokes at the audience at a breathtaking pace, cramming visual gags, wordplay, and absurd one-liners into nearly every single frame.
It parodies 1970s disaster movies with such loving precision that even people unfamiliar with the originals find it hilarious.
The “Don’t call me Shirley” exchange became one of the most quoted comedy lines in film history.
Screenwriters Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers reportedly had a strict rule: if a joke did not make them laugh out loud, it got cut.
That commitment to quality shows in every scene.
11. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
Robin Williams at the height of his powers is a genuinely magical thing to watch.
In Mrs. Doubtfire, he plays a divorced dad so desperate to stay close to his kids that he disguises himself as a Scottish nanny to get hired by his own ex-wife.
The physical comedy is brilliant, but what really makes this film special is the emotional warmth running through every scene.
Williams somehow makes you laugh and feel genuinely moved within the same minute.
The cake-on-the-face scene and the dinner party chaos remain comedy highlights.
More than thirty years later, families still watch this together and find it just as funny and touching as ever.
12. Elf (2003)
Will Ferrell eating cotton balls soaked in syrup.
Will Ferrell putting candy corn on spaghetti.
Will Ferrell screaming “SANTA!” across a department store.
Elf is a movie built entirely on the comedic genius of one man playing a human raised as an elf with absolutely zero self-awareness.
Buddy the Elf’s childlike sincerity in a cynical adult world is what makes every joke land so cleanly.
The humor never feels mean-spirited, which is rare for a comedy this broad.
Since its 2003 release, Elf has become a holiday staple that rivals even the most classic Christmas movies.
Buddy’s cotton-headed ninny muggins energy is simply impossible to resist.
13. Coming to America (1988)
Eddie Murphy was at the absolute peak of his powers in Coming to America, playing an African prince who secretly moves to Queens, New York, to find a woman who will love him for himself rather than his royal status.
Murphy also plays multiple other characters throughout the film, including an elderly barber and a Jewish man, showcasing a range that few comedic actors have ever matched.
The barbershop scenes alone are worth watching repeatedly.
The film was a massive hit in 1988 and has only grown more beloved over time.
Its warmth, sharp humor, and surprisingly sweet love story make it one of the most rewatchable comedies ever produced.
14. Clueless (1995)
Loosely based on Jane Austen’s Emma, Clueless somehow turned a 19th-century novel into one of the sharpest and most quotable teen comedies of the 1990s.
Alicia Silverstone plays Cher, a Beverly Hills teenager who is wealthy, well-meaning, and spectacularly oblivious to her own blind spots.
The film introduced a generation of viewers to phrases like “As if!” and “Whatever” while sneaking in surprisingly smart social commentary.
Cher is funnier because she genuinely believes she is doing good, even when she is obviously not.
Director Amy Heckerling created something that felt fresh in 1995 and still feels fresh today.
Clueless is the rare comedy that gets smarter and funnier the older you get.
15. Shrek (2001)
A grumpy green ogre, a motor-mouthed donkey, and a princess who turns into an ogre herself at night.
Shrek took every fairy tale rule and cheerfully broke it, creating something genuinely original and laugh-out-loud funny for viewers of all ages.
The film works on two levels simultaneously.
Kids love the slapstick and silly gags, while adults catch the sharper jokes and pop culture references layered throughout.
That double-layered approach is the secret to its lasting appeal.
Shrek won the very first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2002.
More than twenty years later, it has spawned sequels, a Broadway musical, and an internet meme culture all its own.
16. The Princess Bride (1987)
“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
Few lines in movie history have been repeated as often, as enthusiastically, or as randomly at dinner tables as that one.
The Princess Bride blends romance, adventure, and comedy in a way that somehow works perfectly for every age group.
Andre the Giant, Billy Crystal as a cackling miracle worker, and Wallace Shawn as a scheming villain all contribute to a cast that has never been topped for sheer charm.
Director Rob Reiner created a film that feels like a warm hug.
It is funny, romantic, and quotable in equal measure, which is exactly why it has never stopped finding new fans.
17. Game Night (2018)
Game Night is the kind of comedy that earns genuine respect because it is actually clever.
A group of competitive friends holds their regular game night, only to discover that a real kidnapping has been mixed into what they think is just a murder mystery game.
Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams anchor the film with pitch-perfect comedic timing, and the supporting cast matches them beat for beat.
The film also has some genuinely impressive cinematography that makes it look far more expensive than it was.
Critics and audiences both loved it, yet somehow Game Night never got the massive cultural recognition it deserved.
Anyone who has not seen it yet is in for a very pleasant surprise.