The 20 Best Comedies on Amazon Prime Video

This list is regularly updated as movies rotate on and off of Prime Video. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk.

Who needs a good laugh? Prime Video has a deep catalog of comedies for every mood from romantic classics to modern blockbusters to the laugh-busters you loved when you were young. However, navigating their interface to find the best comedies can be tough, so we’re here to help Amazon connect with your funny bone with this updated list of the best comedies on Prime Video.

How We Pick Our Films

Critic Brian Tallerico watches and writes about movies and TV every day. To curate this list, he dives into Amazon Prime Video’s comedy catalogue every month to surface laugh-out-loud funny titles — using his taste and a lifetime of cinema study as his guide, instead of whatever the algorithm happens to be pushing. After triple-checking to make sure they’re still available, he watches each and writes his recommendation. We highlight more than just the crowdpleasers: Comedy can be a venue to present interesting ideas, make an impact on cinema, and change our culture. Read on to find something to watch.

*Airplane!

Year: 1980
Runtime: 1h 27m
Director: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker

Movies just don’t get much funnier than this classic from David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams. Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, and Leslie Nielsen star in a parody of the disaster flicks of the ‘70s but Airplane! has far transcended its roots to become one of the most quotable and beloved comedies of all time.

The Big Sick

Year: 2017
Runtime: 2h
Director: Michael Showalter

The wonderful screenwriters Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon basically told their own love story in this sweet and funny rom-com that Amazon picked up after audiences fell for it at Sundance. Nanjiani plays a loose variation on himself, a struggling stand-up who falls for a woman (Zoe Kazan) just before she becomes incredibly ill, forcing their relationship to move at an unusual pace. A smart, sweet, genuinely human film, this is one of the best romantic comedies of the 2010s.

Bodied

Year: 2018
Runtime: 2h
Director: Joseph Kahn

Did you know that a legendary music video director made a rocking dramedy about the battle rap scene that was produced by Eminem himself? Probably not given the minimal release of Bodied, but this movie rocks. Calum Worthy plays a grad student who becomes obsessed with the battle rap scene, only to discover that he’s pretty damn good at it himself. This was once a YouTube Red exclusive when that was a thing so it feels like a cult hit waiting for its cult.

*Bridesmaids

Year: 2011
Runtime: 2h 10m
Director: Paul Feig

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been over a decade since Bridesmaids shattered all expectations, making a fortune and turning Melissa McCarthy into a household name (especially after she landed an Oscar nomination). Smart and heartfelt, it’s the story of a woman (Kristen Wiig) who struggles in her role as Maid of Honor to a friend played by Rose Byrne. It’s still very, very funny.

*Clerks

Year: 1994 
Runtime: 1h 32m
Director: Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith rocked the indie filmmaking world with his comedy that was shot for almost nothing and became a worldwide hit. Filmed at the convenience and video stores at which Smith worked in real life with his buddies, no one could have expected that this comedy would still be influencing writers a quarter-century later.

Drinking Buddies

Year: 2013
Runtime: 1h 30m
Director: Joe Swanberg

The best film from the Chicago-based independent filmmaker Joe Swanberg remains this whip-smart 2013 dramedy about co-workers at a craft brewery in the Windy City. One of the main reasons for that is the chemistry and comic timing of an ace ensemble that’s led by Jake Johnson, Olivia Wilde, Anna Kendrick, and Ron Livingston.

Emergency

Year: 2022
Runtime: 1h 45m
Directors: Carey Williams

Carey Williams adapted his short film of the same name into this Sundance hit that Amazon picked up and dropped on Prime in May 2022. It’s the story of Sean and Kunle, two average friends who decide to go on a frat party tour but have their night of debauchery interrupted by an unconscious body on their living room floor. An insightful and hysterical blend of college comedy and racial commentary, it’s a sharp piece of filmmaking.

A Fish Called Wanda

Year: 1988
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: Charles Crichton

Movies simply don’t get much funnier than this Oscar winner starring John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. The story of a jewel robbery gone very wrong, the barrister who gets involved, and the fish that gets caught in the middle is regularly included on any short list of the funniest movies ever made. You know how the Academy Awards never include any comedy performances? This one won an Oscar for Kevin Kline, who is simply impossible to deny.

*Forrest Gump

Year: 1994
Runtime: 2h 22m
Director: Robert Zemeckis

The 1995 Best Picture and Best Actor winner has become something of a punching bag in the nearly three decades since it was released, but it’s a better movie than its reputation. Tom Hanks stars as the title character, a man who stumbles through major events in world history in a film that’s much darker and more satirical than people give it credit for being.

The General

Year: 1926
Runtime: 1h 15m
Directors: Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton

Truly classic comedies can be hard to find on streaming services, so take this chance to watch an all-timer, one of the best silent movies ever made. The phenomenally talented Buster Keaton stars and co-directs this action-adventure-comedy that has a little bit of something for everyone, and is really a great introduction to people who may not be familiar with Keaton’s remarkable skills.

Heathers

Year: 1989
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: Michael Lehmann

Talk about a movie ahead of its time. Coming-of-age teen comedies were never quite as wonderfully cynical before this movie about four teenage girls whose lives are upended by the arrival of a new kid, played by Christian Slater. More than just seeking to destroy the damaging cliques at his new school, Slater’s character has plans for something a little more permanent in this comedy that really shaped the teen genre for years to come.

I Love You Phillip Morris

Year: 2011
Runtime: 1h 38m
Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

Comedies don’t get much darker than this 2009 film about a con artist named Steven Jay Russell, played expertly by Jim Carrey in his last truly interesting performance. While behind bars for one of his many cons, Steven falls in love with Phillip Morris, played by Ewan McGregor. This truly oddball film was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay by the Writers Guild of America.

*Private Parts

Year: 1997
Runtime: 1h 49m
Director: Betty Thomas

Ivan Reitman produced this hysterical adaptation of the book of the same name by Howard Stern, the best radio personality of all time. In his 1993 book, Stern detailed his background and rise in the business, and the film hits many of the highlights of the Stern legacy, including a number of key Stern personalities playing themselves, including Robin Quivers, Fred Norris, and Gary Dell’Abate. Baby Booey to y’all!

Licorice Pizza

Year: 2021
Runtime: 2h 13m
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

A controversial nominee for Best Picture at the beginning of 2022, P.T. Anderson’s latest is already on Prime Video for subscribers to screen for no extra cost. And they should. Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman are transcendent in this story of a teenager who falls for a twentysomething woman, and the odd adventures that somehow keep falling into their lives. It’s a lyrical, gorgeously shot period comedy about those hazy days when anything seems possible.

The Lost City

Year: 2022
Runtime: 1h 51m
Directors: Adam Nee, Aaron Nee

With echoes of beloved rom-coms like African Queen and Romancing the Stone, this film truly felt like an anomaly in 2022, and yet it turned into a pretty big hit at the theater. It’s already on streaming services, and it’s a great choice if you’re looking for some escapism tonight. Travel to the middle of nowhere with a romance novel writer (Sandra Bullock) and the cover model (Channing Tatum) who tries to save the day.

Much Ado About Nothing

Year: 1993
Runtime: 1h 50m
Director: Kenneth Branagh

The early Shakespeare films of Kenneth Branagh still rank on the top tier of the director’s filmography, but this 1993 comedy often gets overlooked. It shouldn’t because it features Branagh at his most playful, directing himself, Emma Thompson, Robert Sean Leonard, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, Keanu Reeves, and Kate Beckinsale in her film debut, comprising a phenomenal ensemble for one of the Bard’s most purely enjoyable comedies.

*Something Wild

Year: 1986
Runtime: 1h 48m
Director: Jonathan Demme

Jonathan Demme was a master of tonal balancing, finding a way to perfectly blend the comedy and the dread in this story of an average man caught up in a criminal’s web. Charlie (Jeff Daniels) is a milquetoast banker who goes on a wild ride with a girl named Lulu (Melanie Griffith), but everything changes when Lulu’s ex (an unforgettable Ray Liotta) enters the picture.

*Step Brothers

Year: 2008
Runtime: 1h 37m
Director: Adam McKay

The pinnacle of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s comedy career remains this modern classic, a movie that’s as rewatchable as anything you could possibly find on any streaming service. One of the reasons for that is the fearless joy with which Ferrell and John C. Reilly literally throw themselves into the roles of stepbrothers who start as enemies and end as family.

Van Wilder

Year: 2002
Runtime: 1h 32m
Director: Walt Becker

Listen, there’s nothing particularly great about this National Lampoon, but what’s interesting is to see the early days of the career of Ryan Reynolds, an actor who is still opening movies successfully over two decades later. Playing a college student who has been there for seven years and counting, Reynolds is charming and very funny. Some interesting trivia: This film is loosely based on the real life of comedian and podcast co-host Bert Kreischer.

We Are the Best!

Year: 2014
Runtime: 1h 42m
Director: Lukas Moodysson

Swedish teen rock comedy! Yeah, you don’t see that every day. This adaptation of a graphic novel by the director of Together is a charming gem about a group of 13-year-old girls in Stockholm who fall in love with the punk rock scene in the early ‘80s. Clever, sweet, and grounded, it’s about those days when rebellion and art could help define a young person’s entire worldview.

*Young Adult

Year: 2011
Runtime: 1h 33m
Director: Jason Reitman

Jason Reitman directs the always-great Charlize Theron in a dark comedy about a writer of young adult novels who returns to her hometown to wreak havoc. The movie is a bit inconsistent at times, but Theron (and Patton Oswalt) is simply great, especially in the way she allows her character to be genuinely unlikable. It’s a smart movie about someone who thinks she’s superior to those around her and learns maybe she’s not.

If you subscribe to a service through our links, Vulture may earn an affiliate commission.

Related

• The 30 Best Movies on Amazon’s Prime Video Right Now
• The 20 Best Comedies on Netflix Right Now

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7t8HLrayrnV6YvK57wKuropucmnyjsdKtZJynnZqxqrHSZqanZZGirru7zWanq6GdmnupwMyl