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Comedy Movies 2010 – Guide

hen the Mayans predicted that 2012 would be the end of the world they also predicted that 2010 would be the funniest year.

So let’s see if that’s correct. Here are the best comedy movies of 2010.

- FEBRUARY -
Cop Out
Starring: Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Seann William Scott
Director: Kevin Smith
Release Date: 26th February 2010
Formally titled ‘A Couple Of Dicks’ this is director Kevin Smith breaking from his safe zone to direct a Bruce Willis buddy cop comedy from someone else’s script. The plot has two veteran officers (Willis and Tracey Morgan) tracking down a stolen vintage baseball card via the world of gangsters and money laundering. Seann William Scott is involved too, playing some dumbass I’d imagine. Smith has often been criticised for his lack of visual style. It’s nice to see the studio trusted him with this. …Oh wait they made him storyboard the entire movie two months in advance - MARCH -
Our Family Wedding
Starring: Forest Whitaker, America Ferrera, Carlos Mencia, Regina King
Director: Rick Famuyiwa
Release Date: 12th March 2010

This clash-of-cultures comedy (African-American vs Latino) sees two overbearing dads (Forest Whitaker, Carlos Mencia) trying to put aside their differences to plan the wedding of their son and daughter. The trailer features much knocking-over-of-the-cake-un-hilarity and fails to get a laugh out of a Mexican goat eating viagra.

Greenberg
Starring: Ben Stiller, Rhys Ifans, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Director: Noah Baumbach
Release Date: 12th March 2010

Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller) is a New Yorker out of a job and determined to do nothing. He agrees to housesit for his more successful brother in LA to get a free place to stay. Reconnecting with old friends (Rhys Ifans) doesn’t go so well but he soon sparks with his brother’s assistant (Greta Gerwig). This is a subdued Stiller in an indie down-to-earth role similar to those he had early in his career. Director Noah Baumbach made The Squid And The Whale, so don’t expect Dodgeball 2.

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid
Starring: Zachary Gordon, Robert Capron, Steve Zahn, Chloe Moretz
Director: Thor Freudenthal
Release Date: 19th March 2010

Live-action adaptation of the illustrated novel about a wise-cracking junior high school student. Its story chronicles the adventures of middle school students Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon) and Rowley Jefferson (Robert Capron) over the course of an academic year, as told through Greg’s diary and hand-drawn cartoons. Judging from the trailer this is basically a big screen version of The Wonder Years. From the director of Hotel For Dogs.

Hot Tub Time Machine
Starring: John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Chevy Chase
Director: Steve Pink
Release Date: 26th March 2010

A group of unsatisfied men return to the ski resort where they once used to party, hop unwittingly into a time-travelling jacuzzi, and get thrown back in time to their younger days in 1986. With a strong marketing campaign, good buzz, and shades of last year’s biggest comedy hit The Hangover, expect this to do well. Chevy Chase plays the Hot Tub maintenance man.

I Love You, Phillip Morris
Starring: Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, Leslie Mann
Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Release Date: 26th March 2010

Comedy-drama based on a real life con artist, impostor, and multiple prison escapee. A car accident provokes married man Steven (Jim Carrey) to realise he’s gay and live life to the fullest – even if it means breaking the law. He soon ends up in prison for fraud where he falls for Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor) and starts dreaming up elaborate cons to reunited them on the outside. The movie has had problems finding a distributor (still doesn’t have one in the UK) thanks to its man-on-man content. A re-edit has apparantly toned down the explicit side of things. The trailer was tonally uneven and it’s hard to say how this will all play with audiences.

Date Night
Starring: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, Ray Liotta, James Franco, Mila Kunis
Director: Shawn Levy
Release Date: 9th April 2010

Claire and Phil Foster (Steve Carell and Tina Fey) are a bored suburban couple. Even their “date nights” of dinner and a movie have become routine. To reignite the marital spark, they visit a trendy Manhattan bistro, where a dangerous case of mistaken identity hurtles them through the city into non-stop adventure. From the director of Night At The Museum, Date Night has assembled just about the most ‘in’ comedy ensemble you can get, so expect something decent.

Death At A Funeral
Starring: Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Tracy Morgan, Zoe Saldana
Director: Neil LaBute
Release Date: 16th April 2010

So here they’re remaking an English language movie, that was shot in Britain by an American director, had several American actors in it (including Peter Dinklage, who’s in the remake too) and had a release in the US just 3 years ago. Where it flopped. The only thing all that different in the remake is it’s being aimed squarely at an African-American audience. And it’s directed by the guy who did The Wicker Man remake. Bizarre. Anyway, it’s about shenanigans at a funeral.

MacGruber
Starring: Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Val Kilmer, Ryan Phillippe, Jason Bateman
Director: Jorma Taccone
Release Date: 23rd April 2010

Recurring sketch on SNL ‘MacGruber’ is a MacGyver spoof that sees Will Forte trying to defuse a ticking bomb while being distracted by personal issues. The movie version has done well to cast Ryan Philippe (what happened to his career?) and Val Kilmer as the villain. But the record of SNL cinema is extremely patchy. The creator of MacGyver is kicking up a legal fuss as he feels he’s being cheated out of a payday. But it’ll take more than that to stop MaaacGruuubberrr.

- JUNE -
Killers
Starring: Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Catherine O’Hara, Tom Selleck
Director: Robert Luketic
Release Date: 4th June 2010

From the director of The Ugly Truth, 21 and Monster In Law comes this action-comedy-thriller. Ashton Kutcher stars as an annoying hitman at the top of his game who falls for an annoying computer tech (Heigl) and decides to quit his job. Years later, he finds out that there’s a hit out on him, forcing him and his wife to run. Tom Selleck plays Katherine Heigl’s dad. Sources are unable to confirm if he will have a moustache.

Get Him To The Greek
Starring: Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, Rose Byrne, Sean Combs, Elisabeth Moss
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Release Date: 4th June 2010

Russell Brand reprises his role as Aldous Snow from Forgetting Sarah Marshall in this story of a record company intern (Jonah Hill) with two days to drag an uncooperative rock legend to Hollywood for a comeback concert. It’s a spin-off, and is directed by the man behind Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but Jonah Hill is not reprising his role from that movie. Make sense? No.

Grown Ups
Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, and David Spade
Director: Dennis Dugan
Release Date: 25th June 2010

Adam Sandler has got the whole Happy Madison crew together for this ensemble comedy about five childhood friends / basketball teammates who reunite to honour their late coach at the lake house where they spent their younger days. Now they’re middle-aged, and have wives and kids in tow. All the jokes in the trailer have been done before. For Sandler fans only.

Comedy Movies