Movie review: Why these 5 are more than funny

FloridaGator80

I happened to re-watch one of my favorite comedies of all time the other day and I have to say that “The Hangover” hasn’t lost any of its punch in the years since its release. As I watched it again for about the 10th time, I was able to enjoy a bit more about the film than the first few times I watched it since I wasn’t bent over laughing at the non-stop comedy. So, today I’m not specifically reviewing “The Hangover” (click here to read my look at the series), but comparing its strong points to great classic comedy films going back four decades to 1978 and what I saw as the second greatest comedy in my life: “National Lampoon’s Animal House” (of course, the first was – and remains – “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” from 1975). From the 1980s is “Caddyshack;” from the 1990s is “American Pie;” you’ve already read about “The Hangover” from the 2000s; and finally from the past decade we have “We’re the Millers.” I’m waiting for the first great comedy from the 2020s.

‘Animal House’ | ‘Caddyshack’
‘American Pie’ | ‘The Hangover’
‘We’re the Millers’
(NOTE: Click links in the movies below for director, cast and running time of each. I expanded this review with more opinion, trivia and the updating of links on Jan. 24, 2022.)

THERE’S MORE TO COMEDY THAN JOKES

OK, before any of the few people who actually follow my movie reviews on this blog get critical of the comedy flicks I’ve chosen to highlight in each of five decades here, please understand I’m not saying that these were the only funny films of each respective decade. Far from it … but you’d be hard-pressed to find any better in each decade.

I’m writing today after re-watching “The Hangover.” It is a superb R-rated comedy. It is gross; it’s nothing but adult themes; and the language would get you kicked out of any decent establishment while being a hit on MTV. However, it is hysterical not just because of the situation, but because the filmmakers used creativity to segue from one comedy piece to another while actually weaving an intricately-told tale that in other hands would have flopped.

After all, you might think, how creative can a blackout movie be? Just check out “The Hangover” to find out. Jim Carrey’s “Liar Liar” (click here to read my review) did the same thing in the one-joke movie category. So, the reason that I’m extolling the virtues of “The Hangover” is because several other films from past decades do the same thing – take a topic done before and then do it better than the rest. The films are from the five decades moving from 1970 to 2019 (if you’re keeping count that’s the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and the tens) and they are:

“The Hangover” does the blackout story with a master’s touch. I didn’t believe its director, Todd Phillips, would ever do anything as good again (and he hadn’t before, but has since snared four Oscar nominations) after he did such a great job in showing how the hungover boys piece together a very long night. The evening ends up with a destroyed hotel room; a tiger in the bathroom; and a baby left in in a cabinet. Plus, little details (such as the valet pulling up in the police cruiser they left at their hotel that night) are crucial in being a bridge from one joke situation to the next.

Also, “The Hangover” has an outstanding cast. None of the actors were totally A-list at the time, but several, such as Ed Helms, had great comedy chops and the filmmakers obviously went with an end-product in mind instead of it being a “vehicle” for a single star.

A similar ensemble cast effort arrived with “American Pie,” which elevated the teenage sex thing to a new level. The first was near top-of-the-heap, but the franchise was OK (first sequel) then spiraled to crap Again, how creative can you get with the teen-sex stuff? Well, you’ll find it here – especially with a truly innovative nerd with a taste for single-malt scotch, an atypical athlete and the stereotyped over-macho-ed athlete. It all ends up with an ending that, while predictable, is accomplished and therefore accomplishes – just take the “band camp” girl and how she turns out (and demands that “Jim” must put out).

However, for “American Pie,” one of its initial secret weapons on the acting front has since become a noted cornerstone is the supporting work of several films: The weapon is talented funnyman Eugene Levy as “Noah Levenstein” (you know him as “Jim’s Dad” and he was even more sensational in Ron Howard’s “Splash”). It is a bit of unexpected embarrassing humor that makes you want to see more of him.

(CLICK here … for my look at film franchises …)

As for great casting, you cannot get any better than the frat house comedy “Animal House.” It is simply the casting art elevated to perfection. Each and every member of the cast truly becomes their character. Against this backdrop you have the writing perfection of the heart and soul of National Lampoon magazine and it even had legendary Lampoon editor Doug Kenney in the cast. It’s absolutely no surprise that this one was a hit, but not everyone thought so before its release.

Further, “Animal House” was creative with some of its stereotypes and didn’t have to rely on sheer talent to carry the day. For example, John Belushi’s over-the-top character of “Bluto” hits the jackpot when he peeks in the windows of a sorority house – in another film, at just the ultimate moment, he would have been thwarted. Not here. He cashes in with what he (and you) get to see.

Although “Caddyshack” did benefit from some of the same creative well that made “Animal House” so great (writers Harold Ramis as well as Kenney), it elevates its genre (sports comedy) in such a way that many of its scenes remain classic and used as jokes on golf courses in 2022 – more than 40 years after its premiere. A film doesn’t set such a mark by being a crappy film. “Caddyshack” does its segue stuff as well as any of the others, but these scenes were obviously difficult to string together since they play to golf stereotypes.

Finally today, I’ll give praise to a more recent comedy: “We’re the Millers.” It’s the story of a minor-league drug dealer who recruits a stripper, a runaway and a boy from next door to be his all-American family on a smuggling mission. The stereotypes could abound, but the cast and filmmakers pull his one off in a big way.

“We’re the Millers” not only has creativity with stereotypes, but also goes beyond them with fall-down funny scenes such as the one where the “mom” and “sister” wind up giving kissing practice to the “son” – and is spotted by someone else. A great scene done perfectly. Overall, though, “We’re the Millers” has more weaknesses than the others mentioned here (Helms’ character, for example, is a shadow of what he did in “The Hangover”), but executes the rest so well that I put it in the others’ company without reservation.

Of course, there are tons of great comedies from each the five decades I’ve mentioned, but since these are so familiar you can watch them again and check out the points I’ve made. You’ll not only have a good time with the films, but you might notice something about them you didn’t realize before. You certainly won’t have a comedy hangover here.

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