The Funniest Men in Movie History

I love comedies. I love them so much that I compiled a list of the funniest films of all time. After all, laughter is the best medicine.

The performances of the cast are crucial to the making of a good comedy, so let’s discuss the funniest male performances in comedies.

John Belushi in National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978)

The late, great John Belushi was cast perfectly as Bluto. Belushi may have been a little too old to play a college student, but we see clues that Bluto is further and further away from graduation. A prime example is that he believes the Germans were responsible for bombing Pearl Harbor.

Belushi is the standout of the film, even though he only appeared in it sporadically. I believe Belushi’s commitments to Saturday Night Live may have caused this. Bluto had many great one-liners, such as “Toga! Toga!” when the idea of the toga party was mentioned. I also loved the moment where he was responsible for the prank gone wrong involving a horse.

John Candy in Uncle Buck (1989)

John Candy is another actor that I miss deeply. He did not make enough films before his sudden death. Candy always lit up the screen with his acting talents, both comedic and serious. Uncle Buck is one of his best films.

Candy plays Buck Russell: a gambling, slobby bachelor who takes care of his brother’s kids while their parents are out of town. Buck comes up with many unconventional ways to take care of his family, such as making pancakes that barely fit on the dinner table.

This film is both serious and heartfelt. I love how Buck crashes an underage beer party to rescue his niece Tia from a potentially unsafe situation. It shows that underneath the unkempt appearance, Buck has a good heart.

Side note: Every time I see a particular group of friends, they ask me to quote the interrogation scene between Buck and Miles. The dialogue is hilarious and memorable!

Chevy Chase in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)

The Vacation series has its moments, but the best ones come from Christmas Vacation. This is also one of the funniest films of all time, and it has plenty of memorable quotes. One of them is when Clark Griswold (Chase) rants about his boss when he doesn’t get his Christmas bonus check.

Chevy Chase is hilarious in everything he does, and I love how much he lets loose when he plays Clark Griswold. Apart from the boss rant, Chase’s best moments are when he insults his yuppie neighbors and when he stops his in-laws from leaving on Christmas Eve. After all, he means to give his family the “happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny f***ing Kaye.”

Bill Murray in What About Bob? (1991)

Bill Murray has a knack for playing many wacky roles. His performance as Bob Wiley is right at the top. Bob is a writer who is suffering from agoraphobia and germaphobia, among other issues. However, he feels like a cure is right around the corner once he meets psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss).

At the end of their first session, Leo tells Bob that Leo will be taking his family on a month-long vacation. Suddenly, Bob starts feeling separation anxiety and musters all his courage and willpower to go to Lake Winnipesaukee and find Leo. This unexpected visit ignites a chain of hilarious events where Bob begins to feel more normal and at peace, while Leo starts to go crazy with Bob’s constant presence.

Murray is terrific in every comedy he does. I especially love What About Bob? for his performance. He still makes me laugh to this day.

Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

I remember having a down day not long after Robin Williams’ death. I decided to begin that day by watching Mrs. Doubtfire, and my mood suddenly lifted. This movie was one of many that Williams was born to do.

This movie has many wonderful and hilarious scenes involving Daniel as Mrs. Doubtfire. One of which is when a mugger tries to steal Mrs. Doubtfire’s purse, only for Daniel to yell at him in his normal voice, which scares the mugger away. That scene always makes me cry with laughter!

Jeff Daniels in Dumb and Dumber (1994)

While Jim Carrey has many memorable and hilarious moments, I think Jeff Daniels is the standout. Daniels already had a few comedies under his belt, but his performance as Harry Dunne is very original. I’ve never seen Daniels act like a complete dimwit before, and it worked well in this film.

Daniels’ facial expressions also crack me up every time, especially when Carrey gives him his extra gloves during the cold, wintry night. You also can not rule out the iconic toilet scene.

Chris Farley in Tommy Boy (1995)

Chris Farley is another comedian that I miss to this day. He didn’t make nearly enough films before his sudden death in 1997. I still rank Tommy Boy as his best film. It has a lot of funny scenes and dialogue that I quote with my friends to this day.

I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing the title role other than Farley. His verbal and physical comedy is what makes his performance memorable. My favorite scene is where he keeps trying to get his father’s sales motto right, much to his and Richard’s embarrassment every time he gets it wrong.

Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski (1998)

Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski is the role Jeff Bridges was born to play.  The Dude is one of the funniest characters in film. His way of life, dialogue, and appearance are all worth laughing about because it’s rare to see a character like this. The Coen Brothers wrote the part strictly for Jeff Bridges, and I can’t imagine who else would play him.

The Dude lives a laid-back lifestyle: drinking White Russians, smoking marijuana, and going bowling on a nightly basis. Even if it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, The Dude also knows what to say. After all, the narrator (Sam Elliott) says that there isn’t much about him that makes sense anyway.

Robert De Niro in Analyze This (1999)

Every time I watch Analyze This, I think Robert De Niro is spoofing himself from his other mob movies. He played some ruthless, intimidating mobsters in Goodfellas (1990) and Casino (1995). Except that in this film, he’s a mobster with a super-sensitive personality.

After an attempted assassination, Paul Vitti (De Niro) starts to have panic attacks and wants to talk to a psychiatrist about it. He meets with Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal) and immediately starts connecting with him, much to Sobel’s reluctance. The film has many great scenes of these two actors playing off each other. De Niro has done some other hilarious comedies before this one, but this role is his funniest.

Ben Stiller in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)

This performance may be over-the-top, but it works well. Ben Stiller played some hilarious villains before, examples being in Heavyweights (1995) and Happy Gilmore (1996). However, his performance as White Goodman, a macho jerk, has me laughing every time I watch the film.

Goodman thinks he is the smartest man in the room, but he isn’t. I mean, he thinks the hippies invented the Internet. Goodman even goes as far as defending his level of intelligence by telling Pete (Vince Vaughn): “I don’t think that I’m a lot dumber than you thought that I think that I thought I was once.” This sentence had me laughing even when I typed it.

There are so many hilarious performances from actors, here are a few more worth mentioning:

Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

Adam Sandler in Billy Madison (1995)

Michael Keaton in Multiplicity (1996)

Stephen Root in Office Space (1999)

Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder (2008)

Happy watching!