Funny Comedy Movies on Amazon Prime
Need a little pick-me-up? Time to break out a good comedy movie, and fortunately, Prime Video has a pretty solid stock of funny films hiding in their catalog to make sure you keep the laughs coming. From comedy classics to recent favorites, forgotten gems, rom-coms, spy spoofs, and the latest hits to land on the streaming service, we've hand-picked the best and funniest comedies on Prime Video right now to help you find the feel-good time you're looking for.
Editor's note: This article was updated June 2022 to include Everybody's Talking About Jamie, Uncle Frank, A League of Their Own, Whip It, Shaun of the Dead, 27 Dresses, The Nanny Diaries, Spontaneous, Date Night, Fargo, Heathers, and Election.
His Girl Friday (1940)
Director: Howard Hawkes
Writer: Charles Lederer
Cast: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart, Porter Hall, Cliff Edwards
Run Time: 1 hr 32 min
Arguably the benchmark for screwball comedies, the classic romantic comedy His Girl Friday stars Cary Grant as a veteran newspaper editor who learns his ex-wife and star reporter, Hildy (Rosalind Russell), is engaged to a new man. Intent on winning her back, he convinces Hildy to chase down one last story together and the duo, obviously, rekindle their love amidst the comedic antics and unfolding mystery. It's a cracking comedy classic, still magnetic with the old school movie star charisma of Grant and Russell, and Howard Hawkes' legendary filmmaking command. -Haleigh Foutch
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Everybody's Talking About Jamie (2021)
Director: Jonathan Butterell
Writer: Tom MacRae
Cast: Max Harwood, Richard E. Grant, Sarah Lanchashire, Shobna Gulati
Run Time: 1 hr 55 min
If you're looking for a musical that hasn't been performed to death by every community theater and kid's group in your area, look no further than Everybody's Talking About Jamie , adapted from the stage show of the same name. The film not only features a standout performance from Max Hardwood as Jamie, a young gay man struggling to fit in at his English private school, but also a hilarious supporting performance from Richard E. Grant as retired drag queen Loco Chanelle, who takes young Jamie under his wing to teach him just what being a drag queen is all about. The film is filled with heartwarming performances and toe-tapping musical numbers, making for a perfect movie night with the kids or just with your friends. - Maggie Boccella
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Uncle Frank (2020)
Director/writer: Alan Ball
Cast: Paul Bettany, Sophia Lillis, Peter Macdissi, Judy Greer, Steve Zahn, Lois Smith, Margo Martindale, Stephen Root
Run Time: 1 hr 35 min
Paul Bettany gives one of the best performances of his career in Alan Ball's sensitive road trip comedy. Set during the social stigma of the 1970s, Uncle Frank follows the closeted college professor Frank Bledsoe (Bettany) as he takes a cross-country trip for the funeral of his father Mac (Stephen Root). He's accompanied by his spirited young niece Beth (Sophia Lillis) and his partner Wally (Peter Macdissi). Although the scenes of a younger Frank dealing with his father's homophobia are hard to watch, Uncle Frank is a mostly pleasant film about reconnecting with the past. Seeing Frank accepted by his family and friends makes the film a positive representation of LGBTQ+ relationships on screen. - Liam Gaughan
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A League Of Their Own (1992)
Director: Penny Marshall
Writer: Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel
Cast: Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Madonna, Gary Marshall, Bill Pullman, Lori Petty
Run Time: 2 hr 8 min
"There's no crying in baseball!" A League Of Their Own hasn't aged a day and remains just as quotable as ever. The story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League isn't just a great spotlight for an important historical development; it's a non-stop laugh riot from the rough early scrimmages to the climactic final game. Penny Marshall shows the eccentricities of each of the players but doesn't turn them into caricatures. The game footage alone is enough to solidify A League Of Their Own in the baseball movie hall of fame, but it's the sensitive performances from Geena Davis and Tom Hanks that make it a heartwarming classic. - Liam Gaughan
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Whip It (2009)
Director: Drew Barrymore
Writer: Shauna Cross
Cast: Elliot Page, Drew Barrymore, Kristen Wiig
Run Time: 1 hr 51 min
A film that remains forever slept on for all its wit and charm, Whip It sees Drew Barrymore confidently direct a comedy-drama that hits all the right notes. It stars Elliot Page as Bliss Cavendar, a scrappy misfit living in small-town Texas who secretly joins a roller derby team to escape the crushing conformity of a controlling mother and the world of beauty pageants. The world of roller derby brings freedom and a new sense of meaning for Bliss, though it can't last forever, as a choice will have to be made between these two vastly different worlds. It is a film that doesn't reinvent the wheel but instead sends it speeding ahead, packing both a sense of joy mixed with melancholy in the struggles of its central character trying to find a path forward. Page captures this vulnerability and vision with ease, making for an experience that finds a tender passion in the life of its underdogs who have carved out a world for themselves. - Chase Hutchinson
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Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Director: Edgar Wright
Writers: Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg
Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield
Run Time: 1 hr 39 min
The first movie of Edgar Wright's Cornetto Trilogy, Shaun of the Dead is also arguably the series' best entry. Long before movies and shows like Zombieland and The Walking Dead brought the zombie craze back from the open grave, Shaun of the Dead presented viewers with a fresh look at the genre and a delightfully, absurdly hilarious comedy. The film follows electronics salesman Shaun (Simon Pegg) and his roommate Ed (Nick Frost) as they try to survive a zombie apocalypse in London. As they travel from place to place, rescuing loved ones and rivals alike, chaos reigns and our heroes are left with no choice but to fend for themselves. As is usually the case with the Cornetto Trilogy, a pub might prove to be the best place to hide. - Elisa Guimarães
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27 Dresses (2008)
Director: Anne Fletcher
Writer: Aline Brosh McKenna
Cast: Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Malin Akerman, Judy Greer, Edward Burns
Run Time: 1 hr 51 min
Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. 27 Dresses is about one such bridesmaid, Jane (Katherine Heigl), who has been the most supportive and organized bridesmaid, investing in the happiness of others instead of looking out for her own. When her little sister (Malin Akerman) and her boss (Edward Burns), who she secretly has a crush on, announce their engagement, the cracks in her perfect bridesmaid reputation begin to show.
As she's navigating this, she meets her favorite wedding announcement reporter, played by James Marsden; he has a nihilistic view of marriage and clashes with Jane's idyllic perspective. This classic rom-com has everything from a bridesmaid dress fashion show, spontaneous bar karaoke, and even co-star Judy Greer as Hollywood's favorite best friend! - Meredith Loftus
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The Nanny Diaries (2007)
Director: Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney, Alicia Keys, Chris Evans, Donna Murphy, Paul Giamatti
Run Time: 1 hr 46 min
Unsure what to do in her post grad life, Annie (Scarlett Johansson) takes a job as a nanny for a privileged Upper East Side family. While employed with them, she meets one of the tenants in the building, future Avengers co-star Chris Evans, and learns to juggle her job and her new relationship.
For its many comedic moments Annie experiences as a nanny, there's heavy drama regarding the dysfunction of this seemingly perfect family. Her employers are absentee parents, often neglecting their son for the attention he craves; they expect their child to be out of the way and well-behaved, instead of attending to what he needs. Her employers push her to her breaking point, where she goes off on a teddy bear nanny cam to give Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti a piece of her mind. The Nanny Diaries offers a lens into the gray areas of life while figuring out what matters most. - Meredith Loftus
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Spontaneous (2020)
Writer/Director: Brian Duffield
Cast: Katherine Langford, Charlie Plummer, Hayley Law, Piper Perabo, Rob Huebel and Yvonne Orji
Run Time: 1 hr 41 min
Growing up is hard, especially when you could spontaneously combust at any time. That's the premise of Brian Duffield's brilliant coming-of-age movie Spontaneous . Mara (Katherine Langford) is a sardonic, cynical teenager whose fellow seniors inexplicably start "popping" into giant splatters of blood. But during this chaos, Mara finds love with her classmate Dylan (Charlie Plummer), and their romance seems to make the world go round for as long as they stay in one piece. The chemistry between Langford and Plummer is terrific, with Langford giving a performance that would have landed her on the A-list if Spontaneous' release hadn't been buried by the pandemic. Thankfully, now you can and should make time for this darkly comic and lovely film that will definitely help you if you're going through an existential crisis. – Matt Goldberg
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Date Night (2010)
Director: Shawn Levy
Writer: Josh Klausner
Cast: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, Taraji P. Henson, Jimmi Simpson, Kristen Wiig, Mark Ruffalo, James Franco, Mila Kunis
Run Time: 1 hr 28 min
This 2010 film takes on a new spin, using a typical date night to lead into a crazy adventure for married couple Claire, played by Tina Fey, and Phil, played by Steve Carell. To reinvigorate their relationship, they plan a date night, but when they steal another couple's reservation, it leads to a case of mistaken identity. It turns out the couple whose reservation they stole is mixed up with a mob boss, and they are intercepted by his goons. The night they had planned gets completely derailed as they have the adventure of their lives, in over their heads, but relying on each other to get through it. It is a crime, romance, and comedy film all rolled into one, starring two of the most charismatic stars in 2000s comedy.
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Fargo (1996)
Director: Joel Coen (and Ethan Coen, really)
Writers: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Cast: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, John Carroll Lynch
Run Time: 1 hr 38 min
The Coen Brothers are two of the best filmmakers in history, and their darkly comic 1996 crime thriller Fargo is among their many masterpieces. Constantly engaging and surprising at every turn, the film is anchored by a stellar performance from Frances McDormand as mild-mannered heroine Marge Gunderson. Like any good Coen Brothers film, it's chock-full of unforgettable characters, but the duo also do some of their best visual work here with more than a few iconic shots populating the film. It's a mystery, it's a drama, it's a comedy — Fargo is a Coen Brothers film through and through. – Adam Chitwood
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Heathers (1988)
Director: Michael Lehmann
Writer: Daniel Waters
Cast: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, Penelope Milford, Glenn Shadix
Run Time: 1 hr 43 min
Before Heathers: The Musical introduced a new generation to Veronica Sawyer and the dangers of Jason Dean, Michael Lehmann's 1998 high school comedy took a deep dive into the murky, murdery depths of teen nihilism. Winona Ryder stars as Veronica, a quick-witted student desperate to escape the vapid clique of "Heathers" destroying her teen dream, who winds up in deadly territory when she teams with the stone-cold gorgeous school sociopath (Christian Slater) to get rid of them. Heathers is raucous and provocative, not to mention endlessly quotable, with depth of commentary on social hierarchy and the high school experience that make it such an iconic film. You don't have to look too hard to see how Heathers changed the teen move genre and inspired a wave of comedies to come; from Jawbreaker to Mean Girls , plenty of films carried on in the tradition of sharp-mouthed adolescents who play rough, but no one did it better or with more venom than Heathers. — Haleigh Foutch
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Election (1999)
Director: Alexander Payne
Writers: Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor
Cast: Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Klein, and Jessica Campbell
Run Time: 1 hr 43 min
As acerbic today as it was when it was released back in 1999, Payne's black comedy stars Matthew Broderick as a beloved high school teacher who can't stand one student in particular: the overachieving senior Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon). Featuring a vendetta of a teacher against a student that explodes over the election for the school's student body president, Election remains darkly comic and its satire hasn't dulled at all with age. It's a movie about favoritism, big personalities, duplicity, all whipped together by the surprising humanity Payne brings to his movies. It may not be as sorrowful as Payne's About Schmidt or Sideways , but Election still packs one hell of a punch. – Matt Goldberg
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Late Night (2019)
Director: Nisha Ganatra
Writer: Mindy Kaling
Cast: Mindy Kaling, Emma Thompson, Hugh Dancy, John Lithgow, Denis O'Hare, Reid Scott, and Amy Ryan
Run Time: 1 hr 42 min
If you're a fan of behind-the-scenes Hollywood stories and romcoms, you'll probably like Late Night . The film follows a young woman (Mindy Kaling) who joins the all-male writing staff of a formerly famous but now in decline late night host, played by Emma Thompson. The idealistic young writer meets the cynicism of the host and her staff head on, as they try to turn the show around while other obstacles arise. It's sweet and fun and funny, but also surprisingly emotional as it reaches the end. Thompson delivers a terrific performance as a complex and powerful woman, and Kaling is charming as the naïve comedy newbie who idolizes her boss. – Adam Chitwood
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What If (2013)
Director: Michael Dowse
Writer: Elan Mastai
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Adam Driver, Mackenzie Davis, Megan Park
Run Time: 1 hr 42 min
You'd be hard-pressed to think of two more likable, amiable actors in the game than Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan, and their 2013 rom-com What If is every bit the easy-watching, feel-good love story you'd expect. The film takes an interesting if ultimately familiar spin on the genre starring Radcliffe as Wallace, a young man burned by a string of bad relationships who sparks up an instant friendship (and undeniable chemistry) with Chantry (Kazan) – who happens to live with her longtime boyfriend. Together, they try to figure out what it means to be best friends with the person who might also be your soul mate. And they do it with a heck of a supporting duo in Adam Driver and Mackenzie Davis as a demonstrative, passionate couple who absolutely cannot keep their hands off of each other, a hilarious foil couple to Wallace and Chantry's abstinent love. Fun, sweet, and witty, it's a classic feel-good rom-com with an unbeatable cast. - Haleigh Foutch
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The Big Sick (2017)
Director: Michael Showalter
Writers: Emily Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani
Cast: Kumail Najiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Anupam Kher, Zenobia Shroff, Bo Burnham, Aidy Bryant
Run Time: 2 hr
Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon's real-life love story serves as inspiration for the most delightful romantic comedy in years in The Big Sick . Directed by Michael Showalter from a script by Nanjiani and Gordon, the film stars Nanjiani as himself and Zoe Kazan as Emily in the stranger-than-fiction story of two people falling in love despite clashing cultures, family expectations, and a mysterious life-threatening illness.
The story follows a standup comic (Nanjiani) who falls for a woman who heckles him (Kazan) at a show. He tries to hide the relationship from his parents, who expect a strictly traditional arranged marriage to a Muslim woman, but their romance faces an even greater hurdle when she falls into an inexplicable coma and he bonds with her parents (who you can't help but fall in love with thanks to the performances from Ray Romano and Holly Hunter). Bursting with heart and earnest good nature, The Big Sick is a witty and charming exploration of love, commitment and family, and it's a bonafide crowd-pleaser to boot. — Haleigh Foutch
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Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019)
Director/Writer: Paul Downs Colaizzo
Cast: Jillian Bell, Michaela Watkins, Utkarsh Abudkar, Lil Rel Howery, and Micah Stock
Run Time: 1 hr 43 min
Brittany Runs a Marathon is not the movie you think it is, in the very best way. The film stars Jillian Bell as an overweight woman who sets out to train for and run the New York marathon as a way to get in shape, which she also believes will change her life for the better. Changes do come, but they're a mix of positive and negative as Bell's character learns the hard way that her issues are related to who she is as a person rather than how she looks on the outside. It's a surprising, sweet, and frequently hilarious comedy with a dash of romance for good measure. But it's also genuinely moving, and Bell gives a star-making performance that deftly navigates both comedic and dramatic territory. Brittany Runs a Marathon isn't just one of the best comedies of 2019, it's also one of the best films of the year full-stop. – Adam Chitwood
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Source: https://collider.com/funniest-comedy-movies-on-amazon-prime-streaming/
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