The Best Comedies of the 21st Century

Rolling Stone magazine recently released its 70 Best Comedies of the 21st Century. The list is not good. For one, it doesn’t include The Hangover or Pineapple Express. Those movies may not be in the top ten, maybe not even in the top twenty, but top seventy? C’mon!

While Rolling Stone’s 10 Best Comedies aren’t a horrible representation of the genre, there is a better list to be made.

In fact, there are two better lists to be made.

A Quick Word on Process

I comiled a comprehensive list of comedies released in America between January 2000 and July 2023, using Wikipedia as my reference. I identified the potential candidates from each year to create a preliminary list comprising ninety-five different titles.

Weirdly, it did not include a single film from the year 2019.

I attempted to select the top ten comedies from that list of ninety-five. However, I struggled to choose between movies that made me laugh the most and films that were of excellent quality overall. Eventually, I decided to create two separate lists to avoid having to make any compromises.

Second, instead of boring you with an analysis of why each film is on the list, I stuck with clips.

So, without further adieu…

The 10 Movies of the 21st Century That Made Me Laugh the Hardest

10. Super Troopers (2001)

9. Ted (2012)

8. Anchorman (2004)

7. Borat (2006)

6. In Bruges (2008)

5. Jackass: The Movie (2002)

4. The Death of Stalin (2017)

3. Team America: World Police (2004)

2. The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)

1. The Foot Fist Way (2006)

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The 10 Best Comedies of the 21st Century That Were Also Great Films

10. Burn After Reading (2008)

9. Knocked Up (2007)

8. Shaun of the Dead (2004)

7. The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

6. The Death of Stalin (2017)

5. I Heart Huckabees (2004)

4. Boy (2010)

3. Punch Drunk Love (2002)

2. The Royal Tennenbaums (2001)

1. Adaptation (2002)