NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The last decade has not been good for big-screen comedies. Hollywood studios Horror became the in vogue genre. Laughs were out. Good comedies have kept being made, of course 鈥� it’s just taken a little more effort to find them.
This month marks the Shane Black’s 2016 crime caper with Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe. No, it’s not exactly the But for a movie era where comedies went out of style, it’s a moment worth marking.
In the past decade, comedies have largely become the stuff of cult: little seen at release but rediscovered on streaming or elsewhere. 鈥淭he Nice Guys鈥� flopped at the box office, but its afterlife is long.
So here are our picks for the best of the last 10 years, post-“Nice Guys.鈥� We’re leaving out the darker satires (鈥淧arasite鈥�), the acerbic dramas (鈥淭he Holdovers鈥�) and the sequels that exist in their own glorious category entirely (鈥淧addington 2”).
10. 鈥淧alm Springs鈥� (2020)
As much as 鈥淕roundhog Day鈥� codified the time-loop comedy, on a familiar concept found new comic life in a single day endlessly relived. You want Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti to stay stuck in Palm Springs forever. Having J.K. Simmons, who so drolly put the final touches on 鈥淏urn After Reading,鈥� around in any comedy helps, too.
9. 鈥淥ne of Them Days鈥� (2025)
also lives in the shadow of an earlier comedy: 鈥淔riday.鈥� It similarly has a hangout, day-in-the-life-of-Los-Angeles feel, albeit amped up a bit. Keke Palmer carries it.
8. 鈥淕ame Night鈥� (2018)
Few movies of the last decade have been stolen by a performer more outright than 鈥淕ame Night.鈥� Jesse Plemons and the debatable profitability for FritoLay was enough to turn 鈥淕ame Night鈥� into a modern classic. But there are funny people up and down this justifiably adored comedy, with Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams and Sharon Horgan.
7. 鈥淭he Edge of Seventeen鈥� (2016)
It was a brilliant stroke of and producer James L. Brooks to cast in this terrific coming-of-age comedy. As acclaimed as Steinfeld has been more recently, in 鈥淪inners鈥� and more, her performance as a teenager in 鈥淭he Edge of Seventeen鈥� is still her at her best 鈥� especially when paired with Woody Harrelson, as an unorthodox teacher.
6. 鈥淐onfess, Fletch鈥� (2022)
Greg Mottola’s revival of Fletch, with Jon Hamm, was criminally underseen. It fell victim to the pandemic and a few other factors. But 鈥淐onfess, Fletch鈥� might have been the most perfectly suited vehicle for Hamm. Maybe the original 鈥淔letch鈥� films with Chevy Chase were too iconic to mess with. But 鈥淐onfess, Fletch鈥� is worth catching up to.
5. 鈥淭he Death of Stalin鈥� (2017)
Armando Iannucci is better known for his Washington, D.C. farce 鈥淰eep鈥� and his British government comedy 鈥淭he Thick of It.鈥� But he’s . It’s almost hard to believe he managed to get made a satire about political struggle in the wake of Josef Stalin’s death in 1953. I guess either the prospect playing Nikita Khrushchev is enticing to you, or nyet.
4. 鈥淟ady Bird鈥� (2017)
High school has always been among the most fertile grounds for movie comedies, and I’d say has been the best and most perceptive of the last decade. Even though Timoth茅e Chalamet and Lucas Hedges are good in this, the best moments for Lady Bird (Saoirse Ronan) come with her parents (Laurie Metcalf and Tracy Letts).
3. 鈥淕lass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery鈥� (2022)
鈥淗alle Berry!鈥� All of the 鈥淜nives Out鈥� movies are funny but the second of Rian Johnson’s whodunit series is the most hysterical of the bunch. Daniel Craig pushes Benoit Blanc to more cartoonish heights here, and is the detective’s most comic foil.
2. 鈥淏arb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar鈥� (2021)
Anyone who thought to 鈥淏ridesmaids鈥� was a disappointment was sorely mistaken. This is less a movie about two Midwestern women traveling to Florida than a delirious fever dream about two Midwestern women traveling to Florida.
1. 鈥淏arbie鈥� (2023)
More than $1 billion in box office and a boatload of Oscar nominations and I still kind of think I mean, I can no longer talk to my daughters straight-faced about 鈥淭he Godfather.鈥� But that’s a small price to pay for one of the giddiest comedies of the century. I only wish Hollywood saw it less as a success of IP usage than the possibilities of a poignant and imaginative laugh fest.
Honorable mentions: 鈥淔all Guy,鈥� 鈥淟ogan Lucky,鈥� 鈥淟icorice Pizza,鈥� 鈥淏ooksmart,鈥� 鈥淏orat Subsequent Movie Film,鈥� 鈥淧opstar: Never Stop Never Stopping,鈥� 鈥淗ail, Caesar,鈥� 鈥淒olemite Is My Name,鈥� 鈥淏ottoms,鈥� 鈥淏lockers鈥�
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
