Fun Movies

If you enjoy having fun (and who doesn't?), you'll want to take a peek at my list of fun movies. Offering both chuckles and belly laughs, these comedies range from clever black and white bits of slapstick to modern-day buffets of gross-out humor and sex jokes. So no matter what type of comedy floats your boat, readers are bound to find something to amuse them.

The Seven Year Itch (1955) - Billy Wilder directed this iconic film for the sultry Marilyn Monroe in which she plays a sexy new neighbor who provides temptation for a married man (Tom Ewell). The film's most famous scene comes when Monroe (her character is only known as "The Girl") stands on a subway grate and has her dress blown up above her knees. It's still one of the most enduring images in the history of cinema.

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Topper (1937) - Cary Grant stars in this highly successful comedy about a ghostly married couple who haunt an uptight bank president who also happens to be their friend. Two sequels would follow, as well as a TV series that ran for two seasons. Grant and co-star Constance Bennett have great chemistry as the mischievous dead couple.

There's Something About Mary (1998) - Fourteen years after blowing it with his prom date, neurotic Ted Stroehmann (Ben Stiller) hires a sleazy private detective (Matt Dillon) to track her down. Turns out that Mary (Cameron Diaz) is a successful orthopedic surgeon with stunning looks, and the private eye quickly falls for her himself. But Ted isn't about to lose out on the love of his life, so he initiates a series of outrageous schemes to win her for his own. A modern-day classic, co-starring Chris Elliott, Lee Evans, Sarah Silverman, and Brett Favre.

Airplane! (1980) - When the food on an airplane makes the crew and many of the passengers deathly ill, it's up to a traumatized former combat pilot (Robert Hayes) to land them safely. A parody of the many successful airline disaster films of the time, Airplane! is packed with an assortment of bizarre characters such as an air traffic controller (Lloyd Bridges) who's addicted to everything, a co-pilot who looks suspiciously like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (played by, you guessed it, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), and a doctor (Leslie Nielsen) who doesn't like to be called Shirley. Also starring Robert Stack, Julie Hagerty, Peter Graves, Stephen Stucker, and Barbara Billingsley (as a white woman who's skilled at talking "jive").

Big (1988) - Tom Hanks added to his star power by playing the end result of a wish granted to a young boy who wanted to be "big." Now trapped in the body of a man, he begins to learn what it means to be an adult, work his way up the corporate ladder, and navigate the tricky waters of relationships with (yuck) the female gender. My favorite scene--and I'm not alone--comes when Hanks steps onto a giant keyboard and performs an energetic musical number with the assistance of the always-wonderful Robert Loggia.

Horse Feathers (1932) - The fourth film from the Marx Brothers, this classic motion picture stars Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo in a tale of an upcoming college football game between two rival schools. The climactic scene on the gridiron has been called the greatest football scene ever filmed, and the sly commentary about the double standards for college athletes remains remarkably accurate. Fans of musicals will also be in for a treat, as the film features seven such numbers.

That does it for my selection of fun movies. Hopefully, the thought of seeing one of these films for the first time (or memories from a previously viewed favorite) will already have a big smile on your face. If not, maybe you need to lighten up a little.

Fun Movies