Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Best Buddy Comedies

Recently saw the Hangover and absolutely loved it. I adore buddy comedies. It's only something I've come into in recent years but nothing beats the comedy of dudes. Women comedies, wait are there any well known ones. We're funny but there's just something that dudes do- they just take it there, places women wouldn't go without looking unattractive or just stupid which in turn makes them unattractive. The closest one I can remember is the Sweetest Thing with Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate and Selma Blair. Should I ever make it as a screen writer, I am going to write a good female comedy on the line of a buddy comedy but still realistic. And it would have to star Anna Farris, she isn't afraid to go there.

"According to the Journal of Popular Film and Television, buddy films emerged in the 1970s in response to the feminist movement. The journal reported, "To punish women for their desire for equality, the buddy film pushes them out of the center of the narrative and replaces the traditional central romantic relationship between a man and a woman with a buddy relationship between two men. By making both protagonists men, the central issue of the film becomes the growth and development of their friendship. Women as potential love interests are thus either eliminated from the narrative space or pushed into the background as side characters.""

Could women really do a comedy where finding love is merely a backdrop to the friendship? Other than my beloved Sex and the City of course- that's kind of a female buddy comedy but still it's not the same as, well here's a list of some of my favorites:

  1. Wedding Crashers- Vince Vaughn made this movie and he's tops at buddy comedies (Swingers was entertaining).
  2. Ghost Busters- it may not count but I think their friendship was key and it was funny to me. I still like watching it.
  3. Old School- a bunch of dudes getting together to make a grown up post college fraternity. And it has Will Ferrell (also loved Anchorman)
  4. I Love You Man- It's really all about friendship and was very entertaining
  5. Superbad- teen buddy comedy, so funny
  6. Tropic Thunder- may not be under that category but its an all male cast, being funny, growing by the end of the movie, so falls under it in my book
  7. Stir Crazy- Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder-comic fun during the eighties
  8. Bad Boys- falls under action but still focuses on their friendship/partnership with lots of laughs
  9. Shaun of the Dead- a funny British horror/buddy comedy
  10. Orange County- My first Jack Black film which I really liked



Any others? I know there are so many more. Hmm, time to get writing on my screenplay.

2 comments:

Diva's Thoughts said...

I absolutely LOVE buddy films.

Not Your Average Male said...

Loved everything on that list... great stuff. I'd like to toss an honorable mention to Pineapple Express & almost everything Eddie Murphy did before like '98, lol.