The dumbest, yet the most entertaining and funiest Comedy

For example


I nearly pissed myself when I was watching this movie. Greatest comedy of all time

The naked gun series. Leslie Nielsen is the god of dumb comedies.

For me it's Dumb And Dumber

Ok, the overall plot is farfetched but it works... and every piece of dialogue is either a double entendre or something that the main duo has misheard or misunderstood.

Then there's elements of slapstick, toilet humour and ad-libbed scenes too.

Perfect comedy.


"WE LANDED ON THE MOON!!"

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The older the better?

Killer Boots maaaan! I'd agree with this choice. Great, silly, inane comedy.

See also The Three Amigos and There's something about Mary

Here's one of my favorites

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Under-the-radar Movie Awesomeness.
http://earlsmoviepicks.blogspot.com/

Ace Ventura - not the best comedy but certainly the dumbest

Obviously, the Naked Gun movies are hilarious. But I think they're genuinely so and I'm not remotely ashamed to find them funny. I assume there's a tiny element of laughing-in-spite-of-yourself here, so I'll go with Happy Gilmore. Sorry, but I find it hilarious.

Certainly the funniest. But exactly how is it "dumb?" The technical wizardry, stunts and sight gags are brilliant, especially compared to their earlier efforts The Kentucky Fried Movie and Airplane! The film is the very definition of a "smart comedy."

Also, just thinking about how much time and effort went into the underwater bar fight sequence makes my head spin.

I love Beerfest!

Sight gags are the definition of smart comedy? Wha? Smart comedy is subtle and satirical, not slapstick.

Obviously "Dumb" and "smart" are misnomers (and I don't think so-called "dumb" comedies are inherently less impressive or valuable), but I've only ever heard them used as shorthand for how accessible the comedy is. And sight gags, puns, and absurdity are all highly accessible.

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You are no Vader. You are just a child in a mask.

Yes. Excellent choice. Parts of that movie are just painfully dumb, but man, the best parts are absolutely side-splitting. Particularly the first 10-15 minutes. I can't believe how hard I laughed at parts of that movie.

Okay, so what we're really talking about is "high-brow" vs "low-brow," which is the dumbest distinction people try to make when it comes to art. If it's funny and well-made, then it's smart. Dumb comedies are not funny, unless you look at them ironically.

Do you really think dumb people can create something intentionally hilarious? Or that the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker films deserve to be called "dumb" or "low-brow" just because they aren't subtle satires or witty verbal comedies? They are simply different genres, not different leagues. There's plenty of genius and subtleness involved in Top Secret!, jokes that don't even hit you until several seconds after, and then you're on the floor laughing.Don't count on it. You'd be surprised at the number of people who watch zany comedies like Airplane! and Top Secret! with nothing but a blank look on their face. Comedy is perhaps the most subjective and divisive genre in cinema, and there aren't more "accessible comedies," there are simply different styles and tastes.On this we can agree.

I guess my question, then, is: what's the point of a phrase like "smart comedy" if it's just a synonym for "good comedy" or "funny comedy"? It's clearly meant to signify something else, and the only way I can recall hearing it used is to refer to the level of accessibility or subtlety.

As you say, there are always people who don't "get" a particular type of comedy, but that only means that no comedy is 100% accessible. They can still be more or less accessible, and in general I imagine we'd agree that slapstick and sight gags are accessible to a wider range of people than most forms of satire. Physical comedy in general more easily transcends culture, language, and age. There's a reason our kids watch Looney Tunes and not Dr. Strangelove. Well, most kids. Mine might end up getting both.

I lent my grandad Kung Pow, and he ran me up literally 5 minutes into the movie howling with laughter down the phone.

It's so bad it's awesome. I, without shame, love it.

I hate using those phrases to begin with, I was simply making a point.

Actually no, I don't agree. I also sincerely doubt there's any statistical evidence to that effect. There are more than one style of physical comedy, and I've met too many people in my life that can't stand it for me to consider it "transcendental." Especially culture-wise, many Americans don't understand Japanese slapstick, and vice-versa. Try sitting down someone who has never been exposed to Japanese culture and make them watch "Excel Saga" or "Noodle Fighter Miki." I imagine you won't get very many chuckles out of them.

Wouldn't making any point about what is and is not a "smarty comedy" first require some general agreement about what the term means?

Well, of course not. There's no statistical evidence for any of this. But it seems self-evident. Physical comedy avoids employing many of the things that provide a natural barrier to comedy across time and culture. A comedy of manners, for example, is inherently less accessible because it requires an understanding of the affectations it's satirizing. Even comedy based on buffoonery requires a sense of what's considered right or proper, so we can identify the behavior that is inappropriate or absurd. And given that great comedy almost invariably involves great timing, it's impossible to preserve that timing completely in any comedic dialogue if the film is in another language.

On the other hand, you don't have to speak any particular language or have any grasp of the cultural strata to laugh at someone getting hit in the face with a frying pan. It's also why, as far as I can tell, the silent classics have so much cross-cultural appeal. It's admittedly anecdotal, but I hear cinephiles overseas talk about Chaplin and Keaton a lot more than the Marx Bros.

You're probably right, but as I said, this isn't binary. It's not as if, if you can find any group of people who wouldn't like a certain type of comedy, it therefore must not be "accessible." It's a relative term. The claim is that physical comedy (slapstick, sight gags, etc.) is more accessible than other types of comedy, not that it's "transcendental" (a word I most certainly didn't use).

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Agreed! It was a hilarious film. Dumber than all get out, but funny!