The 22 best comedy movies streaming in August 2024
Our selection includes timeless classics and recent gems alike.
A24; Everett; Fox Searchlight/ Everett
When you're in the mood for a laugh, you don't have to browse through endless streaming platform menus to find a great comedy movie — at least not when you have this list handy. Whether you’re a loyal Netflix subscriber or have Hulu, Max, and Amazon Prime at your disposal, Entertainment Weekly is ready with recommendations for multiple major streaming services.
Here are the 22 best comedy movies streaming right now.
Netflix
Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Sanja Bucko/Warner Bros. Pictures/courtesy Everett
Rachel (Constance Wu), a Chinese American economics professor from New York, thinks that she knows her boyfriend Nick (Henry Golding), but when he invites her to his Singapore hometown for a friend's wedding, she discovers that his family is practically royalty, overseeing an ultra-rich business dynasty that he's expected to inherit. Dazzled, she has to contend with Nick's fearsome mother (Michelle Yeoh), who's convinced that Rachel won't measure up.
EW’s critic enthused, "If Asians really only grazes true Crazy, the movie is still a deliriously glossy, globe-trotting trifle — two hours of romantic fantasy and real-estate porn poured on so thick it’s almost lickable."
Where to watch Crazy Rich Asians: Netflix
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: Jon M. Chu
Cast: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Awkwafina
Related content: Crazy Rich Asians being turned into Broadway musical with director Jon M. Chu
She's Gotta Have It (1986)
Everett
Shot on a shoestring budget in black-and-white, She's Gotta Have It launched director Spike Lee's career with a comic portrait of a free-spirited young woman (Tracy Camilla Johns) dating three very different men. Lee steals the show as Mars Blackmon, a boastful, fast-talking bike messenger competing for Nola's heart with the grounded Jamie (Tommy Redmond Hicks) and musclebound model Greer (John Canada Terrell).
Despite the trio's pressure for her to settle down, Nola insists on making her own romantic and sexual choices. This groundbreaking indie proves that a talented filmmaker can tell a compelling story, even with limited resources.
Where to watch She's Gotta Have It: Netflix
Director: Spike Lee
Cast: Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell, Spike Lee
Related content: Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It Netflix series is 'crackling'
Zombieland (2009)
Glen Wilson/Columbia/ Everett
Four loner survivors in a post-apocalyptic zombie hellscape find companionship in this unconventional road trip comedy. Known only by the places they're trying to reach, the neurotic Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) and grouchy badass Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) meet self-reliant sisters Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) — and despite their determination not to get attached, the quartet comes together as a team.
Sparkling with snappy dialogue and reveling in imaginative kills, Zombieland delivers as both a dark comedy and an action thriller. (And when you least expect it, a surprise cameo enlivens the gloomy end-of-the-world atmosphere.)
Where to watch Zombieland: Netflix
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin
Related content: Zombieland: Bill Murray role was originally written for Patrick Swayze
Hulu
My Cousin Vinny (1992)
When two young guys from New York (Ralph Macchio and Mitchell Whitfield) are arrested in small-town Alabama and accused of a murder they didn't commit, they call the closest thing to a lawyer they can afford — Bill's cousin Vinny (Joe Pesci), who just squeaked past the bar and has no trial experience.
Vinny arrives with his strong-willed, sarcastic girlfriend Mona Lisa (Marisa Tomei), and the culture clash between the back-talking Italian Americans and the laconic Southern trial judge puts the defendants at risk. Pesci and Tomei make a hilarious team as Vinny struggles to mount a defense in this classic courtroom comedy.
Where to watch My Cousin Vinny: Hulu
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: Jonathan Lynn
Cast: Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio, Marisa Tomei, Mitchell Whitfield
Related content: My Cousin Vinny is an accurate portrayal of lawyers
Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
Fox Searchlight/courtesy Everett Collection
Quirky and quotable, Napoleon Dynamite is a low-budget cringe-comedy classic that's earned a passionate cult following. Napoleon (Jon Heder), a sleepy-eyed teenage nerd growing up in Idaho, navigates the ups and downs of high school life with barely-suppressed annoyance and a dose of self-delusion.
The ensemble includes a deeply awkward brother addicted to chat rooms, an uncle desperate to relive his varsity football days, and Napoleon's best friend Pedro (Efren Ramírez), who makes an unlikely run at class president. The movie straddles the line between "laughing with" and "laughing at," presenting semi-loveable losers in a uniquely bleak comic landscape.
Where to watch Napoleon Dynamite: Hulu
Director: Jared Hess
Cast: Jon Heder, Jon Gries, Aaron Ruell, Efren Ramírez
Related content: Jon Heder on what his Napoleon Dynamite character's life is like today: 'I don't think it's looking pretty'
Poor Things (2023)
Yorgos Lanthimos / Searchlight Pictures / Courtesy of Everett
A fearless Victorian-era take on the Frankenstein story, Poor Things follows Bella Baxter (a riveting Emma Stone), a young woman fished out of the river after committing suicide who is revived with a brain transplant from her unborn child. With a juvenile mind in a grown-up body, Bella is indulged by her mad scientist "father" (Willem Dafoe) and seduced by a rakish lawyer (Mark Ruffalo) determined to possess her, but she quickly matures into something utterly new. EW’s critic asserted that "Poor Things bursts with an absurd perversity that is riotously fun to watch."
Where to watch Poor Things: Hulu
EW grade: A– (read the review)
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef
Related content: Inside the curious, odd world of Poor Things
Max
Deadpool (2016)
Everett
Marvel's first R-rated superhero film, Deadpool distinguishes itself from the genre with its raucous sense of humor. Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is dying of cancer until he signs up for an underground experimental treatment that triggers his latent mutant abilities, turning him into Deadpool, an unstoppable force of over-the-top violence.
The new Wade is an endlessly wisecracking chatterbox, shattering the fourth wall with gleeful abandon. As EW’s critic put it, "You find yourself giggling not because the jokes are so great (although some of them are), but because you can’t believe the Marvel brass agreed to gamble on such an edgy, profane protagonist."
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: Tim Miller
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller, Gina Carano
Related content: Channing Tatum thanks Ryan Reynolds for including fan-favorite character in ‘masterpiece’ Deadpool & Wolverine
The Farewell (2019)
A24 /courtesy Everett Collection
In this poignant dramedy based on director Lulu Wang’s lived experience, comedian and rapper Awkwafina takes her first starring role as Billi, who learns that her beloved grandmother has stage-four cancer — and nobody is allowed to tell her. Instead, the family has arranged a quickie marriage for Billi's cousin, to bring everyone together one last time before Nai Nai dies.
EW’s critic observed that "On screen, Awkwafina can feel more like a personality than an actress; still, she finds something appealingly honest and vulnerable in Billi — who may always hate the lie, but finally begins to let it open her up to bigger, better truths."
Where to watch The Farewell: Max
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Lulu Wang
Cast: Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin
Related content: Nominated for Nothing: Why The Farewell didn't fare well with the Academy
I, Tonya (2017)
Before she was Barbie, Margot Robbie played Tonya Harding, the much-maligned figure skater connected to a 1994 assault on her rival, Nancy Kerrigan. I, Tonya presents Harding's story in a black comedy mockumentary style through unreliable, contradictory interviews with Harding, her abusive sad-sack ex-husband Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan), and others.
EW’s critic asserted that "Robbie is the real revelation. In a performance that goes far beyond bad perms and tabloid punchlines, she’s a powerhouse: a scrappy, defiant subversion of the American dream. You won’t just find yourself rooting for this crazy kid; you might even fall a little bit in love."
EW grade: A– (read the review)
Director: Craig Gillespie
Cast: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney, Julianne Nicholson
Related content: How I, Tonya pulled off those impressive skating scenes with Margot Robbie
Problemista (2023)
Comedian and Los Espookys co-creator Julio Torres writes, directs, and stars in his first film, a surreal comedy about an aspiring young toy designer from El Salvador. Desperate to stay in New York City, Alejandro has one month to find a sponsor for his work visa — even if it means working for a brittle, whimsical art critic (Tilda Swinton) who strings him along with a freelance job as her assistant.
As time slips away and his boss’ demands become more urgent and impossible to satisfy, Alejandro has to navigate the immigration bureaucracy and finally find a place to call home.
Where to watch Problemista: Max
Director: Julio Torres
Cast: Julio Torres, Tilda Swinton, Robert Diggs, Isabella Rossellini
Related content: Julio Torres and his favorite 'diva' Tilda Swinton on creating Problemista's 'queen of chaos'
Amazon Prime Video
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
Suzanne Hanover
When his co-workers find out that electronics store employee Andy (Steve Carell) has never had sex, they vow to help him end his 40-year dry spell and finally connect with a woman.
As director Judd Apatow's first film, The 40-Year-Old Virgin established his brand of raunchy comedy with heart. EW’s critic noted, "Andy may be a light caricature of a clueless, repressed loser (the word ho does not fall trippingly off his tongue), but Carell plays him in the funniest and most surprising way possible: as a credible human being."
Where to watch The 40-Year-Old Virgin: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Judd Apatow
Cast: Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen
Related content: Judd Apatow tells Kelly Clarkson how she became a swear in The 40-Year-Old Virgin
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)
Everett
A musical farce set in Ancient Rome with clever songs by Stephen Sondheim, Forum spoofs Hollywood's attempts to produce costume dramas on tight budgets. The sprawling, twisty plot begins with the slave Pseudolus (a magnificent Zero Mostel) promising to help his young master Hero (Michael Crawford) connect with the girl of his dreams in exchange for Pseudolus' long-sought freedom.
Zany and satisfying, the movie does everything possible to entertain, with elaborate schemes, mistaken identities, chases, pratfalls, and bawdy sex jokes, as well as the last screen appearance of slapstick legend Buster Keaton. Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight!
Where to watch A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Richard Lester
Cast: Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford, Phil Silvers, Buster Keaton
Related content: The 20 best classic movies to watch on Amazon Prime right now
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Everett
Hailed as one of the greatest films of all time, Some Like It Hot lives up to its reputation. After jazz musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) accidentally witness a mob killing, they disguise themselves as women to join an all-female band and escape on a train to Miami.
As the journey begins, they meet Sugar (Marilyn Monroe), an astonishingly beautiful singer and ukulele player, and soon both men are secretly competing for her attention without giving away their identities. A witty script paired with director Billy Wilder's precise timing makes the film a treasure for comedy fans.
Where to watch Some Like It Hot: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft
Related content: Some Like It Hot to become a Broadway musical
Paramount+
Airplane! (1980)
Surely, you can't resist one of the world's funniest films. A parody of the mid-’70s disaster movie boom, Airplane! hits as many targets as possible with hilarious puns, imaginative sight gags, and lunatic nonsequiturs.
When the flight crew on a commercial airline comes down with food poisoning, it's up to an Air Force pilot (Robert Hays) to land a plane that he doesn't know how to fly, assisted by his flight attendant ex-girlfriend (Julie Hagerty). The scene-stealer is Leslie Nielsen, pre-Naked Gun, discovering his comic voice while playing the doctor that everyone listens to just because he's a doctor.
Where to watch Airplane!: Paramount+
Director: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Cast: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Related content: David Letterman auditioned for Airplane! against his better judgment: 'I can't act'
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Will Ferrell seems to delight in extreme characters, and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy provides him with one of his greatest: a self-obsessed, blustering blowhard of a 1970s newscaster who acts like the king of San Diego.
Ron Burgundy is definitely in tune with his times, but once times change — like when a female journalist (Christina Applegate) is promoted to co-anchor — he responds with bewilderment and… well, more bewilderment. As tensions rise, Ron and Veronica's brutal knock-down fight in the middle of the newsroom is the perfect comic expression of the battle of the sexes.
Where to watch Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy: Paramount+
Director: Adam McKay
Cast: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell
Related content: Christina Applegate reunites with Anchorman star Will Ferrell, reveals director yelled 'most bizarre s---' at them on set
Mean Girls (2004)
Paramount Pictures
In the high school of the American imagination, Regina George (Rachel McAdams) will always rule the hallways. Regina is the teenage apex predator of North Shore High, always looking for an opportunity to bolster her impeccable popularity or take down a potential rival.
In the sharp, satirical Mean Girls, good-hearted fish-out-of-water Cady (Lindsay Lohan) is recruited into an effort to bring down Regina and her "Plastics" clique, including wannabe Gretchen (Lacey Chabert) and dim bulb Karen (Amanda Seyfried). With a biting script by Tina Fey, the film fearlessly explores the dark side of the early aughts adolescent social scene.
Where to watch Mean Girls: Paramount+
Director: Mark Waters
Cast: Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tina Fey, Lacey Chabert
Related content: Ashley Tisdale says ad-libbed line from failed Mean Girls audition made it in the movie: 'I should have gotten a writer's credit'
Peacock
Knocked Up (2007)
Everett
In romantic comedies, some meet-cutes are cuter than others. In the case of Knocked Up, it's a boozy one-night stand between two objectively mismatched partners with serious consequences. Eight weeks after sleeping together, rising entertainment reporter Alison (Katherine Heigl) tells burnout slacker Ben (Seth Rogen) that they're expecting, and the unlikely pair decides to give a real relationship a try.
EW’s critic promised that "By the time writer-director-producer Judd Apatow’s extremely rude, extremely funny, irresistible fairy tale about contemporary American frogs, princesses, childbirth classes, and bongs comes to its sunny, satisfying conclusion, the shlub has become a mensch."
Where to watch Knocked Up: Peacock
EW grade: A (read the review)
Director: Judd Apatow
Cast: Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann
Related content: Seth Rogen addresses Katherine Heigl Knocked Up controversy
Meet the Fockers (2004)
Everett
While 2000's Meet the Parents introduced neurotic nurse Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) to his girlfriend's hard-to-please father Jack (Robert De Niro), the second installment brings the spiky in-laws to Miami to meet Greg's free-spirited family: Dustin Hoffman as Greg's father, and Barbra Streisand as his mother, a sex therapist for seniors.
Jack is unimpressed, but EW’s critic appreciated the new cast members: "It turns out that Streisand has stumbled into a delicious third-quarter career, if she wants one, as an exuberantly less-than-perfect hot mama. As for Hoffman, the crazy Focker steals the picture just by having fun, salty as a lox."
Where to watch Meet the Fockers: Peacock
EW grade: N/A (read the review)
Director: Jay Roach
Cast: Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand
Men In Black II (2002)
In the world of Men In Black, "alien invasions" aren’t really a thing. The aliens are already here, mostly in disguise and mostly friendly (except the ravenous 600-foot worm who inhabits the New York subway system). But when there's trouble, the retired Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) is summoned back to the agency with his scrubbed memories returned, to help his partner J (Will Smith) battle an evil shapeshifter who's taken the form of a tentacle-spewing Victoria's Secret model (Lara Flynn Boyle, enjoying herself immensely). Men In Black II preserves J and K's sassy buddy-cop relationship, now with bigger guns.
Where to watch Men In Black II: Peacock
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Lara Flynn Boyle, Johnny Knoxville
Related content: The story behind MIBII's scene-stealing dog
Tubi
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
London gangster George (Tom Georgeson) and his stuttering, tropical fish-loving henchman Ken (Michael Palin) throw in with American con woman Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her brother, high-strung weapons expert Otto (Kevin Kline), to steal a fortune in diamonds. The crew thus spends the rest of the movie in a dizzying cycle of betrayals and double-crosses.
Trying to locate the hidden stash, Wanda seduces George's barrister, Archie (John Cleese), much to the dismay of Otto, who's actually her lover. A triumph of Anglo-American filmmaking, A Fish Called Wanda pits the vulgar Americans against the uptight Brits with hilarious results.
Where to watch A Fish Called Wanda: Tubi
Director: Charles Crichton
Cast: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin
Related content: John Cleese and co. try to bring the magic back in Fierce Creatures
Friday (1995)
Everett Collection
It's Friday in South Central L.A., and recently fired loafer Craig (Ice Cube) spends the day with his fast-talking best friend Smokey (Chris Tucker), watching the world go by from a couple of chairs on Craig's front porch. Things take a turn when Smokey's drug supplier demands $200 by 10 PM or they'll be killed, but the pair is easily distracted by conflicts with the resident bully, Craig's jealous girlfriend, and various neighborhood moochers and petty criminals.
EW’s critic wrote that "Friday has energy, and sass, and the nerve to suggest that the line between tragedy and comedy may be in the bloodshot eye of the beholder."
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: F. Gary Gray
Cast: Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Nia Long, Tiny "Zeus" Lister Jr.
Related content: Ice Cube says fourth Friday movie is moving forward: 'They finally came to their senses'
Ghostbusters (1984)
Columbia Pictures/Everett
Fired from their university, three paranormal researchers (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis) set up an on-call ghostbusting business in a New York firehouse, armed with nuclear-powered proton packs to find and eliminate loose poltergeists.
A horror comedy with blockbuster special effects, Ghostbusters still feels fresh and funny 40 years later, thanks to a strong story and a career-best deadpan performance by Murray. Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis also deliver laughs as possessed slaves of the demigod Zuul. The stakes rise to earth-shaking proportions, with a riotous ending that ensures you'll never look at marshmallows the same way again.
Where to watch Ghostbusters: Tubi
Director: Ivan Reitman
Cast: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis
Related content: Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire director breaks down how they created Baggie, the haunted trash bag
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