Every mystery needs a detective to solve it. However, it's not as if it has to be a detective on a city's payroll. It can be, but often the more interesting tales follow a private investigator, or perhaps even an utter amateur or two forced into a situation that must be resolved by wit and problem-solving.
These are the best comedic movies that feature a character or two solving a mystery. Maybe they hold a badge or maybe they don't, but they're all detectives, and they're all featured in very funny and well-received movies. In other words, no The Happytime Murders, Holmes & Watson, or Amsterdam here.
10 Murder by Death (1976)
Written by playwright Neil Simon, Murder by Death is a farcical look at the whodunit. Like many of the best murder mysteries, the film takes place in a big, illustrious mansion where a horrible murder has occurred, and an individual has come into the fray who may very well find the culprit.
In the case of Murder by Death, actually, it's five detectives who've come into the fray, each one a parody of notable literary sleuths. Even decades later the film holds legitimate belly laughs, many of them provided by Alec Guinness (one year shy of Star Wars) as butler Jamesir Bensonmum. But it's Peter Falk who steals the movie as Sam Diamond, as clear take on Humphrey Bogart's character in Casablanca. That said, the less said about the decision to put Peter Sellers in yellowface, the better.
9 Foul Play (1978)
The early days of Chevy Chase's cinematic career were inspiring for the future, particularly Colin Higgins' neo-noir comedic thriller Foul Play. Chase's leading man debut, he plays Lt. Tony Carlson, who is called in to protect librarian Gloria Mundy (Goldie Hawn).
Mundy has gotten herself wrapped up in a plot to assassinate the pope. Before the whole ordeal has wrapped up, an albino assassin has failed his mission and two people have fallen in love, and it's a well-aged blast getting there. What's impressive about Foul Play is the depth of the script. Mundy and Carlson end up being well-drawn characters, not just fodder for a romance-skewing storyline.
It's unfortunate that the majority of Chase's subsequent films couldn't give him the opportunity to both create a real human being and bring the laughs. Clark Griswold and Irwin Fletcher are wonderful characters, but they don't feel as organic as Tony Carlson. As a comedy mystery, however, Fletch is arguably better.
8 Fletch (1985)
Michael Ritchie's Fletch is a well-aged classic, and for Chevy Chase fans (in spite of his noted behind-the-scenes issues) it's about as good as a movie can get. Chase is on point throughout, with his energy suiting the narrative and his wit remaining razor-sharp throughout.
His presence, like Eddie Murphy's in Beverly Hills Cop, naturally resulted in a tailoring of the material to his strengths. But the extra snark Chase infuses into the character from Gregory Mcdonald's series of novels doesn't diminish the impact of the author's well-constructed mysteries, at least in the case of the first novel, which is the one 1985's Fletch directly adapts.
Its 1989 sequel Fletch Lives, however, was an original script, and it probably shouldn't have been. But at least the original Fletch exists, and it makes for a perfect double feature alongside National Lampoon's Animal House, Caddyshack, National Lampoon's Vacation, or Ghostbusters.
7 The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
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The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, more commonly known as simply The Naked Gun, was the apex of Leslie Nielsen's slapstick capability. Airplane!, also from director David Zucker, is the better and funnier film, but Nielsen isn't allowed to let loose the way he is here. In that film, his Dr. Rumack was stern and stoic, not unlike the vast majority of the characters Nielsen had played up until that point in time. But the dialogue he was spouting, and the utter straight face he held while he did it, signaled that a rubberfaced funnyman hid just beneath.
And, while the impact of The Naked Gun trilogy's installments vary, Nielsen is game throughout. And that's not to say any of the three spoofs are outright poor, as the original film and the first sequel are of a comparable quality while even Naked Gun 33+⅓ had its moments and an antagonistic performance from the late, great Fred Ward. But the original is a goofy comedy mystery classic.
6 Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2005)
Shane Black's Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang has found an impressive audience over time, but it's still a fanbase that needs to expand. Like many of the movies Black has either directed or written, it's a Christmas action film not really about Christmas, and the wintry holiday vibe works especially well for it.
The plot follows Robert Downey Jr.'s petty criminal Harry Lockhart who, along with Val Kilmer's private detective "Gay" Perry van Shrike, gets dragged into solving a missing person's case. But the missing person at the center of the case is someone with whom Lockhart may have some familiarity. While the mystery at the center of Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is compelling, it's the razor sharp chemistry between Kilmer and Downey Jr. that makes the movie as memorable as it is.
5 Hot Fuzz (2007)
The second installment of Edgar Wright's "Cornetto Trilogy," Hot Fuzz is a twisty and surprisingly violent comedy that still provides the laughs on a consistent basis. Filmed in a beautiful Somerset Cathedral City called Wells, it's the type of film with a location that involves the audience just as much as the engrossing mystery at the narrative's core.
Simon Pegg portrays ambitious beat cop Nicholas Angel, who is transferred to a small village to toil away the rest of his career. But, when murders start stacking up, Angel teams up with seemingly simple local cop Danny Butterman to uncover a mystery that seems to be plaguing every last one of the town's residents.
4 The Other Guys (2010)
One of Will Ferrell's better comedies from the 2010s, The Other Guys is also the last great collaboration between him and director Adam McKay. But neither Ferrell nor co-star Mark Wahlberg are the best part of the movie. Actually, it's the opening act's cocky duo of Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson.
Never before has a film taken such relish in casting two of the world's most beloved performers in perfectly arrogant, macho man roles, then killing them off in the most embarrassing way possible. Jackson and Johnson's detectives, Danson and Highsmith, feel as bulletproof as the actors' characters often are in their movies, but they're far from invincible, as their leap from the top of a building proved.
Fortunately, once Ferrell and Wahlberg's detectives Gamble and Hoitz take over the narrative, The Other Guys is still both funny (with Michael Keaton in particular stealing his scenes) and a decent mystery to boot.
3 The Nice Guys (2016)
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Quite possibly the best movie Shane Black has written and directed (including Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), The Nice Guys is a smart period piece caper with a compelling core mystery that remains as such even on a re-watch. The film is also a sublime showcase for both Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, standing as a top movie for them both.
The intriguing porn industry plot and amazing visual recreation of late '70s Los Angeles are only incidental when viewed in the same light as Black's dialogue and Gosling and Crowe's chemistry. To watch both actors, neither of whom had embraced much comedy beforehand, stretch their funny bones and both turn out fleshed-out characters and earn hearty laughs is something to behold. Toss in a star-making performance from Angourie Rice and legitimately frightening work from Matt Bomer in the antagonist role, and The Nice Guys is a stone-cold winner.
2 Game Night (2018)
John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein found a lot of success co-writing Horrible Bosses, starring Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Sudeikis. And, as far as critics were concerned, the duo found even more when directing Bateman and Rachel McAdams in 2018's fun (but realistically dark when it needs to be) Game Night.
Bateman is in his element as exhausted everyman Max, whose brother's seeming perfection sends him up the wall and lowers his sperm count. Then, when his brother sets up a kidnapping-fueled murder mystery that goes awry, Max and his wife Annie (Rachel McAdams, having a great time) have to put together the pieces to get him home safe.
1 Knives Out (2019)
Rian Johnson's Knives Out hit theaters with sterling reviews and increasingly impressive box office returns. Audiences recognized something fresh and fun and turned out in droves, kicking off a Knives Out franchise that will hopefully continue for the foreseeable future.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery has humorous charm in its own right, and features Daniel Craig even more comfortable and loose in his role of Benoit Blanc. But the unforgettable dysfunction of the first film's Thrombey family gives it the slight edge in the funny department.