While Netflix‘s best comedy movies in May aren’t recent hits, it’s hard to argue with an overdose of Jim Carrey, who stars in two of this month’s new additions: Liar Liar and Dumb and Dumber To. Carrey was near his comedic peak in the former film, while the latter still has enough laughs to keep you satisfied. But if you’re looking for some truly old-school comedies, Beverly Hills Cop and Top Secret! are both on Netflix as well.
At the moment, our roundup of the best comedies on Netflix is very skewed toward older films, as well as a handful of Netflix originals. But there are always new and classic comedies joining Netflix every month. And that’s one of the best parts of the service.
We’ve also curated guides to the best comedies on Hulu, the best romantic comedies on Netflix, and the best rom-coms on Hulu if you’re looking for additional recommendations.
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Dumb and Dumber To2014 -
Beverly Hills Cop1984
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Top Secret!1984
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Liar Liar1997
Dumb and Dumber To (2014)
36%
5.6/10There are idiots and there are complete idiots, but no idiots have ever been more complete than Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) are when they’re together. Plus, it’s hard not to admire the misspelled title of Dumb and Dumber To for its commitment to the bit. It’s also debatable about which of these numbskulls is actually stupider than the other one.
Twenty years after the first film, Lloyd learns that Harry needs a kidney transplant, and he may be able to get one from Penny Pinchelow (Rachel Melvin), a young woman who may be Harry’s daughter. Lloyd accompanies Harry on the trip to find Penny for purely selfish reasons, but even he couldn’t have expected them to stumble upon another murder plot. The target is Penny’s adoptive father, Dr. Bernard Pinchelow (Steve Tom), and if Lloyd and Harry aren’t careful, they’ll wind up dead too.
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
66%
7.4/10Beverly Hills Cop holds up after four decades because it’s one of the rare films that’s both a great comedy and a great action movie. Eddie Murphy stars as Detective Axel Foley, a streetwise cop in Detroit who has a serious grudge against the men who killed his friend, Mikey Tandino (James Russo). When Mikey’s killers flee to Beverly Hills, Axel doesn’t let a little thing like jurisdiction keep him from pursuing them.
Axel’s antics in Beverly Hills are hilarious when he thwarts the local cops on his tail, Detective William “Billy” Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and Sergeant John Taggart (John Ashton). But the stakes in this story are real, and Axel’s going to need Billy and John on his side if he wants to get out of Beverly Hills alive.
Top Secret! (1984)
68%
7.2/10Top Secret! may not be as famous as The Naked Gun movies, but the same creative team – Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker – worked on this film first. In this spy parody, Top Gun: Maverick star Val Kilmer plays Nick Rivers, an American rock star in East Germany who meets a resistance operative, Hilary Flammond (Lucy Gutteridge), and helps her escape from the authorities.
Nick’s actions cause the authorities to believe that he is also working for the resistance, which thrusts him into a plot to reunite both halves of Germany and take down NATO at the same time. The plot description can’t accurately capture the comedic tone of the film, but trust us, it’s very silly.
Liar Liar (1997)
70%
6.9/10Liar Liar is one of Jim Carrey’s high-concept comedies from the 1990s that let him beat himself up, literally, with his physical comedy. Carrey plays Fletcher Reede, an exceptional lawyer and a pretty terrible ex-husband to Audrey Reede (The Iron Claw‘s Maura Tierney), who keeps letting down their son, Max (Justin Cooper). After Fletcher skips Max’s birthday, his son makes a wish that his father could only tell the truth for 24 hours.
By the time Fletcher realizes that he’s been zapped by his son’s wish, he’s already knee-deep in one of the most important divorce cases of his career. Fletcher’s entire bag of tricks as a lawyer is his ability to bend the truth, and now, he has to win by being completely honest.
Beverly Hills Ninja (1997)
27%
5.6/10Beverly Hills Ninja was one of the last films made by Saturday Night Live legend Chris Farley, who once again elevated his brand of slapstick comedy in this flick. Farley plays Haru, the adoptive son of a ninja clan who fails to live up to predictions that he would become a great warrior.
Regardless, Haru does the best that he can when a woman named Sally Jones (Nicollette Sheridan) comes to the clan seeking help in stopping the illegal activities of Martin Tanley (Nathaniel Parker). Without asking permission, Haru travels to Beverly Hills to assist Sally, where he quickly befriends a local bellhop, Joey Washington (Chris Rock). Yet, Haru is in way over his head, even with his adoptive brother, Gobei (Robin Shou), attempting to watch his back in secret.
Blue Streak (1999)
46%
6.3/10After establishing himself on the big screen in Bad Boys with Will Smith, Martin Lawrence went solo in the action comedy Blue Streak. Lawrence plays Miles Logan, a jewel thief who is betrayed during a heist by Deacon (Peter Greene). But before Miles is arrested, he manages to hide a valuable diamond in a police station that is under construction.
Two years later, Miles gets out of prison and assumes the identity of Detective Malone so he can retrieve the diamond. However, Miles is so good at catching criminals that he impresses his colleague, Detective Carlson (Luke Wilson), and he even gets promoted. Unfortunately, Miles’ cover story won’t hold up to scrutiny forever, and he’s running out of time to get that diamond back.
Repo Man (1984)
82%
6.9/10For a film that’s celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2024, Repo Man doesn’t get the attention that it deserves. Emilio Estevez stars as Otto Maddox, a punk who reluctantly accepts a gig as a repo man from Bud (Harry Dean Stanton) when all of his other options in life dry up.
As Otto settles into his new routine, a bounty goes out for a 1964 Chevrolet Malibu, which is hot … and we mean literally hot! There’s more to this Malibu than meets the eye, as government agents, scientists, and even a televangelist are after it. But it’s just another day at work for Otto.
Animal House (1978)
79%
7.4/10The late John Belushi’s comedic brilliance was on full display in Animal House. Belushi’s character, John “Bluto” Blutarsky, was chaos personified, and he was completely over-the-top. Yet some of the funniest moments in the movie came from Belushi’s facial expressions, which perfectly conveyed what was on Bluto’s mind. Belushi’s simple raise of an eyebrow is still hilarious 46 years later.
Animal House takes place in the early ‘60s, as Bluto, Eric “Otter” Stratton (Tim Matheson), Larry “Pinto” Kroger (Tom Hulce), and the rest of the misfits in Delta House are close to being kicked out of Faber College. Instead of trying to save themselves at all costs, Delta House doubles down on pranks and even wilder antics. And the result is one of the funniest movies that came out of the ‘70s.
The Interview (2014)
52%
6.5/10Seth Rogen co-directed and co-stars in The Interview as Aaron Rapaport, the producer of a successful talk show hosted by his friend, Dave Skylark (James Franco). To legitimize their show as a news program, the duo hatches a plan to interview North Korean President Kim Jong Un (Blue Eye Samurai‘s Randall Park), who is apparently a big fan of Dave’s work.
Before they get to North Korea, CIA Agent Lacey (Lizzy Caplan) enlists Dave and Aaron in a plot to assassinate Kim to prevent any more nuclear escalations from his country. Once they get there, Dave and Aaron start to rethink going through with the assassination, especially when Kim is eager to befriend Dave. Aaron and Dave also discover that getting out of North Korea is going to be a lot harder than they planned.
No Hard Feelings (2023)
59%
6.4/10What kind of woman answers a Craigslist ad promising money from wealthy parents in return for dating their awkward son? Why, that would be Jennifer Lawrence’s character in No Hard Feelings. Lawrence plays Maddie Barker, a woman in her early 30s who is on the verge of losing everything she has, including her home and her car.
Unfortunately for Maddie, dating 19-year-old Percy Becker (newcomer Andrew Barth Feldman) may be next to impossible. He seems impervious to her charms and even afraid of intimacy. For Maddie, it’s just a job, but she also hasn’t thought about what will happen if Percy ever learns the reason she pursued him.
Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
63%
6.4/10It’s a rare movie that has a title that gets right to the point of its high concept. There is indeed a Hot Tub Time Machine in this film, but this is more of a comedy than a sci-fi story. In the aftermath of a suicide attempt by Lou Dorchen (Rob Corddry), his friends Adam Yates (John Cusack) and Nick Webber-Agnew (Craig Robinson), decide to take him to the Colorado resort where they vacationed decades earlier. Adam’s nephew, Jacob Yates (Clark Duke), also accompanies them.
Once the group accidentally turns a hot tub into a time machine, everyone except Jacob finds themselves back in their 1986 bodies. And while the guys realize that history has to be maintained, the temptation to fix their past mistakes may prove to be too difficult to resist.
Fatherhood (2021)
53%
6.6/10The Polka King (2017)
65%
5.9/10Between Two Ferns: The Movie (2019)
59%
6.1/10Metal Lords (2022)
Vampires vs. the Bronx (2020)
76%
5.7/10A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
91%
8.2/10Dolemite Is My Name (2019)
76%
7.2/10Life of Brian (1979)
77%
8/10Related Topics: Netflix | Hulu | Amazon Prime | More Streaming Services
Can’t find what you want on Netflix? Fortunately, we’ve also rounded up the best comedies on Amazon Prime Video and the best comedies on Hulu.
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