Britain is a rather dull and rainy country, so we had to get good at comedy or we’d be miserable forever. Now, we’ve got a back catalogue of absolute classics—many of which are even well-known in the United States!
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When choosing the best British comedies ever created, it was hard getting it down to just 10, believe me. All of these movies have made me happy during drizzly days, and perhaps they’ll do the same for you as well.
10. Johnny English
Johnny English is a very silly, very funny James Bond-style spoof with Rowan Atkinson (you know him as Mr. Bean or The Lion King’s Zazu) as an inept spy going up against John Malkovich’s evil prison-building businessman. It got awful reviews when it came out, but if you ask me—admittedly, I might be a bit biased, I watched this movie so many times as a kid—it’s aged like a fine wine. Despite the critical drubbing, it actually spawned two sequels, and they’re funny too. I said what I said.
9. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Don’t know who Wallace and Gromit are? Oh, they’re only ICONS OF BRITISH CINEMA. Wallace is a fussy cheese-loving inventor, Gromit is his mouthless but still very expressive pet dog, and both of them are made of Plasticine and animated by the stop-motion superstars at Aardman. The Curse of the Were-Rabbit was their first big-screen outing (after several very highly-acclaimed short films) and it’s absolutely hilarious. Gromit alone is a masterclass in how to do silent comedy.
8. The Ladykillers
Before Alec Guinness was Obi-Wan Kenobi, he was Professor Marcus in The Ladykillers. Do he and his gang of criminals succeed in killing said lady, who is actually a dotty old dear with a love of snooping and parrots? Well, you’ll have to watch it to find out. The Ladykillers is not only considered one of the best British comedies, but one of the best British films ever made, and it’s a well-deserved accolade. The Coen brothers released an American remake in 2004 starring Tom Hanks, but the less said about that the better, as is the case with a great many remakes.
7. Love Actually
I know, I know—Love Actually is one of those love-it-or-hate-it films, actually. But I love it, I’m sorry. Yes, some of the multiple storylines are a little underwritten and it has one of the most frustrating love triangles of all time smack-bang in the middle of it, but it’s so damn funny. And that’s in large part due to Hugh Grant’s performance as the Prime Minister (if only we’d had a real PM like this fictional one), and the rest of it is all Bill Nighy. His performance as washed-up rocker Billy Mack cements him as one of the funniest damn actors around. Remember, everyone: don’t buy drugs! Become a pop star and they give you them for free!
6. Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead is the rom-zom-com that made Simon Pegg into a superstar. The fantastic cast (oh look, there’s Bill Nighy again!) and incredibly sharp script elevated Edgar Wright’s film into so much more than just another zombie comedy. It’s funny as hell of course, but it has moments of genuine sadness that hit you like a baseball bat to the head. No other rom-zom-com has quite reached its heights.
5. The Full Monty
The premise of The Full Monty is simple: a group of men, all out of work, decide to make money by becoming strippers. Except they’re not very good at it … at least not at first. This is a very funny film, have no doubt, but it also has a lot of very justified anger bubbling under its surface. There’s a sequel series due to land on Disney+ later this year, but whether it will be as good as the original remains to be seen. Here’s hoping!
4. Bend It Like Beckham
Director Gurinder Chadha had difficulty getting this film made, because people told her, “You will never be able to find an Indian girl who can bend it like Beckham.” They were extremely wrong, of course. Chadha pushed hard to get Bend It Like Beckham off the ground, and invoking the name of Harrison Ford was what finally did it. The result is a fabulously funny movie about a young girl desperate to be a football (that’s soccer to you Americans) player despite her family’s wishes. It brought Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers to international attention, and we’re all the better for it.
3. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the movie that gave the world memes before memes as we know them were even invented. If you were active in any online forums in the late ’90s-early ’00s, chances are you knew at least one person who had a Holy Grail quote in their signature. But some things are popular for a reason! The Knights Who Say Ni, the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog, and the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch are still very, very funny.
2. Hot Fuzz
When this second Pegg-Frost-Wright comedy made its debut, everyone was wondering if it could really live up to the very high standard set by Shaun of the Dead. Good news, it could! And in fact, if you ask me, Hot Fuzz is better. There is literally not a minute of this movie where I’m not howling with laughter. I still can’t ever hear anyone say “the greater good” without feeling the need to either repeat it in a dramatic voice or yell, “SHUT IT!”
1. Paddington 2
Is it cheating to put a family movie at number one on this list? No, no it’s not, because Paddington 2 is hilarious. A little bear running around accidentally causing chaos, with a dash of satire on the side—what more could you ask for? Paddington 2 is one of the greatest comfort movies and absolutely one of the best British movies of all time. The planned sequel has a lot to live up to.
(featured image: Universal Pictures / StudioCanal / 20th Century Studios / DreamWorks)
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