20 best female ensemble comedies of all time

As the name suggests, this 2002 French dark comedy (originally titled “8 Femmes”) centers on eight different women who are all played by high-profile French actresses, including Danielle Darrieux, Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Béart, Fanny Ardant, Virginie Ledoyen, Ludivine Sagnier, and Firmine Richard. Based on the 1958 play of the same name by Robert Thomas, “8 Women” blends comedy and melodrama into a fun murder mystery that was nominated for 12 César Awards and six European Film Awards, and also competed for the Golden Bear at the 52nd Berlin International Film Festival.

You might not be familiar with the 1980 movie “9 to 5,” but it actually ranks as one of the highest-grossing comedies of all time and stars the legendary actresses Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton, and Lily Tomlin. With plenty of laughs along the way, the trio plots revenge against their boss, a slimy and manipulative sexist played by Dabney Coleman. “9 to 5” holds an 84-percent freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has been recognized on numerous “best of” lists by the American Film Institute.

Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna, and Rosie O’Donnell headlined this 1992 film about the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which existed from 1943 to 1954. Interestingly, the all-star cast was required to actually learn and hone their baseball skills for most of the film’s scenes, and all of the 2,000 applicant actresses had to pass an on-field test before before they could meet director Penny Marshall and continue their audition. Jimmy Dugan’s (Tom Hanks) famous line “There’s no crying in baseball!” was ranked No. 54 on AFI’s 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes list in 2005, and “A League of Their Own” made the National Film Registry in 2012.

Produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay and billed as a female version of “The Hangover,” 2012’s “Bachelorette” contains plenty of laughs, despite its mixed critical reception. The snappy script was enough to earn it a 56-percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and it was aided by hilarious performances from the main cast of Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, and Rebel Wilson. If you haven’t seen it yet but enjoy crude comedy, be sure to give “Bachelorette” a shot.

Anyone who dismisses Paul Feig’s “Bridesmaids” as another chick flick either hasn’t watched it, or was tragically born without a funny bone. Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Ellie Kemper formed the perfect team, and that’s to say nothing of Rebel Wilson’s breakout performance in a supporting role and actors Chris O’Dowd and Jon Hamm. In addition to earning a solid 90-percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and $288 million at the worldwide box office, “Bridesmaids” also received two Oscar nominations (Best Original Screenplay for Kristen Wiig & Annie Mumolo, as well as Best Supporting Actress for Melissa McCarthy), two Golden Globe nods, and all six main cast members won an MTV Movie Award for Best Gut-Wrenching Performance.

Although the 2003 sequel “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” unfortunately amassed seven Razzie nominations, the first film actually fared pretty well. Thanks to the film’s stars (Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu), the old ‘70s crime drama of the same name was successfully converted into a comedic movie that netted $264 million worldwide. Although this slideshow is about female ensembles, it’s worth mentioning that “Charlie’s Angels” also had a strong cast of males that included John Forsythe, Bill Murray, Sam Rockwell, Tim Curry, Matt LeBlanc, Luke Wilson, and Crispin Glover, as well as cameos by Tom Green, LL Cool J, and Alex Trebek.

To fund their films, sisters and screenwriters Jill and Karen Sprecher worked as temporary employees at various jobs, which is probably why “Clockwatchers,” a comedy-drama about four female temps, was so successful. Combining the direction of Jill herself and the acting of stars Toni Collette, Lisa Kudrow, Parker Posey, and Alanna Ubach, “Clockwatchers” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to screen at more than a dozen international festivals, winning the Best Film prize at the Torino International Festival of Young Cinema of 1997.

In addition to eventually becoming a cult classic comedy, 1995’s “Clueless” can also be credited for launching the careers of its stars, Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, and Brittany Murphy. It can unfortunately also be credited with a rise in materialism and the number of “valley girls,” but that’s balanced out by its life lessons about art (Monet’s works are “okay” from far away, “but up close it's a big old mess”) and what not to do during your driver’s test. The film was so popular that it later inspired a TV show and a series of books.

If you’re looking for the most underappreciated and least-viewed candidate in this slideshow, it has to be 2012’s “Damsels in Distress.” Despite receiving positive reviews from a number of prominent critics that praised the writing and direction of Whit Stillman and the performances of Greta Gerwig, Analeigh Tipton, Carrie MacLemore, and Megalyn Echikunwoke, “Damsels in Distress” only earned $1 million at the box office against a budget of $3 million. But don’t let that fool you, this tale of “four girls in a dorm who are trying to keep things civil in an uncivil world” (in the words of producer Martin Shafer) is a must-watch for all lovers of comedy.

Five years after “Bridesmaids,” Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, and director Paul Feig reunited for an all-female reboot of the sci-fi classic “Ghostbusters” that also included “Saturday Night Live” cast members Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. Although the film certainly had its doubters before it was released, “Ghostbusters” ended up earning $229 million to go with generally favorable reviews, a 73-percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and plenty of belly laughs thanks to strong performances by the cast (as well as cameos by many actors from the original films) and a witty script from Feig and Katie Dippold.

When we were younger, it seemed like the kids in 1993’s “Hocus Pocus” were the main characters and the witch villains were just the supporting characters. However, we have since learned that the real stars are obviously the Sanderson sisters - Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy - all of whom share equal billing in this Halloween comedy. Don’t pay attention to the boring critics who gave the film bad reviews (and a 30-percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes), this film is a certified cult classic that needs to be rewatched at least once every year.

Although not all of them were well known at the time, Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Lizzy Caplan, and Ana Gasteyer made up the stellar cast of the 2004 comedy “Mean Girls.” Thirteen years later, the film is still endlessly quoted by girls and guys alike, much of which is thanks to Tina Fey’s insanely funny script - which actually marked her screenwriting debut. The true indication of the success of “Mean Girls,” however, is the fact that adults found it just as funny as teenagers, which is a delightful rarity nowadays.

Anna Kendrick, Anna Camp, Brittany Snow, and Rebel Wilson are just a few of the female leads in 2012’s “Pitch Perfect,” a film about an all-girls a cappella group attempting to win a national championship. The movie performed surprisingly well at the box office, earning $115 million worldwide and becoming the second-most successful musical comedy ever, behind “School of Rock.” A less acclaimed sequel, “Pitch Perfect 2,” was released in 2015, and a third installment is slated to hit theaters on Dec. 22, 2017. Actress Elizabeth Banks served as a producer on all three films, and directed the second one!

The 2008 “Sex and the City” movie may not have been as good as the TV show, but that hardly bothered fans, who spent a total of $415 million at the box office to see more of Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Samantha (Kim Cattrall), and Charlotte (Kristin Davis). After all, the HBO series ended a full four years before the film, so it’s not surprising that even the 2010 sequel earned nearly $300 million despite being critically panned and garnering just a 15-percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

As far as cinematic quality goes, 1997’s “Spice World” is a terrible, terrible movie with a title that sounds more like a shop in which you buy herbs and seasonings. But hey, we’re not James Lipton, and this isn’t “Inside the Actor’s Studio.” If you want Oscar-worthy performances, screenwriting, and production, watch “The Godfather,” “Citizen Kane,” or “Pulp Fiction.” If you want to see Baby, Scary, Sporty, Ginger, and Posh run around and be goofy for 93 minute while their music plays in the background, then do we have the movie for you. In fact, the founder of the Golden Raspberry Awards dubbed the film one of “The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made.”

“Steel Magnolias” isn’t a silly, raunchy, or slapstick comedy like many of the other films in this list. Instead, the 1989 Herbert Ross movie uses humor to help balance out the dramatic elements and moments of heartfelt sincerity. It was reviewed favorably by most critics, and included respectable performances by its all-star cast of Olympia Dukakis, Sally Field, Daryl Hannah, Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton, and Julia Roberts.

All you really need to know about “The First Wives Club” is that it stars Goldie Hawn, Diane Lane, and Bette Midler. If you like these ladies, you’ll love this 1996 comedy based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Olivia Goldsmith. If you don’t, then you’ll find no humor in the trio scheming behind their ex-husbands’ backs, getting into all sorts of shenanigans, and performing at least one choreographed musical number. And we feel sorry for you.

Like a group of best friends and a pair of perfectly fitting pants, a quality teen-centric comedy-drama is hard to find. When you do discover any of these things, hold onto them for dear life. That’s one of the main messages of 2005’s “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” and one of the major reasons it earned positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, and received a whopping nine nominations at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards. That, and the performances of its young stars Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, America Ferrera, and Blake Lively, of course.

The comedy-drama “The Women” holds two interesting distinctions. First, it’s easily the oldest film in this list, having been released all the way back in 1939. And second, not a single man appears in the film - even though it was directed by a dude, George Cukor. Instead, the film relies entirely on the performances of Mary Boland, Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, Paulette Goddard, Virginia Grey, Florence Nash, Rosalind Russell, Norma Shearer, and Lucile Watson, among others. Of course, with actresses of that caliber, who needs men? “The Women” was deemed one of the best films of the year, and it was remade in 2008 with Annette Bening, Candice Bergen, Carrie Fisher, Cloris Leachman, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Bette Midler, Meg Ryan, and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Not every director finds success with their first film. In fact, most don’t. But somehow veteran actress Drew Barrymore knocked it out of the park with her 2009 roller derby film “Whip It,” which owns an 85-percent freshness rating. In addition to Barrymore herself, the sports comedy’s ensemble cast includes Ellen Page, Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis, Eve, Alia Shawkat, Marcia Gay Harden, Zoë Bell, and Ari Graynor. “Whip It” was also the feature film screenwriting debut of Shauna Cross.