The 20 best comedy films of 2023

Maybe “Cocaine Bear” didn’t deliver anything beyond, you know, a bear on cocaine. It’s shaggy even for a black comedy, and nastier and gorier than many imagined. On the other hand, it’s a dark comedy about a bear on cocaine killing people. You got what you were promised if you were looking for a self-styled cult movie.

Fantasy-tinged comedies have proven difficult to render successful. The less said about “Your Highness,” the better. “Dungeons & Dragons” did better than most, as it is a perfectly pleasant movie to watch at home. Chris Pine and Hugh Grant in particular shine.

Anything that helps wash away the memory of Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as Mario and Luigi is appreciated. Making a frothy animated film was the way to go with the world of Mario and crew. While “Barbie” ended up reshaping the landscape of 2023 films, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ended up second in terms of box office returns.

Nicolas Cage plays Count Dracula. That is a selling point to many. “Renfield,” which focuses on Drac’s lackey (played by Nicholas Hoult), is another comedy that maybe didn’t live up to all it could have been, but delivered some version of what was wanted, including Cage doing his thing. Did we mention comedy movies are not in the best shape?

They do, on occasion, make quiet, well-observed indie comedies. Fortunately, in 2023 we got the reunion of director Nicole Holofcener and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who starred in her excellent film “Enough Said.” This time around, relationship strife takes center stage as JLD’s Beth, a successful writer and writing teacher, overhears her husband criticizing her work.

You are on Wes Anderson’s wavelength, or you aren’t. The dude gave up on big-tent filmmaking long ago. “Asteroid City” is as distinctly Wes Anderson as anything he’s done, right down to the unexpected conceit of the story. It’s not his best work, but it is, as usual, a delight to be in his movie worlds.

Hey, a Juneteenth horror comedy. Co-written and co-starring Dewayne Perkins, the tagline “We can’t all die first” speaks to the meta nature of “The Blackening.” While Tim Story is, at best, a journeyman director, the material crackled enough for the low-budget twist on horror tropes to find some commercial success, plus critical acclaim.

Look, we’ll be honest. We mostly still just like the title “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken.” However, we were promised a teenage kraken, and we got one. It’s also got a distinct animation style to it, which was nice, and the voice cast was strong.

The phenomenon of phenomenons. What is left to say about “Barbie?” Well, here, we’ll just say it is really funny. The secondary and tertiary characters that populate the film are often delightful. Also, for all hot takes and discourse over “Barbie,” it is a relief to remember that the movie ends with a great, punchy joke.

Pretty swiftly, people went from “We’re rebooting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles again?” to “Hey, this is a really good movie!” They packed the script with recognizable characters (finally, some Bebop and Rocksteady in our lives) which tracks given that five different people are credited on the script, though that includes two writing teams. Ultimately, it didn’t feel like a rehash, and finally a 'TMNT' movie has managed to pop at the theaters. No Vanilla Ice required.

We acknowledge it strains the credulity of the “comedy” tag to apply it to “The Killer,” but it’s one of the best movies of the year, and it has a nice sprinkling of pitch-black comedy to it. David Fincher’s glib, nihilistic observational humor feels a little obvious at times, but other times it packs a punch. Once you realize Michael Fassbender’s hitman is kind of a doofus, it really changes the way the film lands with you.

If you saw the trailer for Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers,” you know the tone he was going for. It’s set in 1970 and takes place at a New England boarding school. Paul Giamatti plays a curmudgeonly teacher who has to stay on campus with the kids who aren’t going home for the Christmas break. They don’t really make films of this ilk any longer, so it scratches a certain itch.

If nothing else, “Quiz Lady” gives us the final role of Paul Reubens, who died before it was released. Although, it also gives us an unexpected comedic pairing in Awkwafina and Sandra Oh. The two play sisters in this madcap comedy, and Oh actually gets to play the wacky one, which is fun to see.

After co-writing “Freaky,” screenwriter Michael Kennedy gives us another horror comedy that works within movie tropes. Plus, it’s a Christmas horror flick, something we need one of every year or two. “It’s a Wonderful Knife” takes the “What if you were never born” premise of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” but darkly twists that on its head. The woman wishing she was never born was responsible for thwarting a serial killer, who roams free in a world without her.

Yeah, it’s just nostalgia. Years later, we got a “Good Burger” sequel. This one was for the ‘90s kids. Keenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell reunited for the movie. There’s a bunch of random cameos. Maybe “Good Burger 2” isn’t “good” in the traditional sense, but it is satisfying in its way.

Over two decades later, “Chicken Run” got a sequel. Aardman animation is distinct in both look and tone, which was part of the appeal of the first film for many. Also, don’t worry. There’s no Mel Gibson in this project.

Like Wes Anderson, you are either on Yorgos Lanthimos’ wavelength or not. He, like Ari Aster, has a tendency to deliver movies with a declaration of, “I think this is really funny,” to which some respond, “You do!?” Lanthimos makes dark, distinct films, but unlike Anderson, the Oscar voters actually do seem to admire his work, and they aren’t the only ones.

In terms of raunchy comedies in 2023, the pickings were slim, but “Strays” seemed to get the lion’s share of the love. Now, it’s a live-action movie about dogs. Dogs with famous actors voicing them, to be fair. If “raunchy comedy about dogs” isn’t your vibe, that’s totally understandable. People dug this one, though, and raunchy comedies need their recognition.

Sometimes, Netflix goes all in on their movies. You can’t avoid them. They autoplay them for you so that they can make claims that, like, a trillion people have watched it. On the other hand, “They Cloned Tyrone” kind of flew under the radar. Like many films before it, "They Cloned Tyrone" uses science fiction as a vehicle for social satire, but it does not let the points it has to make get in the way of being funny, with Jamie Foxx also reminding us that, oh yeah, he was a major movie star at his peak.

James Gunn bid adieu to his personal fiefdom within the MCU. This is presumably the last “Guardians of the Galaxy” film, because it is certainly the last one for Gunn, now a bigwig at Warner Bros. It’s dark, to be fair, but the “Guardians” movies have long been up there with the Ant-Man films in terms of focusing on the humor. This one is no different, and it is a fitting farewell to the crew (even if it isn’t as funny as the holiday special from the other year).