Comedy is a delicate blend of wit, timing and observation that needs to be perfectly balanced in order to create the desired effect. Comedic actors are amongst some of the most talented artists in the industry as making millions of people laugh is no easy feat.
Legends such as Charlie Chaplin and Mel Brooks make comedy acting look easy, but other artists can occasionally get it spectacularly wrong. This article looks at the top ten movies that are guilty of terrible crimes against comedy.
1. Disaster Movie
The film does offer something in the way of a plot as we follow the main character as he stumbles between various apocalyptic scenarios including an ice age, meteor shower and a rabid gang of chipmunks.
The movie careers from one poorly executed gag to the other and makes for extremely uncomfortable viewing. If that wasn’t bad enough, Disaster Movie is also responsible for giving Kim Kardashian her acting debut, but it earns points for killing her off with a meteor.
2. White Chicks
Brothers Sean and Marlon Wayans play two FBI agents that are forced to go undercover as the Wilson sisters.
The movie required the two 6-feet tall, muscular actors to undergo hours of prosthetics and makeup to be transformed into white women.
The movie manages to draw on pretty much every stereotype in existence as the brothers try unsuccessfully to portray a pair of spoiled sisters. If you ever wondered what Marilyn Manson would look like on steroids, then White Chicks is for you.
3. Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd
Despite not having the greatest storyline, the movie was a success thanks to the incredible performances from Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as two innocent imbeciles heading to Aspen to return a briefcase.
In an attempt to milk the success of the first movie, Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd was created to the delight of no one.
The sequel was a complete failure due to the production company hiring a different director and casting two unknown actors in the title roles. A third movie is in the making that brings together the original actors and director.
4. Jack and Jill
The film lacks any kind of plot, humour, acting ability and is guaranteed to be the worst 91 minutes of your life.
Jack and Jill smashed all previous records by winning in every single category at the Golden Raspberry awards. Incredibly, the film turned out to be a commercial success and grossed almost $150 million worldwide proving that Adam Sandler’s fans are perhaps the most forgiving on Earth.
5. Gigli
The movie stars Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck who were romantically involved at the time. Billed as a comedy-crime caper, it failed to elicit much laughter from fans and was described as ‘a mess’ by film critics.
Bizarrely, Ben and Jennifer managed to create no on-screen chemistry whatsoever and the couple were subsequently blamed for the film’s failure. The relationship widely known as ‘Bennifer’ came to an end a year later after a particular wild night involving Christian Slater and a gang of strippers.
6. Little Nicky
Adam Sandler spoke with a raspy, grating voice throughout the film which made it unwatchable for many people.
Despite an all-star cast consisting of Harvey Keitel, Rhys Ifans, Patricia Arquette and Reese Witherspoon, the movie bombed at the box office. Even a cameo appearance from Ozzy Osbourne was not enough to save this awful film.
7. Norbit
The final nail in the coffin came with the release of Norbit, a film about an obese lady played by Eddie that abuses her meek husband that is also played by Eddie.
Despite being a commercial success, the movie was universally hated by fans and the movie industry. It received eight Golden Raspberry nominations and a received a rating of 9% on review website Rotten Tomatoes.
8. Son of The Mask
Despite being offered a cheque for $10 million, Jim refused to return for a sequel having already learned his lesson from Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.
Eleven years later, The Son of the Mask was born and quickly established itself as one of the worst movies of all time. Jamie Kennedy was the unfortunate actor who landed the starring role and suffered from such harsh criticism it led him to complain to one interviewer “I’m just being killed, absolutely killed.”
9. Chairman of the Board
Carrot top assumed the leading role as a down-and-out surfer who befriends an aging billionaire and inherits his fortune.
The actor is a well-known TV personality but his notoriety lies more in his striking appearance than his comedic ability. The disaster cost an estimated $10 million to make and gained back only $181,233.
10. Fool’s Gold
Many reviewers even poked fun at the amount of time actor Matthew McConaughey spent flaunting his body with one critic asking “Does McConaughey have some codicil in his contract stipulating he must spend at least 51% of a movie shirtless?”
The movie leads Matthew and co-star Kate Hudson on a quest to locate a buried treasure. The film is plagued by cheesy one-liners, awkward scenes and unconvincing villains. Despite being panned, the adventure movie was a relative success at the box office.
39 Comments
Little Nicky was bad, but watchable, Water Boy was much,much worse. I also think Jim Carey’s “Cable Guy” should have made the list.
i love little nicky
Little Nicky? Really? Probably my favorite Adam Sandler movie. Great movies have the “what happens after the movie” quotes at the end. IE Fast Times at Ridgmont High. And as for Ozzy, That part was epic!
White Chicks had an amazing performance by Terry Crews. that alone is worth watching the movie
Yeah! Terry Crews is awesome in that movie. White Chicks and Little Nicky does not even belong on this list.
It’s hard to imagine just how evil a parent must be to get his/her kid involved in show biz.
what’s wrong with ace ventura: when nature calls when you say “he learned his lesson”? it did pretty well and was funny. what did he say about it? i only found he doesn’t like doing the same material.
“The original Dumb and Dumber movie was an example of pure comedy genius.” This is when the article lost all credibility.
watch dumb and dumberer and you too will think the first was pure comedy genius.
Hollywood doesn’t make movies anymore. They sit at computers and see how many ridiculous things they can make fly. As an art capital, it’s dead.
Fool’s Gold was good. It was paced funny but I thought worked.
What about Freddy Got Fingered?!? That was a waste of my sight and hearing. The movie made absolutely no sense.
Disaster Movie – yeah – pretty bad – but at least it had SOME funny moments (the discussion with Beowulf was pretty funny). So, at least it made me laugh once or twice. White Chicks, on the other hand…..
I’m sorry, but WHITE CHICKS and DUMB AND DUMBERER do not go with this list. WHITE CHICKS is a hilarious laugh-out-loud movie. And I feel that DUMB AND DUMBERER has always gotten a bad rap “just because Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels were not in it” kind-of-a-thing. It, actually, does a great job at explaining certain items leading to the original DUMB AND DUMBER when Harry and Lloyd are all grown up. Those actors did a great job as the younger duo.
What the …
Did you really say “laugh-out-loud movie?”
Unintentionally hilarious!
“White Chicks” was hilarious in my opinion.
I’m sorry to say my Grandson loved Son Of The Mask. We watched it 100’s of times. It made him happy and laugh. So as a Grandma that was all I needed.
Little Nicky should not be on this list. Ive watched that movie like a hundred times and I never get sick of it. The other movies on this list do deserve to be on, but Little Nicky is amazing. If people think his voice is annoying then they need to open their minds and get a sense of humour. Little Nicky is the BEST Adam Sandler movie ever. Pop Eyes chicken is F****** awesome.
Not even close. The Waterboy is his best movie
White chicks, huh? Let’s make a movie called “Black Chicks” in which a couple of regular white guys add 60 pounds, mostly to their asses, and have to wear prosthetic lips and noses only to go on to afflict us with a steady string of well known and accepted “black” stereotypes and affectations and then lets see how funny we all think it is. I’m so sick of two-bit black “entertainers” having full license to insult white people but when the roles are reversed those same people are crying “hate crime” as if no one in the universe would be so cruel.
This was a stupid idea from the very beginning by a couple of brothers that would profess to hate racism yet do next to nothing to blur the lines between the races. That says to me that they hate being the TARGET of racism but have no issue with making someone ELSE the target. I’m shocked that anyone would green-light a movie like this. The fact that they did so to a horrible script speaks volumes.
You must be a troll. That was a really lame argument. I’d LOVE to see A FILM called BLACK CHICKS…but I love tastelessness and vulgarity and I LOVED WHITE CHICKS too. If you hate Obama so much, why not go after statistics and facts instead of aiming your rage at a stupid film that I’m planning on buying next week.
Where did he mention Obama?
Thank you.
Because someone disagrees with your premise, does not mean they are a troll..as you suggest. In fact, name calling always suggest that the one calling others such…is the one with the weakest argument. Always consider the strength of your words and you’ll never have a need to call others anything!
Awesome reply!
Exactly at what point did Noj say ANYTHING about Obama? How on earth did any part of his comment become political. While I laughed like crazy during the movie “White Chicks” and don’t think that the Wayans brothers really insulted anyone who isn’t looking to have their feelings hurt by clouds in the sky, I do understand his point that there is a pass granted to black entertainers to make fun of whites that will never be granted in the opposite situation.
“I do understand his point that there is a pass granted to black entertainers to make fun of whites that will never be granted in the opposite situation.”
——————————————–
Which is called “racism”
he didn’t say anything about Obama….
You must see Obama haters jump out of your closet at night. I never mentioned him.
Robert Downey Jr. played a black guy in the movie Tropic Thunder. He played a dude playin a dude disguised as another dude.
this on the other hand was comic genius.
It would never happen because if a white person does it, it would considered racist. Movies making fun of blacks can only be done by blacks and its ok, just like using the N word. Why do you think Jeff Dunham had to stop using his “pimp” ventriloquist dummy on tour…..
C Thomas Howell did a little movie called “Soulman” in the 1980’s…. You remember that or nah?
I remember that movie and I loved it! I’m black and took no offense to it nor did I get my panties in a wad when Robert Downey Jr. played a black guy in Tropic Thunder…that movie was hilarious! People need to get over stupid shit!
I’m so INCREDIBLY sorry that your white self is being dealt so much oppression, hatefulness, and humiliation. I bet you struggle with it ever day, just like your ancestors had to deal with centuries of violent abuse at the hands of another race. Good thing jokes about white people don’t actually do anything detrimental because you’re still part of the privileged majority and things said about you aren’t used to strip you of rights and general respect.
And, really, us white people are ridiculous. Why we have been the “top” race for so long is such a mystery because there are whiny people like you who can’t handle a fraction of what people of color have to deal with daily.
But, no, your CONSTANT OPPRESSION is definitely something that needs attention.
Grow up.
That was so “Al Sharpton” of you. I grew up with long hair, playing in rock bands. I got pulled over every 3 or 4 days. At what point did you, MADISON, have to deal with, or even LISTEN to STORIES about adversity? And YES, I’m white and happy for it. I don’t make any apologies for my race. I work hard and support my family. And I support them with honest, legal employment.
And let’s be honest here, while there’s discrimination among all races, religions, genders, and hairstyles, maybe if 20% of inner city blacks didn’t break the law then 20 % of them wouldn’t get arrested. Or is THAT “constant oppression” too?
You strike me as a little rich girl that maybe has a black boyfriend which means you feel you have to take up the cause of slavery reparations or something. That was over 400 years ago and has nothing to do with the world we live in today. NO ONE is being “constantly oppressed” in our society. Anyone believeing so is just looking for another handout.
oh u must face racism and hardships all the time with your long hair and playing in your rock band lmao you’re a joke. just remember white people weren’t the ones enslaved. they didn’t have their people taken away from their homeland to be raped and used as slaves. so the circumstances between racism against white people i.e you, and racism against blacks are a lot different because of america’s sad history of mistreating black people. I’m sure getting whipped and working for free is a lot worst than being a white guy with long hair in a rock band lol. basically just shut the fuck up nobody wants to hear about white people problems and stop being a lil bitch about it.
This wasn’t a great movie, but it was funny at times. I see race, and ethnic oriented stereotype comedy in a lot of movies. Black, Mexican, Jewish, Polish… Most of the time it’s funny. I don’t understand why anyone would get upset over a comedy. It’s COMEDY. I guess some people are a little too sensitive to watch.
Chairman of the Board is worth it for that clip of Norm Macdonald and Courtney Thorne-Smith on Conan where Norm makes fun of Carrot Top.