Big, dumb comedies? What’s so dumb about them? I never felt laughing – or a couple hours of escaping the doldrums of the grease and dust of manual labor – was too dumb. I noticed my taste for “dumb comedy” was higher depending on how bad I had it in my current job. If I have two hours to give, why not enjoy one’s self after eight or more hours of hell?There are many reasons why I’ll go for the big, dumb comedy before I injest more high-brow fare. One is the utter lack of pretension. Most of the best “dumb comedies” are devoid of it. Bill Murray and Harold Ramis always had a cool-kid veneer to them, that the audience was laughing at the squares along with the actors (most likely they were laughing at you), but the best of the “dumb comedies” avoid snark. The losers in the “dumb comedies” are the protagonists. Unless you’re Brad Pitt, you can relate to that circumstance at least once in life.
But class and circumstance aside, getting the maximum amount of laughs from the maximum amount of people is paramount for the “dumb comedy” and one reason why the films sold so well at their peak. Genuinely funny people, put into funny circumstances and enough of a story to move the film along – that’s all that’s needed.
1. Tommy Boy (1995) – Chris Farley’s creative course landed him from scene-stealer at Saturday Night Live to his first comedic feature in 1995. Many felt Farley’s act was cruel fat jokes, but his act was much deeper. Hyper-energetic, emotional and frail, Farley’s characters had a defined innocence, which he treated with great respect and were a genuine reflection on himself. SNL has brought in resident fat guys for years to try to recapture the Farley magic (Keenan Thompson, Horatio Sans), none have. None have the talent and most don’t have the ability to be as funny on that level. Mainly, they don’t have the heart or the chops. Farley lived and breathed his characters.
Tommy Boy featured laugh after laugh, many at the expense of Farley, but sidekick David Spade gets his digs – as does Spade’s 1968 GTX. Brian Denehy, Rob Lowe and Bo Derek fill out the solid cast for the film, which is washed in a cozy Midwestern, middle class feel.
The film is full of dumb laughs (The Hangover obviously aped the entire scene with the deer), but the heart is there – something director’s and writers recognized during the mid 90s. Tommy was hit with the worst possible tragedy, but he kept going while making you smile along the way. In the end, you realized the joke is on Rob Lowe’s shyster, elitist crook – making it all the better.
2. Dumb and Dumber (1994) – The mid-90s were the boom period for “dumb comedy” after Jim Carrey hit the box office. Studios figured laughs sold (and they were right), which led to Carrey becoming the biggest box office draw in Hollywood. As a result, many of the SNL players suddenly found themselves awashed in film scripts.
Dumb and Dumber worked because Jeff Daniels is as funny as Carrey. Carrey had the natural comedic chops, but so does Daniels, who some how transitioned from the straight-man cop buddy to Keanu Reeves in Speed a few months earlier to driving a 1984 Chevy Van made up as a sheep dog. Nearly every big laugh is iconic, especially the road trip with Mike Star in tow.
The Farrelly Brothers best effort, the duo never did recaptured Dumb and Dumber (I never did care for Ben Stiller or There’s Something About Mary), and how could they. Whatever creative ammo they had was spent – resorting to gross out gags and unlikable characters in later work.
3. Billy Madison (1995) – The year 1995 was banner for “dumb comedy.” Damon Wayans’ Major Payne, Tommy Boy, and Billy Madison were released within weeks of each other early in 1995 and audiences laughed their way to and from the theater. Each film hit No. 1.
Billy Madison was Adam Sandler’s first feature film and his first hit. The always welcome Darren McGavin plays Darren McGavin, and Bradley Whitfield the villain. Part of the film’s appeal his Whitfield, who sucks in the villain role and had as much fun in the process as Sander.
The film had rather conservative themes. Finding purpose in life, the “lost puppy” speech and Carl the side-man who started as a bellhop getting the company due to loyalty and experience. Invisible penguins, nudie magazines, perverted and obese ex-pro wrestling principals, Brigitte Wilson as the hottest teacher of all time, and Norm MacDonald. The “People to Kill” list – are those conservative themes?
4. Happy Gilmore (1996) – To the detriment of film critics everywhere, Happy Gilmore showed Sandler was no box office one-hit wonder. His ex-hockey-player-turned-golfer flick delivered the laughs. Christopher McDonald’s Shooter McGavin became the template role for dumb comedies – he essentially played the same character in Norm MacDonald’s Dirty Work.
Isn’t that “Jaws” from the Bond films?
5. Freddie Got Fingered (2001) – My love of Freddie Got Fingered started before I saw the film. Grabbing the local paper, the resident film critic gave it a resounding “F” – the first time any such grade was given. One look at my then-fiancee, I uttered: “We have to see this movie.”
Green did his usual antics – you either find them funny or not, and I do most of the time. But the real treat is Rip Torn. Torn is a tour de force, over the top and chewing scenery. He goes full bore into a dad crazed by his live-in son who refused to move out or get a steady job. Torn stole the thunder, which even the director and writer acknowledged, when Green’s character pitches a cartoon with his dad as the main character and the executive declares Torn “too unbelievable.”
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