# Recommend some "clean" comedy movies



## Kai Lord

I'm trying to add more Comedy DVD's to my collection, but don't want any laced with profanity, nudity, or gross out humor.  Napoleon Dynamite is probably a perfect example of what I'm looking for, but how many movies are like that?  Meet the Parents is pretty good too.  Can anyone help me think of more?


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## DungeonmasterCal

My son thinks "Master of Disguise" is high art.  I find it painfully idiotic.  So most kids will probably love it.


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## JimAde

If you like romantic comedy, try the movie "Return to Me."  David Duchovney (sp?) and Minnie Driver with a great supporting cast.  

It's a romantic comedy/drama (pretty light on the drama but good).  There is a little salty language from one of the supporting characters (played by Jim Belushi) but it's nothing I haven't heard on basic cable TV.


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## msd

I feel sure that this is already part of the collection but I always enjoy watching Shrek and Shrek II.  Something for both kids and adults in both...


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## reveal

The Muppet Movie
Spongebob Squarepants Movie
Clue
The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle
Young Frankenstein
Rustler's Rhapsody
Vegas Vacation
Hudson Hawk
Murder by Death
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Galaxy Quest
Elf
Noises Off...

Those are all in my collection.


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## Zander

There was a great comedy movie in the '80s called _Crazy People_ (IIRC) about some lunatics who start an advertising company. I think it starred Dudley Moore.

It's not suitable for kids only because there are lots of references to big '80s advertising campaigns. There's no violence, profanity or sex to speak of.

Another possible film is the action comedy _The Princess Bride_. There is some violence but it's rather cartoonish. Again, no profanity or sex to speak of.


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## reveal

Zander said:
			
		

> There was a great comedy movie in the '80s called _Crazy People_ (IIRC) about some lunatics who start an advertising company. I think it starred Dudley Moore.
> 
> It's not suitable for kids only because there are lots of references to big '80s advertising campaigns. There's no violence, profanity or sex to speak of.




"Jaguar: For guys who want handjobs from beautiful women they don't even know."

There's a *little* profanity in it. 

But it is a very funny movie.


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## DungeonmasterCal

Chicken Run and the Wallace and Grommet DVD collection.


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## ecliptic

Here are some off the top of my head that I would recommend.
Happy Gilmore
Mr. Deeds
Rat Race
Get Over It
Beverly Hills Ninja
Galaxy Quest
50 First Dates


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## nyjm

disney movies are always good for kid-friendly/clean humor, if you don't have them already, my top choices are:

Animated:
Aladdin
The Emperor's New Groove (highly underrated)
Lilo and Stitch
EVERYTHING by Pixar:
- Toy Story I and II
- A Bug's Life
- Monsters Inc.
- Finding Nemo
- The Incredibles
Hercules (which is entertaining, but requires forgetting everything about classical mythology)
The Aristocats
Most of the "Pooh" movies are surprisingly good

Live Action:
The Princess Diaries
Disney's The Kid
Roger Rabbit
The Parent Trap (both the original and the remake)


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## Dark Jezter

- Galaxy Quest
- The Man Who Knew Too Little
- Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
- Funny Farm


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## Hand of Evil

The Man that Knew too Little

also think the old classics, Hope and Crosby, Martin and Lewis.


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## reveal

Dark Jezter said:
			
		

> - The Man Who Knew Too Little




That's a great movie.


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## Wombat

Might I suggest some of the old screwball comedies?

_Arsenic & Old Lace_ 
_Bringing Up Baby_ 
_Harvey_ 
_It Happened One Night_ 

All are "family friendly", weirdly off-center, and a LOT of fun!


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## griff_goodbeard

What about Bob


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## David Howery

Are there any Marx Brothers DVDs out yet?  I love "Duck Soup".... one of the funniest movies of all time...


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## Brimmel

There's a couple of movies that, when I was a teen and was able to watch movies late at night, I thought were hysterical:

What's up Doc?
Start the Revolution without Me

Both of which are clean.  StRWM seems like it's gonna get nasty at times, but always cleverly avoids doing so.  I think they're both underrated.  When I was in college they used to show old movies for a buck and What's up, Doc? was always a packed house.


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## Dark Jezter

- Spies Like Us
- Dumb & Dumber (this one does have 1 or 2 parts that could be considered gross out humor, but it's tame by today's standards)
- Happy Gilmore
- UHF
- Top Secret


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## Wyn A'rienh

I'm not sure if it's technically a comedy, but The Goonies leaps to mind.


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## Psionicist

Lost in Translation perhaps? http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0335266/


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## reveal

Psionicist said:
			
		

> Lost in Translation perhaps? http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0335266/




I don't know if I would classify that as a comedy. It was good, but more of a drama to me.


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## Psionicist

reveal said:
			
		

> I don't know if I would classify that as a comedy. It was good, but more of a drama to me.




Movies that try to be comedies usually (but not always) fail miserably. Lost in Translation doesn't try to be a comedy, but manage to be subtly humorous. And that's why it's so good!


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## Storm Raven

The _Blues Brothers_ is fairly clean, it may have some language. 

_Ghostbusters_.
_Dr. Strangelove_.
The various _Pink Panther_ movies (but only the ones with Peter Sellers in them all the way through).
_Meatballs_.
_Dragnet_.
_Scrooged_.
_Groundhog Day_.


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## BiggusGeekus

reveal said:
			
		

> Noises Off...




A good movie seen better as a play, but one of the actresses spends most of the movie running around in slinky underwear.  Just a heads up.


For a more quiet but charming comedy, try _Waking Ned Divine_.  The kids might find this one dull though.


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## Thanee

Monty Python's The Life of Brian
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
The Incredibles

Bye
Thanee


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## The Druid Merlin

Thanee said:
			
		

> Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure



Finally, some thing we can agree on.


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## Thanee

Bye
Thanee


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## Kai Lord

Cool.  Lots of good choices.  Of those mentioned I own all the Pixar movies save Nemo, What About Bob?, Ghostbusters, Galaxy Quest, Goonies, Lilo & Stitch, and Aladdin, plus Napoleon Dynamite and Meet the Parents.  I could definitely use some more, and there are some great suggestions here.


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## Dagger75

Princess Bride  I laughed at that movie.  I think its even under teh comedy section at the Best Buy here.


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## KenM

The Dungeons and Dragons movie, great comedy.


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## Tetsubo

Fun with Dick and Jane. The original.

What's Up Doc.


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## CrusaderX

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

MST3K The Movie, or any MST3K episode, for that matter


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## Hand of Evil

reveal said:
			
		

> I don't know if I would classify that as a comedy. It was good, but more of a drama to me.



plus there is nudity in it.


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## Abraxas

Here are some I find funny

The Ghost and Mister Chicken
Brain Donors
The Inlaws - Its rated PG, but I don't remeber any serious profanity in it.
Harvey


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## WayneLigon

Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Rat Race (Honestly, I can't remember about the swearing part in this. I don't _think_ there was any nudity in it.)
The Vicar of Dibley DVD's; not a movie but a British TV series. Very funny. Keeping Up Appearances is also high on the list.
Groundhog Day
The Goodbye Girl
The Producers
High Anxiety
Oh God!
The Russians Are Coming


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## The Druid Merlin

Four of them are TV shows, four of them are movies. Blackadder, Blackadder II, Blackadder the Third, Blackadder Goes Fourth, Smokey and the Bandit, Smokey and the Bandit 2, Tremors, and Tremors 2. Try to top that one.


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## reveal

The Druid Merlin said:
			
		

> Four of them are TV shows, four of them are movies. Blackadder, Blackadder II, Blackadder the Third, Blackadder Goes Fourth, Smokey and the Bandit, Smokey and the Bandit 2, Tremors, and Tremors 2. Try to top that one.




Smokey and the Bandit 1 and 2 are not clean movies. They have a lot of cussing in them. Tremors 1 and 2 have a lot of violence and they're not supposed to be comedies, they just turned out that way.


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## JimAde

reveal said:
			
		

> Smokey and the Bandit 1 and 2 are not clean movies. They have a lot of cussing in them. Tremors 1 and 2 have a lot of violence and they're not supposed to be comedies, they just turned out that way.



 I disagree about Tremors.  I think those laughs were absolutely on purpose.  Those movies rock!


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## Psionicist

Hand of Evil said:
			
		

> plus there is nudity in it.




According to IMDB yes, but that's wrong. Scarlett Johansson in panties or Bill Murray swimming with shorts is not nudity.

Exhibit A:



		Code:
	

nude   Audio pronunciation of "nudity" ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (nd, nyd)
adj. nud·er, nud·est

   1. Having no clothing; naked.
   2. Permitting or featuring full exposure of the body: a nude beach.
   3. Law. Lacking any of various legal requisites, such as evidence.


n.

   1. An unclothed human figure, especially an artistic representation.
   2. The condition of being unclothed.


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## Henry

Tremors, Burt Gummer swearing at the worm-corpse: "I guess you picked the WRONG   REC ROOM, didn't ya!!"

That scene with Michael Gross and Reba Macintire still trips me out. 


One other choice: Short Time, with Dabney Coleman. It's been many years, but I don't recall any profanity or nudity off hand. Hilarious "life-affirming" movie.


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## Ranger REG

Wyn A'rienh said:
			
		

> I'm not sure if it's technically a comedy, but The Goonies leaps to mind.



It has many funny moments. It's also where Sean Astin ("Samwise Gamgee") got his first break.


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## AdmundfortGeographer

A good clean comedy movie I'm fond of. 

Rat Race

Made by the same guy, I think, that did Airplane... which is another good clean comedy movie


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## fett527

Psionicist said:
			
		

> According to IMDB yes, but that's wrong. Scarlett Johansson in panties or Bill Murray swimming with shorts is not nudity.
> 
> Exhibit A:
> 
> 
> 
> Code:
> 
> 
> nude   Audio pronunciation of "nudity" ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (nd, nyd)
> adj. nud·er, nud·est
> 
> 1. Having no clothing; naked.
> 2. Permitting or featuring full exposure of the body: a nude beach.
> 3. Law. Lacking any of various legal requisites, such as evidence.
> 
> 
> n.
> 
> 1. An unclothed human figure, especially an artistic representation.
> 2. The condition of being unclothed.





Was there not actual nudity in the strip club he was in?  If not there was definitely a close up shot of a woman's butt with a G-string.


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## fett527

Eric Anondson said:
			
		

> A good clean comedy movie I'm fond of.
> 
> Rat Race
> 
> Made by the same guy, I think, that did Airplane... which is another good clean comedy movie




Mentioned, please read all posts.


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## fett527

_Raising Arizona_


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## Storm Raven

Eric Anondson said:
			
		

> Made by the same guy, I think, that did Airplane... which is another good clean comedy movie




Well, except for the random nudity.


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## AdmundfortGeographer

fett527 said:
			
		

> Mentioned, please read all posts.



That it (Rat Race, not Airplane) was mentioned means I can't say that I'm fond of it? Oooooookay then...


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## Desdichado

It's a bit surprising to see an awful lot of Rated R movies when "clean" movies are specifically requested.


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## WayneLigon

Joshua Dyal said:
			
		

> It's a bit surprising to see an awful lot of Rated R movies when "clean" movies are specifically requested.




Probably for the same reason I had to go back and look up some of my choices and think about them some. Honestly, most nudity and profanity just slides right past me 'cause it's normal; I don't remember if a movie contained some small parts of it or maybe even one or two longer scenes. Larger parts, yeah, I'll remember it: I know not to recommend Kingpin, Something About Mary, etc.


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## Mercule

_Emperor's New Groove_ is my favorite animated show.  Much funny.

_Hitch_ was surprisingly good, and very, very clean, although it may not interest kids.

_The Princess Bride_ has been mentioned, but is good.


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## Barendd Nobeard

Movies rated less than 'R'

Nine to Five (there is a little "pot party" in the film)
Murder by Death (Neil Simon spoof of classic detectives)
Hairspray (a dancing movie about integration)
Back to the Future
Freak Friday
The Goodbye Girl (not for kids--it's a Neil Simon comedy about relationships)
I Wanna Hold Your Hand (four fans try to meet the Beatles in 1964)
Adventures in Babysitting (only PG-13, but it does have the "F" word in one scene)


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## Man in the Funny Hat

Eric Anondson said:
			
		

> A good clean comedy movie I'm fond of.
> 
> Rat Race
> 
> Made by the same guy, I think, that did Airplane... which is another good clean comedy movie



It may be clean but I found it CHRONICALLY unfunny and not worthy of a recommendation.  Far FAR better to get hold of the movie it's supposedly based on - "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World."  Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Jonathan Winters, Ethel Merman, Arnold Stang, Sid Ceaser, Buddy Hackett, Mickey Rooney, Phil Silvers, Dick Shawn, Terry Thomas, Jim Backus, Peter Falk, Norman Fell, Don Knotts, Carl Reiner, Jimmy Durante, even Buster Keaton, The Three Stooges, and Jerry Lewis.  It's a fair amount of slapstick but it's funny and it's clean.  The only downside is it's a bit long at 2hr 41min (has an intermission!).


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## Man in the Funny Hat

Here's some comedies from my own DVD collection that have not yet been mentioned.  A lot of them are action-comedy and so contain some violence (albeit little/no real blood), but they're all fairly clean as memory serves and don't outright exceed the limitations in the OP:

PG

1941
Kelly's Heroes
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (actually at least one scene with enough reference to sex to make it questionable as "clean")
Real Genius

PG-13

Big Trouble in Little China
Let it Ride
The Mummy
The Mummy Returns
Mystery Men (the character of Spleen would definitely be qualified as "gross-out humor" but it might still be acceptable.)
Sneakers


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## Rogue765

reveal said:
			
		

> "Jaguar: For guys who want handjobs from beautiful women they don't even know."




They could have been talking about waxing his car. If you know what I mean and I think you do.


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## Rogue765

Storm Raven said:
			
		

> Well, except for the random nudity.




And every line of dialog between Peter Graves and that kid.


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## Thanee

Man in the Funny Hat said:
			
		

> Monty Python and the Holy Grail (actually at least one scene with enough reference to sex to make it questionable as "clean")




There is also quite a bit of pretty visual violence in there, but I guess that doesn't concern the folks who do those ratings much. 

Bye
Thanee


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## mhacdebhandia

Henry said:
			
		

> Tremors, Burt Gummer swearing at the worm-corpse: "I guess you picked the WRONG   REC ROOM, didn't ya!!"



That's only "swearing" in the backwards ol' United States. In the rest of the Anglosphere we call that "emphasis".


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## John Q. Mayhem

Since you're worried about kid-friendly stuff, I have to recommend Kids-In-Mind. It's got lists of basically every bit of stuff you might not want your kids looking at for a whole lot of movies.


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## Desdichado

John Q. Mayhem said:
			
		

> Since you're worried about kid-friendly stuff, I have to recommend Kids-In-Mind. It's got lists of basically every bit of stuff you might not want your kids looking at for a whole lot of movies.



I've long used screenit.com for the same purpose.  Really thorough breakdown of questionable material, including plenty of stuff that frankly it wouldn't have occured to me to question.


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## Maerdwyn

Murder by Death  - Seconded.  Fantastic cast: Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Peter Falk, Eileen Brennan, Maggie Smith, etc.

Tampopo  (Japanese movie in the style of a Spaghetti Western, but about noodle making).  Kids who could get past subtitles might like it, but it's one of my wife's favorites

The Sting - great caper movie it you haven't seen it.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - Steve Martin and Michael Caine.

Three Amigos - Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Chevy Chase

Strictly Ballroom - Fun over the top Australian movie about ballroom dancing

Baby Boom - Diane Keaton plays a successful career woman suddenly put in the positino as a caregiver for a baby.


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## billd91

Thanee said:
			
		

> Monty Python's The Life of Brian
> <snip>
> 
> Bye
> Thanee




Someone's forgetting when Brian opens the window after having sex with Judith. Full frontal Graham Chapman.
There's also plenty of swearing. 
Brilliant movie, though. Shame it doesn't pass the original poster's appropriateness critiera.


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## Psychic Warrior

Man in the Funny Hat said:
			
		

> It may be clean but I found it CHRONICALLY unfunny and not worthy of a recommendation.  Far FAR better to get hold of the movie it's supposedly based on - "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World."  Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Jonathan Winters, Ethel Merman, Arnold Stang, Sid Ceaser, Buddy Hackett, Mickey Rooney, Phil Silvers, Dick Shawn, Terry Thomas, Jim Backus, Peter Falk, Norman Fell, Don Knotts, Carl Reiner, Jimmy Durante, even Buster Keaton, The Three Stooges, and Jerry Lewis.  It's a fair amount of slapstick but it's funny and it's clean.  The only downside is it's a bit long at 2hr 41min (has an intermission!).




I agree absolutely.  Rat Race was terrible.  Go with the original - I have never laughed as loud or as long in any movie.

I would also recommend

All of Me   I can't remember any swearing or 'gross' humour but I do remember it as being darn funny!
The Impostors  defintely a love it or hate it type of comedy.  Very slap stick in places but well acted by Oliver Platt and Stanley Tucci.
Amelie  a charming romatic comedy that has some truly stellar moments in it.  
Leap of Faith  I have an inexplicable attraction to this movie.  I just love it and sometimes watch it 3 or 4 nights ina row.

I will also second (third?) the recommendations for Back to the Future (I & III are the cleanest probably) and Young Frankenstien (if you don't own this go buy it.  NOW!)

Honestly I find that comedies are the movies I buy the least as the humour can wear thin after a while  the ones I listed are the comedies I find that have the longest 'staying power' to continue to amuse me.


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## Man in the Funny Hat

Psychic Warrior said:
			
		

> I will also second (third?) the recommendations for Back to the Future (I & III are the cleanest probably) and Young Frankenstien (if you don't own this go buy it. NOW!)



Fourthed.  I have them in my collection.  I just didn't mention them as they'd  been mentioned already.


> Honestly I find that comedies are the movies I buy the least as the humour can wear thin after a while the ones I listed are the comedies I find that have the longest 'staying power' to continue to amuse me.



Actually, that's true of almost all of my DVD collection.  I don't buy movies that I don't expect to be watching more than once.  With that as a yardstick my collection is only 160 or so DVD's.


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