The 20 Best Comedies on Amazon Prime Video

A Fish Called Wanda, Legally Blonde, The Birdcage, and more.

This list is regularly updated as movies rotate on and off of Prime Video. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk.

Who needs a good laugh? Prime Video has a deep catalog of comedies for every mood from romantic classics to modern blockbusters to the laugh-busters you loved when you were young. However, navigating their interface to find the best comedies can be tough, so we’re here to help Amazon connect with your funny bone with this updated list of the best comedies on Prime Video.

The Big Sick

Year: 2017
Runtime: 2h
Director: Michael Showalter

The wonderful screenwriters Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon basically told their own love story in this sweet and funny rom-com that Amazon picked up after audiences fell for it at Sundance. Nanjiani plays a loose variation on himself, a struggling stand-up who falls for a woman (Zoe Kazan) just before she becomes incredibly ill, forcing their relationship to move at an unusual pace. A smart, sweet, genuinely human film, this is one of the best romantic comedies of the 2010s.

The Birdcage

Year: 1996
Runtime: 1h 59m
Director: Mike Nichols

Mike Nichols’ remake of the beloved La Cage aux Folles is a joyous comedy about acceptance and love that still works well today (which is not something you can say about a lot of mid-‘90s comedies). Robin Williams and Nathan Lane are phenomenal as a gay couple forced to jump through hoops for their son’s new in-laws, played wonderfully by Gene Hackman and Dianne Wiest. It’s funny and smart from front to back.

*Bodied

Year: 2018
Runtime: 2h
Director: Joseph Kahn

Did you know that a legendary music video director made a rocking dramedy about the battle rap scene that was produced by Eminem himself? Probably not given the minimal release of Bodied, but this movie rocks. Calum Worthy plays a grad student who becomes obsessed with the battle rap scene, only to discover that he’s pretty damn good at it himself. This was once a YouTube Red exclusive when that was a thing so it feels like a cult hit waiting for its cult.

*Clue

Year: 1985
Runtime: 1h 36m
Director: Jonathan Lynn

Movies based on board games shouldn’t work, but this mid-‘80s mystery comedy has stood the test of time. Inspired by one of the most popular board games of all time, the hook when this was released in theaters was that there were three possible endings delivered to audiences around the world. With the gimmick now old, audiences keep revisiting this one mostly for the ace cast, especially Tim Curry and Madeline Kahn.

*Drinking Buddies

Year: 2013
Runtime: 1h 30m
Director: Joe Swanberg

The best film from the Chicago-based independent filmmaker Joe Swanberg remains this whip-smart 2013 dramedy about co-workers at a craft brewery in the Windy City. One of the main reasons for that is the chemistry and comic timing of an ace ensemble that’s led by Jake Johnson, Olivia Wilde, Anna Kendrick, and Ron Livingston.

Emergency

Year: 2022
Runtime: 1h 45m
Directors: Carey Williams

Carey Williams adapted his short film of the same name into this Sundance hit that Amazon picked up and dropped on Prime in May 2022. It’s the story of Sean and Kunle, two average friends who decide to go on a frat party tour but have their night of debauchery interrupted by an unconscious body on their living room floor. An insightful and hysterical blend of college comedy and racial commentary, it’s a sharp piece of filmmaking.

*A Fish Called Wanda

Year: 1988
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: Charles Crichton

Movies simply don’t get much funnier than this Oscar winner starring John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. The story of a jewel robbery gone very wrong, the barrister who gets involved, and the fish that gets caught in the middle is regularly included on any short list of the funniest movies ever made. You know how the Academy Awards never include any comedy performances? This one won an Oscar for Kevin Kline, who is simply impossible to deny.

The General

Year: 1926
Runtime: 1h 15m
Directors: Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton

Truly classic comedies can be hard to find on streaming services, so take this chance to watch an all-timer, one of the best silent movies ever made. The phenomenally talented Buster Keaton stars and co-directs this action-adventure-comedy that has a little bit of something for everyone, and is really a great introduction to people who may not be familiar with Keaton’s remarkable skills.

Heathers

Year: 1989
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: Michael Lehmann

Talk about a movie ahead of its time. Coming-of-age teen comedies were never quite as wonderfully cynical before this movie about four teenage girls whose lives are upended by the arrival of a new kid, played by Christian Slater. More than just seeking to destroy the damaging cliques at his new school, Slater’s character has plans for something a little more permanent in this comedy that really shaped the teen genre for years to come.

*I Love You Phillip Morris

Year: 2011
Runtime: 1h 38m
Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

Comedies don’t get much darker than this 2009 film about a con artist named Steven Jay Russell, played expertly by Jim Carrey in his last truly interesting performance. While behind bars for one of his many cons, Steven falls in love with Phillip Morris, played by Ewan McGregor. This truly oddball film was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay by the Writers Guild of America.

Legally Blonde

Year: 2001
Runtime: 1h 36m
Director: Robert Luketic

Long before she won an Oscar or worked magic with Big Little Lies, Reese Witherspoon turned a ditzy blonde into a comedy star in this 2001 romantic comedy from director Robert Luketic. It could be stretching it to call this silly fluff “great” but what elevates the saga of Elle Woods from sorority queen to legal eagle is the total charm and commitment of Witherspoon herself. It’s one of her most likable and memorable performances. (Note: The sequel is also on Prime Video.)

Licorice Pizza

Year: 2021
Runtime: 2h 13m
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

A controversial nominee for Best Picture at the beginning of 2022, P.T. Anderson’s latest is already on Prime Video for subscribers to screen for no extra cost. And they should. Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman are transcendent in this story of a teenager who falls for a twentysomething woman, and the odd adventures that somehow keep falling into their lives. It’s a lyrical, gorgeously shot period comedy about those hazy days when anything seems possible.

The Lost City

Year: 2022
Runtime: 1h 51m
Directors: Adam Nee, Aaron Nee

With echoes of beloved rom-coms like African Queen and Romancing the Stone, this film truly felt like an anomaly in 2022, and yet it turned into a pretty big hit at the theater. It’s already on streaming services, and it’s a great choice if you’re looking for some escapism tonight. Travel to the middle of nowhere with a romance novel writer (Sandra Bullock) and the cover model (Channing Tatum) who tries to save the day.

*Mars Attacks!

Year: 1996
Runtime: 1h 45m
Director: Tim Burton

One of Tim Burton’s most purely enjoyable flicks was based on a series of trading cards in this 1996 sci-fi ensemble comedy about an alien attack. It features one of the director’s most remarkable casts, including Jack Nicholson, Annette Bening, Glenn Close, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, and so many more. Most of all, it’s just a goofy, fun movie.

*Much Ado About Nothing

Year: 1993
Runtime: 1h 50m
Director: Kenneth Branagh

The early Shakespeare films of Kenneth Branagh still rank on the top tier of the director’s filmography, but this 1993 comedy often gets overlooked. It shouldn’t because it features Branagh at his most playful, directing himself, Emma Thompson, Robert Sean Leonard, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, Keanu Reeves, and Kate Beckinsale in her film debut, comprising a phenomenal ensemble for one of the Bard’s most purely enjoyable comedies.

Nacho Libre

Year: 2006
Runtime: 1h 32m
Director: Jared Hess

Jared Hess and Jack Black’s goofy senses of humor meshed well in this 2006 comedy hit. Black plays a cook at a Oaxacan monastery who unexpectedly becomes a famous luchador, but that’s just the skeleton of a plot on which to hang physical humor and silly behavior. It’s the kind of comedy that’s easy to put on in the background while you’re doing other things. Sometimes that’s all you want from Amazon Prime.

Observe and Report

Year: 2009
Runtime: 1h 26m
Director: Jody Hill

Jody Hill’s brand of humor isn’t for everyone but if you watched Eastbound and Down or The Righteous Gemstones and have yet to see this then you’re doing something wrong. Similar to that show, this pitch-black comedy is about an aggressive idiot, played here by Seth Rogen as a mall cop who goes to extremes. In your face in every way, Observe and Report is the kind of movie that either really works for you or really doesn’t. Find out on which side of the aisle you fall.

Van Wilder

Year: 2002
Runtime: 1h 32m
Director: Walt Becker

Listen, there’s nothing particularly great about this National Lampoon, but what’s interesting is to see the early days of the career of Ryan Reynolds, an actor who is still opening movies successfully over two decades later. Playing a college student who has been there for seven years and counting, Reynolds is charming and very funny. Some interesting trivia: This film is loosely based on the real life of comedian and podcast co-host Bert Kreischer.

*We Are the Best!

Year: 2014
Runtime: 1h 42m
Director: Lukas Moodysson

Swedish teen rock comedy! Yeah, you don’t see that every day. This adaptation of a graphic novel by the director of Together is a charming gem about a group of 13-year-old girls in Stockholm who fall in love with the punk rock scene in the early ‘80s. Clever, sweet, and grounded, it’s about those days when rebellion and art could help define a young person’s entire worldview.

*The Wedding Singer

Year: 1998
Runtime: 1h 36m
Director: Frank Coraci

Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore had their fans, but it was this 1998 comedy that really made Adam Sandler into a massive comedy star. Made for almost nothing, it was a huge hit around the world, thanks mostly to Sandler’s fearless comedy style and his excellent chemistry with Drew Barrymore as the waitress who wins over the wedding singer’s heart.