Comedy and other film genres work together to produce successful, enduring outcomes. A typical comedy can be expanded upon and transformed into something else in practically any film genre, including romantic comedies, horror comedies, action films, and dramas. Despite frequently being viewed as less critical, comedy is one of the more adaptable genres, earning nominations for (and occasionally winning) Academy Awards with such hybrid movies as “Cafe Midmang,” “Lost in Translation,” “Dr. Strangelove,” “Fargo,” and “Pulp Fiction.” Comedy movies, especially crime comedies, are always surprising and take on new forms. Let’s jump into the post to learn about the 25 shows we gathered for this list that are similar to Cafe Midmang.
Ocean’s Eleven
Don’t allow the Ocean franchise’s overall lack of beauty to detract from the original film’s reputation, which is admittedly very damn fresh. This film had more flair than a glossy GQ cover thanks to Steven Soderbergh’s cool eye and a stellar cast that included George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Don Cheadle. You might recall that the narrative had Danny Ocean gathering a crew to assist him in robbing the Bellagio, The Mirage, and the MGM Grand in Las Vegas—all at the same same time, of course. The conversation was incisive but also classic Hollywood; it came from the performers like gleaming silver and was pure Hollywood. The franchise then descended into a shambles that no one could save. But Eleven will always be here.
Take The Money And Run
Take the Money and Run is not just among the earliest examples of the crime-comedy subgenre, but it is also among the earliest complete mockumentaries to ever appear on television. The movie by Woody Allen follows the professional bank robber Virgil Starkwell through all of his sprees and incarcerations. The humor in most of Woody Allen’s early movies derives from slapstick comedy and sight gags. Starkwell’s misadventures are a mix of hilarious jokes, from asking a sheriff for sex advice while on a chain gang to his disastrous effort to play cello in a marching band. Even if the comedy in this one is more crucial than the crime aspects, it is still one of the greatest.
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Pulp Fiction
If not for Pulp Fiction, what other film may have won the top ranking? Some people would not classify this as a crime-comedy in the conventional sense, but in our opinion, it fits well into the category since it offers audiences non-stop chuckles while also displaying thefts and murders on screen at a breakneck clip. This movie is full of banter and speech that is not only amusing but also extremely quotable, starting with the opening scene with Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer making small talk before stealing a cafe and ending with Jules and Vincent Vega killing some two-timing underlings. Pulp Fiction succeeds because it is portrayed entirely straight; you never get the impression that the characters are there to make you laugh. However, the actors are all so talented and the comments are so incisive that it is practically impossible to maintain your composure for longer than five minutes. Simply because you have the criminal world juxtaposed with slice-of-life rants like you would see in Curb Your Enthusiasm, even the banalest moments, like the one between Travolta and Uma Thurman at the 1950s-themed restaurant, are fantastically funny. Even if Pulp Fiction doesn’t perfectly fit into any one genre, it is nevertheless the best crime-comedy that we have ever seen.
Pusher III
The “Pusher” trilogy’s three films immerse us in Copenhagen’s murky underground while also concentrating on three different protagonists. In the third, a stand-alone crime movie, Milo, an aged drug king whose empire is gradually disintegrating, makes a triumphant return. In addition to preparing his daughter’s 25th party, Milo, a skilled baker, is managing a sizable, flawed drug shipment. Refn creates a thrilling level of mayhem and violence, but Buric steals the show in this movie. The most fascinating part of this series segment is learning more about Milo’s mentality.
How to Steal a Million
The adored actress portrays the daughter of a guy who makes a profession by imitating famous artwork and statues in this vintage Audrey Hepburn comedy. After selling a phony Venus statue to an art collector, Daddy is horrified to learn that the buyer stipulated in the contract’s fine print that the statue must undergo a professional inspection. Hepburn’s character enlists the aid of a burglar who previously attempted to loot her home in order to assist her to steal the statue back from the museum out of fear that her father will be revealed in public as a forger. The foolish attempts to steal the statue back from the museum ended in mayhem. Hepburn is unquestionably endearing, propelling the fun in this whimsical parody of the heist movie, even though it isn’t the most intellectual or sharply written crime comedy ever created.
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To Die For
Suzanne Stone, played by Nicole Kidman, is a power-hungry aspiring news anchor who will do everything to get her face in front of every family’s television in the nation. However, when her spouse (Matt Dillon) requests that she settle down, Suzanne resorts to illegal means to remove him from the situation. Kidman shines in the black comedy as the hilarious psychopath Suzanne, who crosses paths with Joaquin Phoenix’s Jimmy, the lustful, oafish teenager who falls in love with her. Kidman’s performance earned her a Golden Globe and a BAFTA nomination.
Bernie
We’re not shocked, though, as Bernie by Richard Linklater outperformed practically every other comedy of 2012. In the movie, Jack Black portrays Bernie Teide, a real-life mortician who murders the affluent widow he just became friends with. But Teide avoids being discovered right away; instead, he gives the locals justifications for why she has vanished and uses her substantial wealth to help others in need. The community stands up for Teide throughout his trial, saying that the elderly woman was despised by everyone and deserved to die. Bernie is more than just a grim comedy; it’s a study in perception and how people react to murder committed by a person they like against someone they loathe. Additionally, it features Black’s professional performance.
Tangerine
After serving a 28-day sentence, transgender sex worker Sin-Dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) is released from prison only to learn that her pimp/boyfriend had cheated on her. The two women go out on a quest to find him and his purported new lover with the aid of her best friend Alexandra (Mya Taylor). The movie, which has been dubbed “an old-fashioned comedy at heart,” presents a close-up depiction of a sex industry subculture in Los Angeles. The movie stands out for being 100% iPhone shot.
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Small Time Crooks
With Small Time Crooks serving as a welcome exception, the 1990s and early 2000s saw more flops than hits for Woody Allen. The characters of Ray and Frenchy, played by Tracey Ullman and Michael Rapaport, and their pals John Lovitz and Michael, own a restaurant that they turn into a bakery where they sell cookies. The main objective, however, is to tunnel from the basement into a nearby bank vault; this enterprise is really a front. This strategy calls for Woody Allen to do physical labor, therefore it should come as no surprise if the tunnelling project fails miserably despite the success of the cookie company. It has a peculiar premise that is similar to the director’s early work.
Knives Out
After celebrating his 85th birthday, renowned crime writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) passes very suddenly on his expansive home, and his avaricious relatives are all suspected of being responsible. The duty of unravelling the complex network that lies at the centre of this family intrigue is subsequently given to eccentric investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig). The movie’s screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award in 2020 for Best Original Screenplay because it was endearing, funny, and unexpected at every turn.
Get Shorty
A reworking of an Elmore Get Shorty, the title of Leonard’s book, was published at a time when every studio was looking for the next Pulp Fiction. Leonard creates excellent dialogue, much like Tarantino, but his storytelling style is more traditional. In other words, despite the jabs at Hollywood that this movie makes, he isn’t a child who grew up in a video store, and it isn’t trying to deconstruct anything. It’s simply good. Chili Palmer, a mafia legbreaker played by John Travolta, is convinced he will never be able to leave his job as an underling because of the succession of inept bosses above him. But when he goes to Vegas to get money from a slacker Hollywood B-movie producer, he pitches him a movie concept and soon finds himself in show business. Despite the film’s fair share of surprises, it always manages to keep viewers interested. It’s uncommon for mob members to be portrayed as such pathetic sacks, but in this case, it totally works. Get Shorty stands out thanks to the deadpan comedy and the idea of an enforcer-turned-movie-producer.
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Fantastic Mr. Fox
For 12 years, cunning and conceited Mr. Fox (George Clooney) trades his life of animalistic theft for one of marriage and home bliss—until he starts robbing the farmers Boggis, Bunce, and Bean of their valuable stocks. He must use his animal instincts and innate intellect to save his family and friends because his greedy behaviour puts their lives in jeopardy. Meryl Streep, Billy Murray, Willem Dafoe, and Michael Gambon all lend their voices to the stop-motion animated movie based on the same-titled Roald Dahl book.
Trainspotting
Trainspotting casts a wry light on Edinburgh’s small-time drug traffickers and users while being steered by Danny Boyle’s frantic hand and dark Scottish humor. There is no set goal or job to perform; only the grim but amusing facts of a junkie’s life. Every character in Trainspotting is either a drug dealer, a thief, or a user, and they all want to steal or sell enough narcotics to support their addictions. None of it, of course, works out. There is too much action with characters like OD, whiteflies, and one particular toilet. When people discuss Danny Boyle’s talents, they usually bring up Trainspotting.
Catch Me If You Can
Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can is a lighthearted and whimsical adventure about identity and—obviously—fathers and sons. It harkens back to the cotton candy-coloured capers of the 1960s like Charade. Frank Abagnale is a young con artist who earns millions of dollars by charm and street smarts, and Leonardo DiCaprio portrays him. FBI agent Carl Hanratty, played to brilliance by Tom Hanks, is hot on his trail. These two give a cartoonish 1960s a deadpan sense of humour. By portraying Hanratty as stiff as a taxidermied deer, Hanks in particular keeps the laughs flowing. He just doesn’t know how he keeps losing to this 19-year-old con artist. The audience is enchanted, he is frustrated, and DiCaprio gets to steal another film.
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The Long Goodbye
A private investigator helps out an old friend but becomes involved in a conspiracy when the friend’s wife dies and the PI is suddenly made a suspect—until it is revealed that the friend also passed away under mysterious circumstances. The melancholy satire was one of many movies that use Phillip Marlowe, a fictional figure who appears in a lot of Raymond Chandler’s work and is portrayed here by Elliott Gould. Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, James Caan, and Danny Glover have all performed as Marlow.
Bad Santa
It’s simple to overlook the fact that Bad Santa is fundamentally a comedy amidst all its sorrow and crudeness. The department store Santa, played by Billy Bob Thorton, is an alcoholic who robs malls with the help of a companion named Marcus. It’s a holiday film for cynical people. Contrary to many crime comedies, Bad Santa is more focused on the characters than it is on the specifics of the plot. You keep an eye out because Santa is harassing women, drinking excessively, and throwing up rather than because of the cleverness of the plot. Few crime comedies can rival the cynicism of Bad Santa, which was directed by misanthrope maestro Terry Zwigoff.
Fargo
Fargo is a good illustration of how the Coen brothers have constantly incorporated elements from other genres into their movies. Some people would only view it as a crime drama, but that would disregard the film’s incredibly deadpan comedy, which turns it into something far eerier. Francis McDormand plays a pregnant police chief who is looking into a string of killings in and around Fargo, North Dakota, while William H. Macy plays a man who has hired two criminals to kidnap his wife. The hired workers, played by Peter Stormare and Steve Buscemi, could not possibly be any worse at their jobs. The sad couple makes humour out of the mundanely macabre, as seen at the moment where they argue like husband and wife about how to divide their recently stolen car. Buscemi spends the entire time nursing a gunshot wound. Do you have to apologize for laughing? The Coens don’t flinch and dare you to respond.
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Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand), a determined mother, puts up three billboards outside her town criticizing the sheriff’s negligence and demands that justice be served for her daughter’s murder. The town and the respected sheriff’s hot-headed deputy criticize Mildred for her commitment to the case, but she maintains her resolve. In 2018, Frances McDormand won the Academy Award for Best Actress for the movie because of its poignant themes and sardonic comedy.
Seven Psychopaths
The reason why recent movies frequently appear on “Best Of” lists is that audiences still remember them, but we believe Seven Psychopaths will be remembered as one of the best criminal comedies for many years to come. Simple is the premise: Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken, two losers, kidnap pets from all across Los Angeles before claiming the reward money. Sadly, they steal a Shih Tzu named Bonny from a violent thug (Woody Harrelson), and the situation swiftly gets out of hand. Don’t make the same mistake you did with Seven Psychopaths, the second film from the brilliant Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, which led to many people missing it last year.
Good Time
With “Good Time,” the Safdie brothers up the tension in a movie. Small-time criminal Connie botches a bank heist, resulting in the arrest of his younger brother Nick. We witness how cunning he is and how desperately he wants both of them to elude the cops while our lead fights to save Nick (over the course of one adrenaline-filled night, no less). This 2017 smash has twitchy, cramped camerawork, and Daniel Lopatin’s relentlessly hammering music. Find a heist movie that is more suspenseful than this one, we dare you.
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Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels is entirely responsible for the success of every gritty British gangster film in the United States during the 2000s. The plot of this film centres on a group of buddies who attempt to rob the neighbourhood gang after losing a modest fortune in a card game with another formidable crime lord. Where is the humour? Everything is in the words. Even when they are attempting to play the tough guys, these snarky, malicious sons of bitches can’t help but be amusing.
Angst
This Austrian crime drama, which is based on a true event, follows a mass murderer who has just been let out of jail and breaks into a secluded house to kill an elderly woman, her daughter, and her crippled son. What makes “Angst” work is its horrifyingly accurate depiction of a house invasion, which is eerie to the core. Oscar-winner Zbigniew Rybczyski’s surreal camerawork adds to the unnerving mood; “Angst” is jam-packed with outstanding point-of-view and aerial images that will surprise you at every turn and turn. It’s a definite must-see if your stomach can tolerate it.
In Bruges
Collin Farrell plays a hitman who mistakenly kills a small boy after a job goes bad in Martin McDonagh’s debut film. His employer dispatches him to Bruges with his colleague so they can wait for orders there. More information would give away some of the surprises in one of the best-written films in the past ten years. Farrell is undoubtedly at his best in this role, particularly during the fight with the drug-addled dwarf that marks the movie’s turn toward absurdist humor. It’s so gloomy in Bruges that it almost feels tragic. However, the looming possibility of tears enhances the mischievous laughter.
The Italian Job
Despite just being released from prison, Charlie Croker hasn’t gained any wisdom from his ordeal. He’s really already planning his next major theft. Croker assumes command after learning that his companion was unsuccessful in a dangerous mafia-related task in Italy: He intends to employ a variety of vehicles to cause a backup so he can safely smuggle the loot out. Can he actually get it off? This comedy, which is rife with irony and traditional British humor, is hilarious. Additionally, the Mini Coopers Charlie drives will make you yearn for a personal one.
Snatch
The British are the best at making crime comedy if this list has taught you anything. Director Guy Ritchie infuses every frame of the film Snatch with elements of the criminal underworld, from crooks trying to steal a valuable diamond to a shady boxing promoter (played by Jason Statham). Additionally, this film injects cynical humour into the realm of organized crime by combining A-list performers like Brad Pitt and Benicio del Toro with sleazy character actors like Vinnie Jones and Dennis Farina. The style Ritchie added to Snatch, though, is what really sets it apart. Ritchie’s rapid cuts and inventive camera views give the entire affair a twisted intensity that most movies can only dream to replicate, similar to Danny Boyle’s visceral, dirty approach to the underworld. You may turn a crime comedy into a stylish comedy by adding witty language and memorable set pieces, like del Toro’s Hasidic Jew gem robbery in the movie’s opening moments.
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