Inspired by the uninspiring “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”–
What’s the meanest funny comedy ever made? And/or the funniest mean comedy?
A short list, off the top of my head:
Happiness
Little Murders
Where’s Poppa?
Prizzi’s Honor
Unfaithfully Yours
Shoah
After Hours; King of Comedy; Goodfellas
Smile — and The Candidate? A shout-out to Michael Ritchie, in his heyday
Being There
Okay, one of those is a gag. A special honorable mention for W.C. Fields. I can’t say all of his films really hold up as mean/funny narrative, but he’s perhaps the model protagonist. In “It’s a Gift” (I think it was “It’s a Gift”) he made me laugh as hard as I’ve ever laughed at a film just by turning to a co-worker and muttering “I hate you.” No punchline, no set-up, no shtick–just “I hate you.” Now that’s comedy.