Crime movies don’t have to be dark and violent; sometimes they can be just as hilarious as any other comedy. Since crime movies naturally come with high stakes, they provide fertile ground for filmmakers to inject a lot of zany humor, whether they’re interested in satire, farce, genre parody or anything else.

The best crime comedy movies manage to balance their two disparate genres perfectly, giving audiences all the benefits of a gripping crime narrative along with plenty of laughs. It’s easy to skew too far one way or the other, but some filmmakers can keep the stakes high no matter what.

10

The Nice Guys (2016)

Ryan Gosling And Russell Crowe Make An Unlikely Buddy Cop Duo

The Nice Guys underperformed at the box office, but it has since achieved cult status as one of the funniest movies of the 2010s. Shane Black reinvents his buddy-cop formula in style, with Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe playing two mismatched detectives trapped in a Los Angeles criminal conspiracy.

Gosling is in top form in The Nice Guys, but it’s Crowe who’s the surprise package. Known for action movies, weighty dramas and historical epics, Crowe flips his gruff on-screen persona to become a master of ᴅᴇᴀᴅpan wit. The Nice Guys is infectious fun, but the ending’s sequel tease now seems like little more than a sad relic of what could have been.

9

Seven Psychopaths (2012)

Martin McDonagh’s Complex Criminal Tangle Bristles With Wit

Martin McDonagh’s movies indulge in the darkest form of dark comedy, with murder and chaos par for the course. Seven Psychopaths may not be as critically vaunted as In Bruges or Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, but that doesn’t make it any less worthwhile. It’s another characteristically hilarious crime movie filled with eccentric characters.

Seven Psychopaths is probably McDonagh’s most personal movie, as it follows a writer seeking inspiration for his next movie. As the writer surrounds himself with various dangerous psychopaths in the hopes of sparking an idea, it’s as if McDonagh is projecting the characters bouncing around his consciousness onto the screen.

8

Raising Arizona (1987)

Nicolas Cage Shines In A Typically Outlandish Role

Raising Arizona is one of the best Coen brothers movies, which says a lot, since the directorial duo have mastered the art of the crime comedy to a higher degree than anyone else. Nicolas Cage stars as a directionless petty crook whose wife convinces him to kidnap a baby so that they can start the family of their dreams.

Cage is at his hilarious best in Raising Arizona, mixing goofy slapstick with some laugh-out-loud dialogue. The story seems to take place in an ethereal desert landscape, which incorporates the mythology of the American southwest with the more grounded concerns of modern living. Like in Fargo and The Big Lebowski, the setting dictates large portions of the story in Raising Arizona.

7

BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Spike Lee’s True-Crime Comedy Cuts To The Bone

BlacKkKlansman stars Adam Driver and John David Washington as two police officers who infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. This sounds like a preposterous premise, but Spike Lee’s scintillating caper is actually based on a true story. Lee ends the movie with a montage linking the past to the present, making his point in capital letters to anyone who may have been too oblivious to miss it.

Driver and Washington make a great duo in BlacKkKlansman, and the characters’ risky scheme carries the infectious joy of two friends getting away with someone they’re not supposed to. BlacKkKlansman‘s overarching comedic thrust is laser-focused, but there are also plenty of incidental laughs from the dialogue along the way.

6

Charade (1963)

Audrey Hepburn And Cary Grant Bring Their Charms To A Fast-Paced Crime Comedy

Charade sees two of the most charming and stylish actors in Hollywood history teaming up, as Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn play two people being pursued by ruthless criminals after a mysterious treasure. They strike up a winning dynamic, keeping things light as the body count begins to pile up.

As well as being a lively comedy, Charade is also a surprisingly gripping mystery. As the тιтle suggests, Charade plays a guessing game with its audience, with one twist after another sending the case in a different direction. Filmed on location in Paris, Charade also looks exquisite in the way that only ’60s movies do.

5

The Sting (1973)

Robert Redford And Paul Newman’s Caper Is Just As Enjoyable As Ever

The Sting is one of the best heist movies ever, although its big con offers something different to gun-toting bank robbery movies. Instead, The Sting is the kind of suave, intelligent criminal caper that anyone can enjoy. The only violence and bloodshed comes from Robert Shaw’s ruthless villain, while the heroes are easy to love.

Robert Redford and Paul Newman were already an iconic on-screen duo after Butch Cᴀssidy and the Sundance Kid, and The Sting revives their affable dynamic with a healthy helping of comedy. The period setting and ragtime music add to the movie’s considerable charms, but there’s just enough darkness to ensure that the plot works on an emotional level.

4

See How They Run (2022)

The Underrated Mystery Comedy Deserves More Attention

See How They Run stars Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan as two detectives trying to solve a real-life whodunnit among the cast of a murder mystery play in London’s West End. The intelligent layering of this mystery allows See How They Run to deconstruct the genre’s tropes and preconceptions.

See How They Run features a great ensemble cast, but it gets most of its laughs from the dynamic between Rockwell’s grizzled detective and Ronan’s overzealous novice. Their constant back-and-forth highlights the chasm between the excitment of a good murder mystery and the sobering reality of actual crime.

3

Bullets Over Broadway (1994)

John Cusack Shines In A Cerebral Gangster Comedy

Bullets Over Broadway gets a lot of energy from its comedic contradictions. Firstly, there’s John Cusack’s protagonist, who thinks of himself as a tortured artist despite the fact that his work is derivative and pretentious. He finds himself ʙuттing heads with a violent wiseguy with the heart of a poet, who provides all the impetus to turn a mediocre play into a Broadway hit.

Bullets Over Broadway brings the gangster genre crashing into a much more mundane story about an aspiring writer, revealing that the idea of a writer plumbing the depths of the human soul is no subsтιтute for genuine life experience and common sense. Cusack’s constant hand-wringing makes him the ideal fool in an unpredictable comedic farce.

2

H๏τ Fuzz (2007)

Edgar Wright’s Action Genre Parody Still Delivers All The Necessary Thrills

H๏τ Fuzz is a parody of explosive, big-budget action movies like Bad Boys and Point Break, but it also has elements of horror and a surprisingly effective whodunit plot. Simon Pegg stars as a battle-hardened big city who finds himself reᴀssigned to a sleepy bucolic village, only to stumble into a murderous conspiracy.

H๏τ Fuzz is packed with hilarious quotes, but Edgar Wright has plenty of strings in his bow, and he can also get laughs from physical comedy, or something as simple as a music cue or a camera movement. There’s always a new joke to discover in H๏τ Fuzz‘s densely layered humor, which gives it endless rewatch value.

1

Logan Lucky (2017)

Steven Soderbergh Creates A Different Kind Of Heist Comedy

Steven Soderbergh is known for the Ocean’s trilogy, but he returned to the heist genre a decade later for a completely different kind of robbery. Far from the bright lights of Las Vegas or the old-world glamor of Rome, Logan Lucky follows a speedway heist in North Carolina, orchestrated by two working-class brothers with a point to prove.

Although it has a unique style and setting, Logan Lucky still benefits from Soderbergh’s mastery of the heist genre. The robbery is a wildly unpredictable adventure, filled with eccentric characters, hilarious misfires and a surprising amount of tension. Logan Lucky has a superb cast, with Daniel Craig in a comedy role that predates Knives Out.