Comedy

They were five teenage students with nothing in common, faced with spending a Saturday detention together in their high school library. At seven a.m., they had nothing to say, but by four p.m., they had bared their souls to each other and become good friends. John Hughes, creator of the critically acclaimed Sixteen Candles, wrote, directed and produced this hilarious and often touching comedy starring Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy.

Lies and deception - it's all in the family when Robin Williams must convince conservative in-laws Gene Hackman and Dianne Wiest that he's as upstanding and uptight as they are in this raucously funny comedy. Armand (Williams) and Albert (Nathan Lane) have built the perfect life for themselves, tending to their successful and gaudy nightclub on the Miami strip. But their pastel tranquility is suddenly shaken by the arrival of Armand's son... who's getting married to the daughter of ultra-conservative Senator Keeley (Hackman).

Could you spend $30 million dollars in 30 days and have nothing to show for it? Montgomery Brewster (Richard Prior) is a down-and-out baseball player who discovers that he's the only living relative of an eccentric multi-millionaire. Monty stands to inherit $300 million, but only if he can spend $30 million in a single month without acquiring any assets. If he fails, it's back to zero again. But he can't tell his best friend, catcher Spike Nolan (John Candy), or the accountant keeping track of his expense, Angela Drake (Lonette McKee), the truth… and everything he tries seems to backfire!

The 1988 sequel to one of the most successful movies of all time finds Eddie Murphy reprising his role as Detroit police detective Axel Foley, and once again playing a fish out of water as he tries to solve a series of heists in Beverly Hills that may be connected to the attempted murder of his friend, a Beverly Hills police captain (Ronny Cox). Constructed in a much flashier and faster-paced visual style than the first film, the song still remains the same as Foley tries to keep his job in Detroit while solving crimes for the Beverly Hills cops.

While its sequels were formulaic and safe, the first Beverly Hills Cop set out to explore some uncharted territory, and succeeded. A blend of violent action picture and sharp comedy, the film has an excellent director, Martin Brest (Scent of a Woman), who finds some original perspectives on stock scenes (highway chases, police rousts) and hits a gleeful note with Murphy while skewering L.A. culture. Good support from Judge Reinhold and John Ashton as local cops not used to doing things the Detroit way (Murphy's character hails from the Motor City).

While vacationing in Rio, a befuddled older fellow finds himself involved in a comedic affair with the teenage daughter of his best friend. Michael Caine is perfect as the man in a doubful marriage, who is hit on suddenly by his best friend's daughter, Jennifer, played by the voluptous and pretty Michelle Johnson. Caine's chemistry with Joseph Bologna (who can portray the archetypal cynic as well as anyone) gives the film enough comic thrust to overlook the somewhat pedestrian performances of some of the other principal actors. Overall, it's a great movie to look and laugh at.

Bestowing Jim Carrey with godlike powers is a ripe recipe for comedy, and Bruce Almighty delivers the laughs that Carrey's mainstream fans prefer. The high-concept premise finds Carrey playing Bruce Nolan, a frustrated Buffalo TV reporter, stuck doing puff-pieces while a lesser colleague (the hilarious Steven Carell) gets the anchor job he covets. Bruce demands an explanation from God, who pays him a visit (in the serene form of Morgan Freeman) and lets Bruce take over while he takes a brief vacation. What does a petty, angry guy do when he's God?

After I Spy and before The Cosby Show, Bill Cosby left his own inimitable mark on the arena of stand-up comedy in this live concert showcasing his down-to-earth observations on the rigors and joys of family life. Cosby, using only a microphone and a chair, discusses his take on raising kids and the illogical nature of children and the futility of trying to argue with a child that in the end may be smarter than you.

This shaggy-dog fable barely drew fleas when it arrived in the winter of 1986. Now critics refer to it as a winning, offbeat classic. What took 'em so long? Probably the fact that director Roger Spottiswoode (Tomorrow Never Dies) and screenwriter Ron Shelton (Bull Durham) were chasing something very elusive: a cockeyed, scatological look at delayed glory. Robin Williams plays Jack Dundee, a meek bank VP in Taft, California, who daily relives the humiliation of a bobbled pass in the game against Bakersfield.

Devotees of Neil Simon's repartee, such as in his Goodbye Girl and Brighton Beach Memoirs, will enjoy this earlier tale of domestic dispute between newlyweds. Corie (Jane Fonda) is the young housewife trying to keep life exciting while making a home for her and her husband, Paul (Robert Redford), on the fifth floor of a Greenwich Village walkup apartment. He's working hard at starting his career as lawyer; she's eager to be romantic and spontaneous; and the two have plenty to squabble about.