Top 10 Comedies Critics Hate but We Love

Great art often goes unappreciated. Perhaps the same can be said for comedies. Many people believe comedy is subjective, but is it really? Believing that Big Bang Theory is funnier than Arrested Development has nothing to do with subjectivity, but the inability to comprehend a clever joke. Comedy is not subjective, but perhaps your own personal sense of humor is. That’s why this week we are looking at the Top 10 Comedies That Critics Hate but We Love.

10. Pure Luck

Favorite Negative Review: MovieGuide
“Regrettably, the first third of PURE LUCK is excruciatingly dull, and sometimes even embarrassing. At the screening, several members of the audience walked out in disgust.”

One of my favorite funny guys, Martin Short generally doesn’t get much love from critics. Other than Innerspace and Father of the Bride, his comedy is universally panned by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator site, Captain Ron and Three Amigos both have a “Rotten” rating, but none as worse than Pure Luck. At a 10%, Pure Luck is his second lowest rated film on RT(we’ll get the first later on the list).

9. Blue Streak

Favorite Negative Review: Paul Malcolm- L.A. Weekly
“(Lawrence)’s not just unfunny, he’s coarsely anti-funny. The film just lurches from one dull skit to the next without bite or much of a point.”

Martin Lawrence films are never well-received by critics and Blue Streak was no exception. Blue Streak received overwhelmingly negative reviews from film critics despite being a success at the box office.

8. Beverly Hills Ninja

Favorite Negative Review: Pete Vonder Haar- Film Threat
“Maybe Death did Chris Farley a favor by sparing him from making more shit like this”

A 27/100 on Metacritic and a 14% “Rotten” rating at Rotten Tomatoes, Beverly Hills Ninja received overwhelmingly negative reviews upon release. One critic called it, “Nearly as much fun as a case of scabies”(Marc Savlov- Austin Chronicle). We never knew scabies were so funny.

7. Clifford

Favorite Negative Review: Charles Tatum- efilmcritic
“If Orion Studios greenlighted this, they deserved to fail. Words cannot describe how stupid this comedy is, but if that were true, this review would end right now…this is woefully unfunny.”

A 9% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film was dismissed en masse by critics. Roger Ebert gave the film a half-star of a possible four. Writing: “The movie is so odd, it’s almost worth seeing just because we’ll never see anything like it again. I hope.”

6. Dirty Work

Favorite Negative Review: Kalamazoo Gazette- James Sanford
“Why does Hollywood think that everyone who ever appeared on ‘Saturday Night Live’ deserves a film career as a reward? What’s the excuse for showcasing Norm Macdonald, a third-rate Dennis Miller knockoff whose delivery is slower than Priority Mail?”

Norm Macdonald, Artie Lange, Chris Farley, Chevy Chase, and the legendary Don Rickles all in one movie. Yet the film received mostly negative reviews, with a 17% Rotten rating on RT, critics called it vulgar and “A movie that makes even Don Rickles unfunny”(Needcoffee.com). We highly disagree and anyone who calls Norm Macdonald a “third-rate Dennis Miller” doesn’t comprehend what a great comedian is. I suppose David Letterman and Conan O’Brien, both of whom praise Norm’s skills, know less about comedy than some writer for the Kalamazoo Gazette.

5. Half Baked

Favorite Negative Review: Lawrence Van Gelder- The New York Times
“Not very funny, intellignet or grippingly plotted, it is likely to appeal only to those who think that anything to do with marijuana – smoking, sharing, stealing or selling – constitutes the Everest of rip-roaring hilarity.”

Half Baked received mostly negative reviews upon release and currently holds a 29% on Rotten Tomatoes and 16/100 on Metacritic. How? I just don’t know. Chappelle, Breuer, Harland Williams, and even Guillermo Díaz all shined in their roles as pot smoking buddies with unforgettable cameos by Jon Stewart and Bob Saget. “Red team go!”


 

4. Tommy Boy

Favorite Negative Review: Rory L. Aronsky- Film Threat
“There’s nothing to grasp, nothing that gives off that good feeling of enjoying a comedy.”

A modern day retelling of Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’, Tommy Boy is the funniest of the Chris Farley-David Spade pairings. Critics still didn’t care, the film has garnered a 14% “Top Critics” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

3. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Favorite Negative Review: New York Times- Stephen Holden
“Only a child could love Mr. Carrey’s character, but that may be the point. The movie has the metabolism, logic and attention span of a peevish 6-year-old.”

It’s Jim Carrey in his comedy prime. Critics despised Ace Ventura: Pet Detective upon release. Ebert and Roeper trashed the movie. With a 22% “Top Critics” rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 37/100 rating on Metacritic, the film has been noted as sexist, transphobic, and homophobic. Sure.. it may be those things, but it’s also funny pretty darn funny.

2. Robin Hood: Men in Tights

Favorite Negative Review: Widgett Walls- Needcoffee.com
“There are many funnier things in the world. Like the flu, for example.”

Now this one actually upsets me. Rotten Tomatoes rated the film as “Rotten.” Gene Siskel put it in his “Worst Movies of 1993″ list. Perhaps the the success of his earlier films doomed Mel Brooks, but the laughs are as abundant as ever in Robin Hood: Men in Tights. A comedy that has aged quite well.

1. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Favorite Negative Review: Stephen Hunter- Washington Post
“Watching it is like being forced to listen to bad heavy metal music turned up to 11 while fat guys in Bermuda shorts compete in a puking contest in the john.”

There are ZERO fresh reviews from “Top Critics” on Rotten Tomatoes. Mike Clark of USA Today, found the film, “simply unwatchable.” Roger Ebert called it, “A horrible mess of a movie.” But the only critic that truly matters is Hunter S. Thompson himself. Apparently at a test screening Thompson was yelling and jumping out of his seat during the preview, reliving the whole trip. “Yeah, I liked it,” said Thompson.