This list is regularly updated as movies rotate on and off of Prime Video. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk.
Who needs a good laugh? Prime Video has a deep catalog of comedies for every mood from romantic classics to modern blockbusters to the laugh-busters you loved when you were young. However, navigating their interface to find the best comedies can be tough, so we’re here to help Amazon connect with your funny bone with this updated list of the best comedies on Prime Video.
American Fiction
Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 56m
Director: Cord Jefferson
First-time director Cord Jefferson won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for this 2023 dramedy about pop culture expectations of Black entertainment. The great Jeffrey Wright also landed his first Oscar nod for playing Monk Ellison, a writer who struggles to sell his books until he leans into exaggerated, stereotypical portrayals of Black life. Wright is the fuel to this film’s engine, but Sterling K. Brown is also strong, earning a surprise Oscar nod himself too.
The Big Sick
Year: 2017
Runtime: 2h
Director: Michael Showalter
The wonderful screenwriters Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon basically told their own love story in this sweet and funny rom-com that Amazon picked up after audiences fell for it at Sundance. Nanjiani plays a loose variation on himself, a struggling stand-up who falls for a woman (Zoe Kazan) just before she becomes incredibly ill, forcing their relationship to move at an unusual pace. A smart, sweet, genuinely human film, this is one of the best romantic comedies of the 2010s.
*Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Year: 1989
Runtime: 1h 26m
Director: Stephen Herek
It’s really hard to dislike this charming time travel comedy about two underachieving buddies who travel through time for a school project. Keanu Reeves (Ted) and Alex Winter (Bill) are so wonderfully sweet and funny in a film that has held up better than most comedies of its era. Note: The great sequel is also on Prime Video.
*The Birdcage
Year: 1996
Runtime: 1h 56m
Director: Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols’ remake of the beloved La Cage aux Folles is a joyous comedy about acceptance and love that still works well today (which is not something you can about a lot of mid-‘90s comedies). Robin Williams and Nathan Lane are phenomenal as a gay couple forced to jump through hoops for their son’s new in-laws, played wonderfully by Gene Hackman and Dianne Wiest. It’s funny and smart from front to back.
Bottoms
Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 31m
Director: Emma Seligman
The writer/director of Shiva Baby avoided the sophomore slump with a film that feels completely different. Rachel Sennott and Emmy winner Ayo Edebiri star as a pair of high school girls who basically start a fight club to get closer to their crushes. Consistently funny in that surreal dark comedy way that Hollywood stopped doing about a quarter-century ago, it’s a movie that feels destined to be beloved by the generation to whom it’s most directly speaking to.
*Bowfinger
Year: 1999
Runtime: 1h 36m
Director: Frank Oz
One of Eddie Murphy’s career-best performances is in this 1999 satire from the great Frank Oz. Steve Martin stars as a filmmaker who is trying to make a film so low-budget that his star doesn’t even know he’s in the movie. Martin also wrote the script, which is razor sharp and consistently hysterical.
Bridesmaids
Year: 2011
Runtime: 2h 5m
Director: Paul Feig
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been over a decade since Bridesmaids shattered all expectations, making a fortune and turning Melissa McCarthy into a household name (especially after she landed an Oscar nomination). Smart and heartfelt, it’s the story of a woman (Kristen Wiig) who struggles in her role as Maid of Honor to a friend played by Rose Byrne. It’s still very, very funny.
Dope
Year: 2015
Runtime: 1h 42m
Director: Rick Famuyiwa
The writer/director of The Wood has a gift with location and how it influences young lives. Just look at this 2015 Sundance hit starring Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, and Kiersey Clemons as three average Ingelwood teens who get caught up in a dangerous situation with a drug dealer. It’s a vibrant, smart comedy that captures a modern coming-of-age narrative in a manner that feels genuine and true.
Fargo
Year: 1996
Runtime: 1h 34m
Director: Joel Coen
Joel and Ethan Coen’s 1996 masterpiece is only one of the best films ever made, a story of violence and redemption in the great American North. The Coens won Best Original Screenplay and Frances McDormand took her first Oscar home for playing the unforgettable Marge Gunderson, a Minnesotan cop who gets entangled in a car salesman’s deeply inept foray into the criminal world.
The General
Year: 1926
Runtime: 1h 15m
Directors: Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton
Truly classic comedies can be hard to find on streaming services, so take this chance to watch an all-timer, one of the best silent movies ever made. The phenomenally talented Buster Keaton stars and co-directs this action-adventure-comedy that has a little bit of something for everyone, and is really a great introduction to people who may not be familiar with Keaton’s remarkable skills.
Heathers
Year: 1989
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: Michael Lehmann
Talk about a movie ahead of its time. Coming-of-age teen comedies were never quite as wonderfully cynical before this movie about four teenage girls whose lives are upended by the arrival of a new kid, played by Christian Slater. More than just seeking to destroy the damaging cliques at his new school, Slater’s character has plans for something a little more permanent in this comedy that really shaped the teen genre for years to come.
Horrible Bosses
Year: 2011
Runtime: 1h 38m
Director: Seth Gordon
Seth Gordon directed this critical and commercial success from 2011 about three ordinary guys (Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis) dealing with three absolutely horrible bosses (Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, and Colin Farrell). Deciding they actually need to murder their abusive overlords, Horrible Bosses becomes an exercise in increasing insanity, held together by a fantastic ensemble. (Note: the disappointing sequel is also on Prime Video.)
Hundreds of Beavers
Year: 2024
Runtime: 1h 48m
Director: Mike Cheslik
One of the biggest indie films of the year is also one of the most inspired, a slapstick comedy with almost no dialogue, an ode to the silent classics of the 1920s and 1930s. Self-financed and self-distributed, this labor of love is an unforgettably original piece of filmmaking, unlike anything else you could watch on Prime Video, that’s for sure.
Knives Out
Year: 2019
Runtime: 2h 5m
Director: Rian Johnson
Daniel Craig’s mystery/comedy hasn’t been available on streamers other than Netflix (the home of Glass Onion) very often, so check it out! He stars as Detective Benoit Blanc, brought in to investigate the mysterious death of an author played by Christopher Plummer. Jamie Lee Curtis, LaKeith Stanfield, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Ana de Armas, and Chris Evans co-star in one of the most purely enjoyable films of the last decade.
Liar Liar
Year: 1997
Runtime: 1h 26pm
Director: Tom Shadyac
One of Jim Carrey’s best movies is this 1997 smash-hit comedy about an attorney whose son makes a wish that dad won’t be able to lie for an entire day. As with a lot of Carrey’s ‘90s comedies, it’s not the premise as much as the performer, who throws himself into every awkward situation and every bit of physical comedy with his entire being.
*The Little Hours
Year: 2017
Runtime: 1h 29m
Director: Jeff Baena
There’s a movie on Prime that features Aubrey Plaza as a profanity-spewing nun and you haven’t watched it yet? Jeff Baena’s Sundance hit also stars Alison Brie, Dave Franco, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, and Fred Armisen in a ridiculous, raunchy retelling of The Decameron. It’s reminiscent of classic Mel Brooks in the way it skewers classical storytelling structures with modern comic sensibilities. Watch it in honor or Baena, who passed in late 2024.
*Midnight Run
Year: 1988
Runtime: 2h 6m
Director: Martin Brest
Martin Brest directed one of the best ‘80s buddy comedies in this gem of a movie that paired Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin. The Oscar winner plays a bounty hunter assigned to bring back Grodin’s embezzling accountant, who stole money from the Chicago mob. Easier said than done. Grodin and De Niro have perfect comic chemistry.
My Old Ass
Year: 2024
Runtime: 1h 28m
Director: Megan Park
If there’s any justice, this Sundance darling will make Maisy Stella a star. The delightfully charming actress plays Elliott, a woman at a turning point in her life, about to leave her family home and start out on her own. This naturally chaotic chapter is interrupted by a drug-induced visit from Elliott’s older self, played marvelously by Aubrey Plaza. This one will sneak up on you.
*Mystic Pizza
Year: 1988
Runtime: 1h 44m
Director: Donald Petrie
When it was released in 1988, this romantic comedy barely had an audience, although people who did see it could tell that co-star Julia Roberts would be something special (this was the year before Pretty Woman) and it also marked the debut of Matt Damon. In the nearly four decades since, the cult status of Mystic Pizza has only grown.
Prince Avalanche
Year: 2013
Runtime: 1h 33m
Director: David Gordon Green
The great David Gordon Green delivered one of his most light-hearted dramedies in this 2013 Sundance hit based on the 2011 Icelandic film of the same name. Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch play a pair of guys who end up repainting traffic lines on a highway that has been decimated by a wildfire. The dynamic between the two stars carry this funny, bizarre film.
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