Comedy
Comedy is one of the most known genre’s there is. The ability to make people laugh is something that comedy aims to do in every film. The best part about comedies though, is how they cater to any age group.
Demographics show that films can aim at any audience, depending on the film. Some movies, however, can cater to everyone. Movies after G, or PG, aim for family friendly comedy. PG-13 aims for an older sense of the art, and R can range from any type of adult comedy. In any rating, comedy appeals to both men and women equally.
Some conventions in comedy’s term the humorous way that the genre will exaggerate situations, language, action, or characters. The genre may focus on normal topics in life, but show them in a way that makes it funny ot satirical. Most of the time, comedies will have happy endings, as they are known for being lighthearted and having happy endings. The humor may vary though, with both serious or pessimistic views on the world and issues at hand.
Production is a huge factor in shaping the convention of comedy as well. Casting, directing, and producing will affect the movie and how funny it ends up being. With the right actors, comedy can flow. While you may cast a very funny actor, the type of comedy may not suit them, and the delivery and effect of the lines may be off. Casting the right actors for each role is a major part of production. Directing and producing heavily affect the film, as different directors have different takes on comedies and their scripts. What one director might see as gold, and able to make the audience die of laughter, another may want to edit and have a different type of affect on the audience. Whatever is chosen, the comedy switches at will.
Besides the filming, promotion and institutional conventions can make or break a film. With the wrong advertising, a movie may receive a completely different audience. Trailers are heavy factors in this, as the directing in these will show what the movie is about, and what type of comedy the movie is portraying.
The first film I will discuss is one of my all time favorites, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. One of the earliest “coming of age movies” was made in 1986. This movie travels through the city of Chicago with Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick), as he and his best friend, Cameron (Alan Ruck), and girlfriend, Sloane (Mia Sara), make the most out of their day off of school. The comedy has excellent humor and plot, as the actors and directors build suspense throughout, with hints of comedy at every turn. The delivery from each actor is close to flawless, and the story could not be written better. Furthermore, the famous opening monologue performed by Ferris, is one of the best of all time, and continues to be referred to and mentioned in modern culture. This movie was so influential to cinema as a whole, and paved the way for many future comedy, teenage movies.
The second film in consideration is The Hangover. The Hangover, made in 2009, tells the story of three friends (Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifanakis, Ed Helms) waking up after a night in Las Vegas, and struggle to find the other friend they came with (Justin Bartha). Of course, chaos ensues, new characters are introduced to entertain the audience, and in the end, it all works out. With outstanding actors, including Ken Joeng and even Mike Tyson, this movie delivers on everything anyone could want. There are elements that are plain out stupid, that some people enjoy, or deeper humor that may take a second to register. In one of the overall best comedies of all time, this movie went on to set up two further sequels. In the Todd Phillips (Old School, Road Trip) directed comedy of the decade, it contains enough humor to keep any audience member entertained and laughing throughout.
Grown Ups (2010)
