Good Family-Friendly Comedies

[CrimsonMaiden]

Can anyone recommend one? Our New Year's Eve plans include watching a movie with a group of people that include several young ones, so we need something fit for all. I'd prefer it NOT be animated if at all possible but it needs to be something that will hold the interest of the kids & still be enjoyable for the adults. Age range 7ish-12 (mostly boys).

Thanks!

 

[midwestyankee]

Can anyone recommend one? Our New Year's Eve plans include watching a movie with a group of people that include several young ones, so we need something fit for all. I'd prefer it NOT be animated if at all possible but it needs to be something that will hold the interest of the kids & still be enjoyable for the adults. Age range 7ish-12 (mostly boys).

Thanks!

Consider these: Three Stooges, Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello

More recent: Jerry Lewis, the original Flubber movies with Fred MacMurray, anything with Don Knotts

 

[glynndah]

Consider these: Three Stooges, Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello

More recent: Jerry Lewis, the original Flubber movies with Fred MacMurray, anything with Don Knotts

Add Laurel and Hardy to that list, too.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Consider these: Three Stooges, Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello

More recent: Jerry Lewis, the original Flubber movies with Fred MacMurray, anything with Don Knotts

I'd go for the Marx Brothers. Animal Crackers is a side-splitting classic.

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

I'd rather have something more current (as in this decade). As far as Laurel & Hardy, Marx Brothers, Three Stooges, etc goes... so not my kind of humor. Thanks for the suggestions though!

 

[midwestyankee]

I'd rather have something more current (as in this decade). As far as Laurel & Hardy, Marx Brothers, Three Stooges, etc goes... so not my kind of humor. Thanks for the suggestions though!

I can appreciate your interest in something a little more current: my own kids balked often at watching older movies (But, Dad, it's in black and white"), though to be candid I was focused far more on entertaining a flock of young ones under twelve more than on you and the other adults.

Something a little offbeat might be Father Goose, with Cary Grant. It's set in the latter days of WWII and has a fair amount of slapstick humor in it to balance out the romance between Grant and Leslie Caron.

Galaxy Quest, with Tim Allen and Alan Rickman does a fine job of parodying Star Trek fans - which might be fun for all.

The Mouse that Roared, with Peter Sellers, is a classic goofy comedy about a tiny country that starts a war with the United States over a spat about wine.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Kidlet really liked the new Mummy movie, if that's not too violent. The new Journey To The Center of the Earth is also very good and held my seven year old's attention in the theater.
or there's always Alvin and the Chipmunks, Clone Wars, Indiana Jones, Evan Almighty, Sky High, Spy Kids, Narnia, Jumanji, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Crystal, Labryinth, National Treasure, Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Lemony Snickett, Speed Racer....

 

[freshface]

How about Babe or the first Harry Potter movie?

 

[midwestyankee]

How about Babe or the first Harry Potter movie?

Babe was hysterical. Good choice.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Er, you said comedies, didn't you? I just realized this.
I think I just suggested all action movies. There simply aren't very many family comedies that don't involve talking dogs....

 

[midwestyankee]

Er, you said comedies, didn't you? I just realized this.
I think I just suggested all action movies. There simply aren't very many family comedies that don't involve talking dogs....

True...most of the talking chicken movies are animated.

 

[cloudy]

I'll second Evan Almighty. My eight-year-old loved it, and adults will appreciate it, too.

Have a Shrek marathon? Those usually go over well with everybody.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

True...most of the talking chicken movies are animated.

LOL. Chicken Little is like my fave movie ever.

 

[freshface]

If you can handle claymation, Chicken Run might work.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I was always a Chicken Run fan. Claymation, as opposed to standard or computer generated animation

 

[voluptuary_manque]

How about George of the Jungle, then? It has humor for everyone from six on up. Hot Mama and I were sitting in the theater nearly falling out of our seats on that one. We even laughed at parts that no one else seemed to get.

 

[midwestyankee]

LOL. Chicken Little is like my fave movie ever.

I'm fond of Chicken Run myself. And while they're animated (in a sense), the Wallace and Grommet films are capable of making anyone laugh.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I'm fond of Chicken Run myself. And while they're animated (in a sense), the Wallace and Grommet films are capable of making anyone laugh.

The only reason I didn't suggest W&G is because she didn't want animation. Chicken Run is definitely a multi-age flic just like George.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

I'm fond of Chicken Run myself. And while they're animated (in a sense), the Wallace and Grommet films are capable of making anyone laugh.

Oh yeah, I love Wallace and Grommet! The were-rabbit thing was hilarious.

 

[midwestyankee]

Oh yeah, I love Wallace and Grommet! The were-rabbit thing was hilarious.

Yes, and wasn't there an evil chicken in one of the episodes?

 

[NoJo]

Why do you want to avoid the animated fims? They're by far the best movies for kids I think -- The Shrek movies and the Toy Story movies were my kids' favorite. Anastasia was my favorite

Non-animated: My kids at 7 liked Legally Blond, Sister Act, Mary Poppins. Sound of Music, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Matilda, Home Alone, Wayne's World, Parent Trap, Freaky Friday

But: The film they would ask for most has already been mentioned here: The Marx Brothers Animal Crackers. At that age, kids "get" the comedy of the Marx brothers better than most adults.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Yes, and wasn't there an evil chicken in one of the episodes?

I think he was actually a penguin disguised as a chicken.

 

[sweetness6280]

Third for Evan Almighty. Love W&G and The chicken movies....

Others... Big, RV, Short Circuit, The Sandlot (tho if memory serves there might be a questionable scene or two), Addams Family (both), Milk Money (might be a little old for the 7 yr old), Beethoven movies

I like the National Treasure movies... not strictly comedy but have some comedic moments.

I also like Lemony Snicket.

Gotta give another vote for the Shrek trilogy...

 

[midwestyankee]

I think he was actually a penguin disguised as a chicken.

I think you're right! That certainly explains why he was inordinately evil for a chicken. After all, he might have been one of those gay penguins that scared the crap out of the nutjobs a year or so ago.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I think you're right! That certainly explains why he was inordinately evil for a chicken. After all, he might have been one of those gay penguins that scared the crap out of the nutjobs a year or so ago.

That's The Wrong Pants. The were- rabbit was better.