Ravi's Favorite Flicks

All Comedy Dark Comedy Crime Thrillers Drama Romance Documentary Foreign Music

Dark Comedies (70)

All Is Bright

Dark Comedy | 2013

While out on parole, Dennis reluctantly takes a job selling Christmas trees with his old buddy Rene in order to make enough money to buy his estranged daughter the piano she's always wanted.

Cast: Paul Giamatti, Paul Rudd, Sally Hawkins

Director: Phil Morrison

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Art Of The Steal

Dark Comedy | 2013

Crunch Calhoun, a semi-reformed art thief, agrees to get his old gang back together to pull off one last heist.

Cast: Kurt Russell, Jay Baruchel, Katheryn Winnick

Director: Jonathan Sobol

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Blue Jasmine

Dark Comedy | 2013

A New York socialite, deeply troubled and in denial, arrives in San Francisco to impose upon her sister. She looks a million, but isn't bringing money, peace, or love...

Cast: Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Peter Sarsgaard

Director: Woody Allen

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Computer Chess

Dark Comedy | 2013

A 1980's-set story centered around a man vs. machine chess tournament.

Cast: Kriss Schludermann, Tom Fletcher, Wiley Wiggins

Director: Andrew Bujalski

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Family, The

Dark Comedy | 2013

The Manzoni family, a notorious mafia clan, is relocated to Normandy, France under the witness protection program, where fitting in soon becomes challenging as their old habits die hard.

Cast: Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianna Agron

Director: Luc Besson

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, The

Dark Comedy | 2013

A day-dreamer escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. When his job along with that of his co-worker are threatened, he takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.

Cast: Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Jon Daly

Director: Ben Stiller

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Wolf Of Wall Street, The

Dark Comedy | 2013

Based on the true story of Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stockbroker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government.

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie

Director: Martin Scorsese

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Arthur Newman

Dark Comedy | 2012

A story of a man who fakes his own death and assumes a new identity in order to escape his life, who then moves in with a woman who is also trying to leave her past behind.

Cast: Colin Firth, Emily Blunt, Anne Heche

Director: Dante Ariola

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Cheerful Weather For The Wedding

Dark Comedy | 2012

A young woman frets upstairs in her family's country manor on her wedding day, fearful she's about to marry the wrong man. Downstairs, both her fiance and her former lover grow increasingly anxious.

Cast: Felicity Jones, Luke Treadaway, Elizabeth McGovern

Director: Donald Rice

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Gambit

Dark Comedy | 2012

An art curator decides to seek revenge on his abusive boss by conning him into buying a fake Monet, but his plan requires the help of an eccentric and unpredictable Texas rodeo queen.

Cast: Cameron Diaz, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman

Director: Michael Hoffman

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Seven Psychopaths

Dark Comedy | 2012

A struggling screenwriter inadvertently becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends kidnap a gangster's beloved Shih Tzu.

Cast: Colin Farrell, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell

Director: Martin McDonagh

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Silver Linings Playbook

Dark Comedy | 2012

After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro

Director: David O. Russell

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Bernie

Dark Comedy | 2011

In small-town Texas, the local mortician strikes up a friendship with a wealthy widow, though when he kills her, he goes to great lengths to create the illusion that she's alive.

Cast: Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Matthew McConaughey

Director: Richard Linklater

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Descendants, The

Dark Comedy | 2011

A land baron tries to re-connect with his two daughters after his wife suffers a boating accident.

Cast: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller

Director: Alexander Payne

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Horrible Bosses

Dark Comedy | 2011

Disgruntled buddies Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) can't leave their miserable jobs, so they cook up a creative strategy for eliminating each other's micromanaging and maniacal employers (Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Kevin Spacey) instead in this crackpot comedy. Peculiar advice from con artist Motherf**ker Jones (Jamie Foxx) gets the scheme in motion, but the pals can't keep the wheels from flying off.

Cast: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Kevin Spacey

Director: Seth Gordon

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Rum Diary, The

Dark Comedy | 2011

American journalist Paul Kemp takes on a freelance job in Puerto Rico for a local newspaper during the 1950s and struggles to find a balance between island culture and the expatriates who live there.

Cast: Johnny Depp, Giovanni Ribisi, Aaron Eckhart

Director: Bruce Robinson

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Thin Ice

Dark Comedy | 2011

An insurance agent looking for a way out of frigid Wisconsin is blackmailed by an unstable locksmith in the theft of a rare violin that belongs to a retired farmer.

Cast: Greg Kinnear, Billy Crudup, Alan Arkin

Director: Jill Sprecher

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

This Must Be The Place

Dark Comedy | 2011

A bored, retired rock star sets out to find his father's executioner, an ex-Nazi war criminal who is a refugee in the U.S.

Cast: Sean Penn, Frances McDormand, Judd Hirsch

Director: Paolo Sorrentino

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Bill Collector, The

Dark Comedy | 2010

Collection agency employee Lorenzo Adams has substantial debt of his own with Uncle Frankie, an unforgiving loan shark. With his payment deadline fast approaching, Lorenzo fashions a wild scheme to get himself off the hook in this comedy.

Cast: Danny Trejo, Gary Moore

Director: Cristobal Krusen

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Burke And Hare

Dark Comedy | 2010

Director John Landis rolls out his first feature film in more than a decade with this black comedy based on the true exploits of two 19th-century body snatchers, played by Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis. When Burke and Hare's successful business - selling corpses to the Edinburgh Medical College for dissection - is hampered by a supply shortage, the men are forced to take drastic measures. Isla Fisher and Tim Curry also star.

Cast: Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis

Director: John Landis

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Casino Jack

Dark Comedy | 2010

Kevin Spacey stars in this drama as disgraced political lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who defrauded Native American tribes out of tens of millions of dollars in his efforts to peddle influence in Washington's corridors of power. As justice closes in on Abramoff and his associates, the audacious scope of his scams comes to light. Based on true events, this film from director George Hickenlooper co-stars Kelly Preston and Barry Pepper.

Cast: Kevin Spacey, Kelly Preston

Director: George Hickenlooper

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Everything Must Go

Dark Comedy | 2010

Director-writer Dan Rush makes his film debut with this dramedy based on a Raymond Carver short story about Nick (Will Ferrell), a good-hearted but relapsed alcoholic who decides to live on his front lawn after losing his job and being thrown out by his wife.

Cast: Will Ferrell, Rebecca Hall

Director: Dan Rush

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Henry's Crime

Dark Comedy | 2010

Keanu Reeves stars in this dark comedy as Henry, an affable tollbooth worker in Buffalo, N.Y., who finds himself on the wrong end of justice when he's accused and convicted of a bank robbery that he didn't commit. After getting some advice from an old convict (James Caan) while spending time in the clink, Henry hatches a daring scheme of his own. Vera Farmiga, Judy Greer and Peter Stormare co-star.

Cast: Keanu Reeves, James Caan

Director: Malcolm Venville

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Human Resources Manager, The

Dark Comedy | 2010

This beautifully shot film combines comedy and tragedy in the tale of a workaholic human resources manager (Mark Ivanir) who neglects his family to further his career. But when an employee at his bakery is killed, he begins an odd journey toward self-realization. Offering to escort the woman's body from Israel back to her Eastern European homeland, the manager is puzzled by eccentric characters along the way but begins to understand the importance of family.

Cast: Mark Ivanir, Reymond Amsalem

Director: Eran Riklis

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: Hebrew (English subtitles)

My Name Is Khan

Dark Comedy | 2010

Rizwan Khan (Shahrukh Khan), a Muslim man with Asperger syndrome, lives happily with his wife, Mandira (Kajol), in San Francisco until a tragedy drives her away after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Now he is on a quest to recapture the heart of the woman he loves. Traveling across America, Rizwan faces prejudice because of his religion and unusual behavior, but he also inspires the people he meets with his unique outlook on life.

Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Kajol

Director: Karan Johar

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: Hindi (English subtitles)

Peepli Live

Dark Comedy | 2010

When indigent farmers Natha (Omkar Das) and Budhia (Raghuvir Yadav) stand to lose their land over a loan they can't repay, a government official comes up with a modest proposal: Commit suicide and collect a subsidy that's paid to the relatives of deceased farmers. As Natha weighs his options, a journalist learns of his predicament and the media circus begins. Anusha Rizvi directs this satirical take on a real-life crisis afflicting India's underclass.

Cast: Omkar Das, Raghuvir Yadav

Director: Anusha Rizvi

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: Hindi (English subtitles)

Snowman's Land

Dark Comedy | 2010

While protecting a crime boss's home in the Carpathian Mountains, a contract killer and his old friend get into a dangerous situation when the boss's wife is accidentally killed.

Cast: Jurgen Richmann, Thomas Wodianka, Reiner Schone

Director: Tomasz Thomson

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: German (English subtitles)

Way, The

Dark Comedy | 2010

A father heads overseas to recover the body of his estranged son who died while traveling the "El camino de Santiago," and decides to take the pilgrimage himself.

Cast: Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Deborah Kara Unger

Director: Emilio Estevez

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Informant!, The

Dark Comedy | 2009

While gathering evidence against his employer, ADM in Decatur, Ill., to help the FBI build a price-fixing conspiracy case, wealthy, affable executive Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon, in a Golden Globe-nominated role) begins to piece together a fantasy world of his own. Based on Kurt Eichenwald's acclaimed nonfiction book about a true-life Corporate America whistle-blower, Steven Soderbergh's dark comedy co-stars Scott Bakula, Joel McHale and Melanie Lynskey.

Cast: Matt Damon, Melanie Lynskey

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Solitary Man

Dark Comedy | 2009

Michael Douglas stars as a former car dealership owner who sees his personal and professional lives take a nosedive when the repercussions of years of shady business dealings and chronic womanizing finally catch up with him. Susan Sarandon, Mary-Louise Parker, Danny DeVito and Jenna Fischer co-star in this comedic drama written and co-directed by Brian Koppelman.

Cast: Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon

Director: Brian Koppelman

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Burn After Reading

Dark Comedy | 2008

In this darkly comic farce from Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, an ousted CIA official (John Malkovich) loses his penned memoir to a pair of moronic gym employees (Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand, in a Golden Globe-nominated role) who use it to try and turn a profit. George Clooney and Tilda Swinton round out the cast of this irreverent tale of poorly executed espionage, which also earned a Golden Globe nod for Best Picture (Comedy).

Cast: George Clooney, Frances McDormand

Director: Joel Coen

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

In Bruges

Dark Comedy | 2008

After killing an innocent boy in London, hit men Ray (Colin Farrell, in a Golden Globe-winning role) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are ordered to lay low at a bed and breakfast in Bruges, Belgium, until their boss (Ralph Fiennes) phones with further instructions. But when he calls, Ken doesn't like the assignment. Written and directed by Martin McDonagh, this dark comedy earned a BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay.

Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Colin Farrell

Director: Martin McDonagh

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Patrick, Age 1.5

Dark Comedy | 2008

After moving from the city to a small town, gay couple Sven (Torkel Petersson) and Goran (Gustaf Skarsgard) adopt a child. But when Patrik (Thomas Ljungman) arrives in their lives, it turns out he's not 1.5 years old as they were told by the adoption agency - he's a rebellious, homophobic 15-year-old. While the couple houses the angry boy until the mix-up is resolved, his presence causes them to reassess their lives.

Cast: Gustaf Skarsgard, Torkel Petersson

Director: Ella Lemhagen

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: Swedish (English subtitles)

Charlie Wilson's War

Dark Comedy | 2007

Based on the outrageous true story, Charlie Wilson's War shows how one congressman who loved a good time, one Houston socialite who loved a good cause and one renegade CIA agent who loved a good fight conspired to bring about the largest covert operation in history.

Cast: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Director: Mike Nichols

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Death At A Funeral

Dark Comedy | 2007

The funeral for the patriarch of a wealthy but eccentric British clan is turned topsy-turvy when a stranger appears, claiming to be the dead man's gay lover, in this black comedy from director Frank Oz. The dysfunctional family grows wackier as the deceased's sons decide they can't let the rest of the guests get wind of this revelation. But can they get the cat back into the bag? Peter Dinklage, Matthew Macfadyen and Rupert Graves co-star.

Cast: Matthew Macfadyen, Rupert Graves

Director: Frank Oz

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Pool, The

Dark Comedy | 2007

In this seriocomic study of class differences in India, a young hotel worker becomes obsessed with a swimming pool at an opulent mansion in Panjim, Goa. His life takes a wild turn when he meets the mysterious family that arrives at the house. The film, a World Cinema Dramatic Competition entry at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, is the narrative feature debut of director and co-writer Chris Smith, who helmed the famed documentary American Movie.

Cast: Jehangir Badshah, Venkatesh Chavan

Director: Chris Smith

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: Hindi (English subtitles)

Find Me Guilty

Dark Comedy | 2006

Training his lens on infamous mobster "Fat" Jack DiNorscio (Vin Diesel) - a man who decided to defend himself in court rather than rat out his cohorts - acclaimed director Sidney Lumet recounts the longest Mafia trial in U.S. history. Ron Silver and Annabella Sciorra co-star in this lighthearted legal dramedy, which draws its dialogue from actual courtroom transcripts involving 20 defendants, four prosecutors... and DiNorscio.

Cast: Vin Diesel, Alex Rocco

Director: Sidney Lumet

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Be Cool

Dark Comedy | 2005

Disenchanted with the movie industry, Chili Palmer (John Travolta) tries the music industry, meeting and romancing a widow of a music exec (Uma Thurman) on the way.

Cast: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Dwayne Johnson

Director: F. Gary Gray

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Big White, The

Dark Comedy | 2005

To remedy his financial problems, a travel agent has his eye on a frozen corpse, which just happens to be sought after by two hitmen.

Cast: Robin Williams, Holly Hunter, Giovanni Ribisi

Director: Mark Mylod

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Ice Harvest, The

Dark Comedy | 2005

A shady lawyer attempts a Christmas Eve crime, hoping to swindle the local mob out of some money. But his partner, a strip club owner, might have different plans for the cash.

Cast: John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Lara Phillips

Director: Harold Ramis

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Keeping Mum

Dark Comedy | 2005

When housekeeper Grace Hawkins (Maggie Smith) arrives at the Goodfellow vicarage, she finds a reverend (Rowan Atkinson) too busy for sex, a bored wife (Kristin Scott Thomas) who's bedding her golf instructor (Patrick Swayze), a promiscuous teenage daughter and a bullied son. Little does the family know that their new "Mary Poppins" has a few tricks - and secrets - up her treacherous sleeve. Niall Johnson directs this wickedly black comedy.

Cast: Rowan Atkinson, Kristin Scott Thomas

Director: Niall Johnson

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Dark Comedy | 2005

A murder mystery brings together a private eye, a struggling actress, and a thief masquerading as an actor.

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan

Director: Shane Black

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Good Woman, A

Dark Comedy | 2004

In this period comedy based on one of Oscar Wilde's most popular plays (Lady Windermere's Fan), Mrs. Erlynne (Helen Hunt) is a widow who lives comfortably through the largesse of several married men. When she runs out of wealthy suitors in Manhattan, she decides to find greener pastures among the wealthy elite of Italy's Amalfi coast.

Cast: Helen Hunt, Scarlett Johansson, Milena Vukotic

Director: Mike Barker

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Terminal

Dark Comedy | 2004

Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) is a man without a country; his plane took off just as a coup d'etat exploded in his homeland, leaving it in shambles, and now he's stranded at Kennedy Airport, where he's holding a passport that nobody recognizes. While quarantined in the transit lounge until authorities can figure out what to do with him, Viktor simply goes on living - and courts romance with a beautiful flight attendant (Catherine Zeta-Jones).

Cast: Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones

Director: Steven Spielberg

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Bandits

Dark Comedy | 2001

A suave bank robber and his hypochondriac buddy devise a clever scheme to take a bank officer hostage the night before a heist, then simply escort the executive to work early the next morning when they clean out the vault. Wanting to make a nice pile of money before crossing the Mexican border to a life of freedom and legitimacy, their quest gets complicated when one of them is struck by a car driven by a bored housewife who's then forced to join their crime spree.

Cast: Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett

Director: Barry Levinson

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Dark Comedy | 2000

With their collective eye focused on retrieving a cache of hidden money, three convicts (George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson) break out of jail in Depression-era Mississippi and embark on an epic journey that bears more than a few similarities to Homer's Odyssey. Along the way, they fast-talk their way out of jams, sidestep alluring riverside sirens and record a hit country song as the Soggy Bottom Boys.

Cast: George Clooney, John Turturro

Director: Joel Coen

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Three Kings

Dark Comedy | 1999

George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube star in this satirical dark comedy from writer-director David O. Russell (Flirting with Disaster) as a group of American soldiers stationed in Iraq at the end of the Gulf War. When the three arguably wise men find a map they believe will take them to a huge cache of stolen Kuwaiti gold hidden near their base, they embark on a secret mission that's destined to change everything.

Cast: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg

Director: David O Russell

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Bottle Rocket

Dark Comedy | 1996

A bright, optimistic caper comedy, Bottle Rocket focuses on a group of young Texans aspiring to become master thieves. Their leader is an upbeat if naive charmer who convinces his friends to enter the crime business. After their first heist, a bizarrely-executed robbery of a local bookstore, the trio goes on the lam, taking up residence in a border hotel, where one of the trio falls in love with a maid. When the three buddies decide that they need to return to the real world, they hook up with a master con-man (James Caan) who sends them on a daring - if ill-concieved - mission.

Cast: Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Ned Dowd

Director: Wes Anderson

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Fargo

Dark Comedy | 1996

Frances McDormand won an Oscar for her turn as pregnant police chief Marge Gunderson - a serious sleuth who's sharper than her folksy accent suggests - in this Coen brothers black comedy that also earned the siblings a nod for Best Screenplay. William H. Macy co-stars as a car dealer who conspires with hotheaded kidnappers (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife (Kristin Rudrud) so he can pocket part of the hefty ransom.

Cast: Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi

Director: Joel Coen

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Pulp Fiction

Dark Comedy | 1994

A burger-loving hit man (John Travolta), his philosophical partner (Samuel L. Jackson), a drug-addled gangster's moll (Uma Thurman) and a washed-up boxer (Bruce Willis) converge in this sprawling, comedic crime caper fueled by director and co-writer Quentin Tarantino's whip-smart dialogue. Their adventures unfurl in three stories that ingeniously trip back and forth in time, resulting in one of the most audacious and imitated films of the 1990s.

Cast: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Swimming With Sharks

Dark Comedy | 1994

In this underrated (and fairly violent) black comedy, gullible Guy (Frank Whaley) lands a job as personal assistant to Buddy Ackerman (Kevin Spacey), a repulsive, cutthroat studio exec who turns Guy's daily routine into a pride-swallowing siege. Guy is eager to climb the ladder of success, but Buddy stops at nothing to grab credit and foil Guy's plans. What Buddy doesn't know is that the tables are about to turn.

Cast: Frank Whaley, Kevin Spacey

Director: George Huang

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Falling Down

Dark Comedy | 1993

Bill Foster (Michael Douglas) is having a very bad day: He's been fired from his job, gets stuck in a traffic jam and is forced to walk through the sizzling L.A. streets. As the obstacles mount and his temper frays, Foster begins lashing out at society's injustices. Joel Schumacher's dark comedy also stars Robert Duvall as an overzealous cop who gets wind of Foster's near-psychotic rampage and sets out to bring him down.

Cast: Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall

Director: Joel Schumacher

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Manhattan Murder Mystery

Dark Comedy | 1993

When an elderly neighbor in good health unexpectedly dies, a married Manhattanite (Diane Keaton) is convinced the woman's death was no accident. She ropes a few of her friends (Alan Alda and Anjelica Huston) into playing whodunit, despite protests from her skeptical husband (Woody Allen, who also directs). He doesn't believe it was murder, but he joins the investigation soon enough - just to keep his marriage alive.

Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton

Director: Woody Allen

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Barton Fink

Dark Comedy | 1991

Idealistic playwright Barton Fink (John Turturro) believes writing should reveal the hopes, dreams and tragedies of the common man. When Hollywood taps him to write a movie, Fink develops severe writer's block and soon falls victim to a strange sequence of events. Unable to combine his deep-seated ethics with Tinseltown's frivolity, the disillusioned and desperate Fink winds up involved in a murder investigation in this Oscar-nominated dramedy.

Cast: John Turturro, John Goodman

Director: Joel Coen

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Shock To The System, A

Dark Comedy | 1990

And you thought the business world was cutthroat! Graham Marshall (Michael Caine) is a no-nonsense advertising executive who plots a series of clever murders (his wife and new boss among them) when he's passed over for a much-deserved promotion. Fueled by his apparent omnipotence, Graham maniacally (and comically) reaches for the top. Co-stars Zach Grenier, Swoosie Kurtz, Elizabeth McGovern, Will Patton and Peter Riegert.

Cast: Michael Caine, Elizabeth McGovern

Director: Jan Egleson

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Crimes And Misdemeanors

Dark Comedy | 1989

Respected ophthalmologist Judah (Martin Landau) faces an ugly dilemma when his mistress (Anjelica Huston) threatens to expose their affair. Meanwhile, married filmmaker Cliff (Woody Allen) falls for a TV producer while shooting a documentary about an arrogant comedian (Alan Alda). Allen's masterful meditation on truth and responsibility, by turns both funny and harrowing, ranks among the finest of the iconic director's work.

Cast: Woody Allen, Anjelica Huston

Director: Woody Allen

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Midnight Run

Dark Comedy | 1988

Robert De Niro stars as Jack Walsh, a hard-bitten bounty hunter offered $100,000 to bring in embezzler Jonathan Mardukas (Charles Grodin). Handcuffed to the wimpy Mardukas, Walsh assumes that the extradition trip from New York to Los Angeles will be an uneventful one. But the prisoner hasn't told Walsh the whole story: the embezzler owes $15 million to a mobster (Dennis Farina), and he's been targeted for assassination.

Cast: Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, Yaphet Kotto

Director: Martin Brest

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Hold-Up

Dark Comedy | 1985

Dressed as a clown, the clever rascal Grimm holds up the most secure bank of Montreal and takes 30 hostages. While confusing and ridiculing the police with his strange behavior, he calmly manages to rid the bank of a fortune. But then an unsatisfied companion arouses trouble...

Cast: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Kim Cattrall, Guy Marchand

Director: Alexandre Arcady

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Buddy Buddy

Dark Comedy | 1981

Hired to kill a former gangster set to testify against the mob, professional hit man Trabucco (Walter Matthau) struggles to rub out his latest target, thanks to constant pestering from a clumsy, suicidal stranger (Jack Lemmon), who slowly becomes his new best friend. The final feature film of director Billy Wilder's storied career, this zany dark comedy pokes fun at popular trends of the era like disco and Betamax.

Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau

Director: Billy Wilder

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

First Great Train Robbery, The

Dark Comedy | 1979

A lively, humorous caper film of the first order, The First Great Train Robbery is Michael Crichton's ambitious adaptation of his own novel, which was inspired by the facts of the first known train robbery. Crichton sets this attractive, highly enjoyable film in London in 1855, where Edward Pierce (Sean Connery) and Agar (Donald Sutherland) plot to steal 25,000 Pounds Sterling in gold that is being transported by train to pay British troops in the Crimean War. Lesley-Anne Down plays Miriam, Pierce's sophisticated paramour and the third partner in the scheme; while Pierce and Agar make copies of four keys for the train's closely guarded safes, she uses her feminine wiles to distract a variety of officials and businessmen with connections to the gold.

Cast: Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland, Lesley-Anne Down, Alan Webb, Malcolm Terris

Director: Michael Crichton

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Cheap Detective, The

Dark Comedy | 1978

San Francisco, 1940, detectives, dames, documents, Nazis, and a treasure.

Cast: Peter Falk, Ann-Margret, Eileen Brennan

Director: Robert Moore

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Family Plot

Dark Comedy | 1976

Alfred Hitchcock's final film (at age 76) is an easygoing suspense mystery. An atypically heroic Bruce Dern (who was in Hitch's Marnie 12 years earlier) plays a cabbie who teams with a semi-phony psychic (Barbara Harris) to collect a big reward by finding a kidnapped millionaire. Watch for visual references to previous Hitchcock classics. Ernest Lehman, Hitchcock's collaborator on North by Northwest, adapted the novel by Victor Canning.

Cast: Karen Black, Bruce Dern

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Italian Job, The

Dark Comedy | 1969

The quintessential British caper film of the 1960s, The Italian Job is a flashy, fast romp that chases a team of career criminals throughout one of the biggest international gold heists in history.

Cast: Michael Caine, Noel Coward, Benny Hill

Director: Peter Collinson

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Hot Millions

Dark Comedy | 1968

A Cockney con-artist just out of prison replaces an insurance company's computer programmer and sends claim checks to himself in various guises at addresses all over Europe. Meanwhile, he falls in love with inept secretary and frustrated flutist, Maggie Smith.

Cast: Peter Ustinov, Maggie Smith, Karl Malden

Director: Eric Till

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Charade

Dark Comedy | 1963

Romance and suspense in Paris, as a woman is pursued by several men who want a fortune her murdered husband had stolen. Who can she trust?

Cast: Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau

Director: Stanley Donen

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

League Of Gentlemen, The

Dark Comedy | 1960

A disgruntled veteran recruits a group of disgraced collegues to perform a bank robbery with military precision.

Cast: Jack Hawkins, Nigel Patrick, Roger Livesey

Director: Basil Dearden

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Ladykillers, The

Dark Comedy | 1955

Professor Marcus (Alec Guinness) is the leader of a crime ring planning a heist. His confederates, blowhard Major Courtney (Cecil Parker), suave Louis (Herbert Lom), chubby Harry (Peter Sellers) and muscleman One-Round (Danny Green), dodge their landlady's constant interruptions. The hoods hit upon the idea to use her in the daring daylight robbery, but she discovers the truth... it may be the end of her!

Cast: Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers

Director: Alexander Mackendrick

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Trouble With Harry, The

Dark Comedy | 1955

Alfred Hitchcock's second American comedy demonstrates the director's flair for gallows humor. The trouble with Harry is... he's "expired," and the residents of a quaint New England tourist spot just can't seem to get rid of him. Shirley MacLaine makes her film debut, and that's Jerry Mathers (the Beave himself) as the bewildered boy. See if you can spot Hitchcock in his customary cameo (hint: he's strolling past a limo).

Cast: Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Beat The Devil

Dark Comedy | 1953

A quartet of international crooks - Peterson, O'Hara, Ross and Ravello - is stranded in Italy while their steamer is being repaired. With them are the Dannreuthers. The six are headed for Africa, presumably to sell vacuum cleaners but actually to buy land supposedly loaded with uranium. They are joined by others who apparently have similar designs.

Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida

Director: John Huston

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English

Kind Hearts And Coronets

Dark Comedy | 1949

A distant poor relative of the Duke of D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.

Cast: Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Valerie Hobson

Director: Robert Hamer

Genre: Dark Comedy

Language: English