14 Best Canadian Comedy Movies (of All Time)
Canada has featured a series of very good tv shows and movies, being on numerous movie festivals, mostly independent, with great acceptance by both the audience and the critics. Filmed in both French and English language, often dealing with the problems immigrants face there, or the ways people live on their islands, etc. Their comedies are widely known and famous for their originality and interesting approach. Often a combination of dramas and romances, these are the 14 best Canadian comedy movies.
Monsieur Lazhar (2011)
One of the most acclaimed and famous Canadian movies is this comedy-drama about finding a way to deal with grief and sadness. Bachir Lazhar is an Algerian immigrant who is hired to replace an elementary school teacher who died tragically.
Everyone in school is suffering, devastated about the horrible news and no one is paying attention to this quiet man and his personal demons. While helping his students deal with the loss and grief they are experiencing, Mister Lazhar’s own recent loss is revealed.
This is a heartwarming drama with many numerous elements and is, in the end, a feel-good movie that shows how people can adapt and go through certain processes easier when there is someone else’s hand to help them.
Take This Waltz (2011)
Margot is on the plane back to Toronto and she meets a handsome stranger Daniel who she opens up and shares with him her most personal thoughts and longings. They take a taxi home and realise they are neighbours, so Margot immediately admits she is married.
But Margot is going to start to question her marriage and private life, start asking herself if she is indeed happy or if this fantasy of Daniel is something she needed to realise things are not as good as she thought them to be.
Dr Cabbie (2014)
This is an interesting comedy that deals with the problems immigrants might have when leaving their countries for a better life. Dr Deepak Vee Chopra is a young unemployed Indian doctor who decides to try his luck in distant Canada.
He arrives with the selfless idea of healing others and trying to start a new life in this big, beautiful country. But things don’t go as planned and Deepak will have to do something else in order not to starve. He takes a job as a cab driver and becomes a sensation when he decides to convert his taxi into a mobile clinic.
Le journal d’Aurelie Laflamme (2010)
Aurelie is a 16-year-old nerdy girl who feels lost and alone in the world, especially after the death of her father five years ago. She begins to contemplate and ask herself numerous questions that might explain the possibility of why she is so different from others, especially her mother.
What if her father was an alien and had to leave Earth and return to his planet? It would mean she was an alien as well and give answers to so many of her questions, including this inability to communicate with her mother and the fact that boys get on her nerves.
Aurelie starts to write a journal where she decides to share all her thoughts, revelations, and ideas and confide joys and sorrows, loves and friendships and in this way find peace and her place in this world.
Starbuck (2011)
This is the story of a 42-year-old David who lives like an irresponsible adolescent, doesn’t worry about anything and is in a complicated relationship with Valerie, a young policewoman. David’s life will completely change on the day Valerie announces she is pregnant.
He will remember his life from twenty years ago when he started providing sperm to a fertility clinic in exchange for money. He will very soon discover that he is the father of 533 children and that 142 of them have filed a lawsuit to determine who their father is, known only by the pseudonym Starbuck.
What If (2013)
This is a romantic story about Wallace, a medical school dropout who simply can’t get into a nice relationship. Everyone around him is happily in love, including his roommate, so Wallace decides to put his love life on hold.
Of course, this is the moment he meets a girl, this time a beautiful animator Chantry who lives with her longtime boyfriend. The chemistry between Wallace and Chantry is undeniable and they form a very close relationship, soon starting to wonder if it might be possible that the love of your life is actually your best friend.
Bon Cop Bad Cop
This action comedy will make you laugh and at the same time keep you on the edge of your seat. When the body of a famous hockey executive Benoit Brisset is found on the billboard in Quebec and Ontario, the investigation is divided between the offices in Montreal and Toronto.
The reckless detective David Bouchard from Montreal and the ethical Martin Ward from Toronto will have to work together and join forces to discover the identity behind the Tattoo Killer, a crazy and twisted serial killer who is killing hockey managers.
Seducing Dr Lewis (2003)
La grande seduction is one of the most popular and acclaimed Canadian comedies of all time, following the lives of the residents of a small, depressed fishing St. Marie-la-Mauderne in Quebec. They are promised a new factory if they can bring a doctor who will be ready to take up a full time job and residence on the island.
The villagers are eager to make it happen and inspired by the promises they’ve been given, they decide to make a scheme to make Dr Christopher Lewis a local. He is a 33-year-old plastic surgeon who is currently on the island since he’s been blackmailed to live there for one month.
Tucker and Dale Vs Evil (2010)
This hilarious horror parody tells the story of two lovable hillbillies who are headed to a vacation cabin in the woods, planning to fish, drink some beers and have a good time. It all looks quite promising until they meet a group of college kids who assume the worst of them.
Tucker and Dale are pretty specific, somewhat simple and completely benevolent, but the students make the assumption they are in-bred, chainsaw killers so their long awaited vacation soon takes a horrible turn for the worse, ending in bloodshed.
Porky’s (1981)
It is 1954 and a group of teenage male students decide to lose their virginity and begin surveilling some of their female classmates. Pee Wee is the most desperate of them all, which constantly puts him into funny and embarrassing situations.
Tim is a good guy who has more serious problems, dealing with his learned racism that comes to the surface upon the arrival of a new student Brian Schwartz and Billy is the third member of their interesting group. When their idea of losing virginity with their colleagues, they head to Porky’s, a bar and unofficial brothel in the neighbouring Wallacetown.
Don’t Talk to Irene (2017)
This engaging comedy brings the story of an unattractive overweight high school student Irene who wishes to become a cheerleader. After being suspended from school, he is given the punishment of working for two weeks in a retirement home, as a part of her community service.
Her passion for cheerleading doesn’t stop and she decides to indulge it by enrolling a group of senior citizens on a dance competition. This comedy shows that it is not important to have a perfect physique and looks in order to be accepted and excellent at what you do.
Waydowntown (2000)
This intriguing and original comedy follows four young office workers who make a bet to see who can last the longest without going outside. They put their monthly salary as a reward and the winner will take it all if he or she manages to endure being locked inside.
The movie is set in Calgary which is known for its system of covered walkways that connect the buildings, therefore the protagonists will be able to roam the buildings and see if it is enough for them, without getting the urge to get out. This is an interesting dark comedy that explores office and Canadian corporate culture.
New Waterford Girl (1999)
This story is set in the 1970s when a 15-year-old loner Agnes Marie dreams of escaping her hometown of New Waterford, a coastal Nova Scotia town. She doesn’t like people around her and even her family who are different from her.
Her parents are strict Catholics who don’t allow her to travel to New York City when she wins a scholarship to a New York art school, so she decides to leave New Waterford and tell no one.
The Delicate Art of Parking (2003)
This is a hilarious and absurd comedy/mockumentary about a fictitious Vancouver film crew that documents the professional life of a parking enforcement officer. He really loves his job and finds satisfaction in ticketing the town’s residents, despite being constantly abused by the public.
His devotion to work is challenged when his best friends end in a comma so he decides to embark on an investigation of the delicate art of parking, together with an angry young filmmaker, a Russian sound recordist.
