Best Comedy Movies of 1997

After a police chase with an otherworldly being, a New York City cop is recruited as an agent in a top-secret organization established to monitor and police alien activity on Earth: the Men in Black. Agent Kay and new recruit Agent Jay find themselves in the middle of a deadly plot by an intergalactic terrorist who has arrived on Earth to assassinate two ambassadors from opposing galaxies.

Bestowed with superhuman strength, a young mortal named Hercules sets out to prove himself a hero in the eyes of his father, the great god Zeus. Along with his friends Pegasus, a flying horse, and Phil, a personal trainer, Hercules is tricked by the hilarious, hotheaded villain Hades, who's plotting to take over Mount Olympus!

Jackie Brown is a flight attendant who gets caught in the middle of smuggling cash into the country for her gunrunner boss. When the cops try to use Jackie to get to her boss, she hatches a plan — with help from a bail bondsman — to keep the money for herself.

Sheffield, England. Gaz, a jobless steelworker in need of quick cash persuades his mates to bare it all in a one-night-only strip show.

Holden and Banky are comic book artists. Everything is going good for them until they meet Alyssa, also a comic book artist. Holden falls for her, but his hopes are crushed when he finds out she's a lesbian.

Fletcher Reede is a fast-talking attorney and habitual liar. When his son Max blows out the candles on his fifth birthday he has just one wish - that his dad will stop lying for 24 hours. When Max's wish comes true, Fletcher discovers that his mouth has suddenly become his biggest liability.

As a swingin' fashion photographer by day and a groovy British superagent by night, Austin Powers is the '60s' most shagadelic spy, baby! But can he stop megalomaniac Dr. Evil after the bald villain freezes himself and unthaws in the '90s? With the help of sexy sidekick Vanessa Kensington, he just might.

A Melbourne family is very happy living near the Melbourne airport. However, they are forced to leave their beloved home (by the Government and airport authorities) to make way for more runways. 'The Castle' is the story of how they fight to remain in their home.

Childlike Englishman, Mr. Bean, is an incompetent watchman at the Royal National Gallery. After the museum's board of directors' attempt to have him fired is blocked by the chairman, who has taken a liking to Bean, they send him to Los Angeles to act as their ambassador for the unveiling of a historic painting to humiliate him. Fooled, Mr. Bean must now successfully unveil the painting or risk his and a hapless Los Angeles curator's termination.

When she receives word that her longtime platonic pal Michael O'Neal is getting married to debutante Kimberly Wallace, food critic Julianne Potter realizes her true feelings for Michael -- and sets out to sabotage the wedding.

Down-on-their luck brothers, Lars and Ernie Smuntz, aren't happy with the crumbling old mansion they inherit... until they discover the estate is worth millions. Before they can cash in, they have to rid the house of its single, stubborn occupant—a tiny and tenacious mouse.

This film tells the story of a successful writer called Harry Block, played by Allen himself, who draws inspiration from people he knows in real-life, and from events that happened to him, sometimes causing these people to become alienated from him as a result.

Martin Blank is a hitman for hire. When he starts to develop a conscience, he botches a couple of routine jobs. On the advice of his secretary and his psychiatrist, he decides to attend his ten-year high school reunion in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

During the final weeks of a presidential race, the President is accused of sexual misconduct. To distract the public until the election, the President's adviser hires a Hollywood producer to help him stage a fake war.

Two business executives--one an avowed misogynist, the other recently emotionally wounded by his love interest--set out to exact revenge on the female gender by seeking out the most innocent, uncorrupted girl they can find and ruining her life.

The auto-biographical story of Howard Stern, the radio-rebel who is now also a TV-personality, an author and a movie star.

After a friend overdoses, Spoon and Stretch decide to kick their drug habits and attempt to enroll in a government detox program. Their efforts are hampered by seemingly endless red tape, as they are shuffled from one office to another while being chased by drug dealers and the police.

Advertising executive Nick Beame learns that his wife is sleeping with his employer. In a state of despair, he encounters a bumbling thief whose attempted carjacking goes awry when Nick takes him on an involuntary joyride. Soon the betrayed businessman and the incompetent crook strike up a partnership and develop a robbery-revenge scheme. But it turns out that some other criminals in the area don't appreciate the competition.

Solomon and Tummler are two teenagers killing time in Xenia, Ohio, a small town that has never recovered from the tornado that ravaged the community in the 1970s.

A romantic comedy about a man, a woman and a football team. Based on Nick Hornby's best selling autobiographical novel, Fever Pitch. English teacher Paul Ashworth believes his long standing obsession with Arsenal serves him well. But then he meets Sarah. Their relationship develops in tandem with Arsenal's roller coaster fortunes in the football league, both leading to a nail biting climax.

An American gets a ticket for an audience participation game in London, then gets involved in a case of mistaken identity. As an international plot unravels around him, he thinks it's all part of the act.

Deep in the African jungle, a baby named George, the sole survivor of a plane crash, is raised by gorillas. George grows up to be a buff and lovable klutz who has a rain forest full of animal friends: Tookie, his big-beaked toucan messenger; Ape, a witty talking gorilla; and Shep, a peanut-loving pooch of an elephant. But when poachers mess with George's pals, the King Of Swing swings into action.

A midwestern teacher questions his sexuality after a former student makes a comment about him at the Academy Awards.

Ex-policeman Rollo Lee is sent to run Marwood Zoo, the newly acquired business of a New Zealand tycoon. In order to meet high profit targets and keep the zoo open, Rollo enforces a new 'fierce creatures' policy, whereby only the most impressive and dangerous animals are allowed to remain in the zoo. However, the keepers are less enthusiastic about complying with these demands.

Two not-too-bright party girls reinvent themselves for their high school reunion. Armed with a borrowed Jaguar, new clothes and the story of their success as the inventors of Post-It notes, Romy and Michele descend on their alma mater, but their façade crumbles quickly.

Professor Phillip Brainard, an absent minded professor, works with his assistant Weebo, trying to create a substance that's a new source of energy and that will save Medfield College where his sweetheart Sara is the president. He has missed his wedding twice, and on the afternoon of his third wedding, Professor Brainard creates flubber, which allows objects to fly through the air.

After a one night stand with Alex, Isabel realizes that she is pregnant and they decide to get married. However, along with the marriage comes compromise of one's own cultural traditions.

Good-natured astronomer Sam is devastated when the love of his life leaves him for a suave Frenchman. He therefore does what every other normal dumpee would do — go to New York and set up home in the abandoned building opposite his ex-girlfriend's apartment, wait until she decides to leave her current lover, and then win her back.

Danny, an ambitious singing and dancing cat, goes to Hollywood and overcomes several obstacles to fulfill his dream of becoming a movie star.

A couple of angels, O'Reilly and Jackson, are sent to Earth to make sure that their next supervised love-connection succeeds. They follow Celine, a spoiled rich girl who has just accidentally shot a suitor and, due to a misunderstanding, is kidnapped by janitor Robert. Although Celine quickly frees herself, she stays with Robert for thrills. O'Reilly and Jackson pursue, hoping to unite the prospective lovers.

The Griswold family hits the road again for a typically ill-fated vacation, this time to the glitzy mecca of slots and showgirls—Las Vegas.

Sought by police and criminals, a small-time huckster makes a deal with a TV newsman for protection.

Brad Sexton and his wife, Caroline, are wealthy New Yorkers with both marital and financial problems. The latter issue becomes a pressing matter when they discover that their accountant has embezzled millions and pinned the blame on them. Forced to go on the lam, Brad and Caroline end up in an Amish area of Pennsylvania and decide to pose as members of the religious group to evade the IRS. As the two adapt to the simple Amish lifestyle, they begin to reconnect.

Two hapless youths lead their burger joint in a fight against the giant fast-food chain across the street.

In Los Angeles, a colorful assortment of bohemians try to make sense of their intersecting lives. The moody Dark Smith, his bisexual girlfriend, her lesbian lover and their shy gay friend plan on attending the wildest party of the year. But they'll only make it if they can survive the drug trips, suicides, trysts, mutilations and alien abductions that occur as one surreal day unfolds.

Roper, a hostage negotiator catches a murderous bank robber after a blown heist. The bank robber escapes and immediately goes after the man who put him behind bars.

Eddie Izzard's routine has a loose trajectory from the beginning of the Old Testament and the creation of the world in seven days to Revelations. Along the way, we learn of the search for a career, bad giraffes, Prince Philip's gaffes, toilets in French campsites, the mysteries of hopscotch, becoming one's Dad and tranny bashing.

A young advertising executive's life becomes increasingly complicated when, in order to impress her boss, she pretends to be engaged to a man she has just met.

Darius Lovehall is a young black poet in Chicago who starts dating Nina Moseley, a beautiful and talented photographer. While trying to figure out if they've got a "love thing" or are just "kicking it," they hang out with their friends, talking about love and sex. Then Nina tests the strength of Darius' feelings and sets a chain of romantic complications into motion.

9-year-old Alex Pruitt is home alone with the chicken pox. Turns out, due to a mix-up among nefarious spies, Alex was given a toy car concealing a top-secret microchip. Now Alex must fend off the spies as they try to break into his house to get it back.

An American man unwittingly gets involved with werewolves who have developed a serum allowing them to transform at will.

Smart aleck lawyer, Jack Lawrence is one day visited by an ex-girlfriend who tells him her child is his. Enter Dale Putley. A depressed goofball who is also a writer, Dale meets with the same ex-girlfriend who also tells him her child is his. One day Jack and Dale meet and discover they've been told the same story—and there is now a question of who the real father is. They learn their son is following a rock band around Sacramento, so Jack and Dale must use teamwork to find him—and then find out which one of them is the real father.

A rich brat fakes her own kidnapping, but in the process ends up locked in the trunk of a car that gets stolen.

A lonely boy befriends a stray dog who has a natural talent for basketball and together they experience the highs and lows of life as their friendship remains solid through a series of escapades.

Haru, an orphaned American who washes ashore in Japan and is mistaken for the great White Ninja of legend. Raised among the finest Ninjas, Haru grows strong and big - very big. With the grace of all Three Stooges rolled into one body, Haru is an embarrassment to his clan. But when a beautiful blonde pleads for his help, Haru is given one dangerous, disastrously funny chance to prove himself.

Stormtroopers on Tattooine show us what life is like patrolling and law-upholding on the sandy planet. While being filmed for the hit Imperial TV show TROOPS, Stormtroopers from the infamous Black Sheep Squadron on patrol run into some very familiar characters.

Filmed during their sell-out 1997 tour, Bottom Live 3: Hooligan's Island features Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson at their comedic finest. This time around Richie Richard (Mayall) and Eddie Hitler (Edmondson) are marooned on a desert island in the middle of the Pacific.

The story follows the misadventures of a New York City beautician who is mistakenly hired as the school teacher for the children of the president of a small Eastern European country.

Actor/comic Denis Leary discusses family life, coffee, religion, and other topics in this stand-up special.