As far as bad movies go, bad comedies can be among the most painful to sit through. When scene after scene falls flat, it can be more torturous than watching a badly written melodrama or a mindless action flick. Thats why its always fascinating when filmmakers manage to hit a comedic bullseye but only in one scene. It makes you wonder if they came up with that scene first and then wrote the movie around it without bothering to put in much in the way of effort. As always, the examples Ive chosen are purely subjective. If these are some of your favorite comedies, more power to you. Its just that they didnt live up to my expectations based on the strength of their casts.
5. The Lou Gehrig Scene from Father's Day
It seemed only natural to team up Robin Williams and Billy Crystal, given that they had worked together in numerous Comic Relief specials. Unfortunately, the script for this remake of a French comedy lets them both down spectacularly. Theyre trapped in a bad sitcom-style plot about an unlikable teenage boy whose mother tells them both that he is their son. If you want a successful comic team-up, check out the criminally underrated Steve Martin & Eddie Murphy-starring Bowfinger. You wont regret it. There is, however, one nugget of comedic gold contained inside the mountain of crap that is this movie. It comes in the form of the following exchange:
Crystal: You're a tragic hero. You're Lou Gehrig. Williams: Who? Crystal: Lou Gehrig. Everybody knows Lou Gehrig. The baseball player. He died of Lou Gehrig's disease. Williams: Wow, what are the odds on that?