It ’s been a long time since a comedy really hit the zeitgeist likeMean GirlsorSuperbadin the 2000s . Thanks to trailblazer like Judd Apatow , Adam McKay , and Edgar Wright , the ‘ 00s brought some of the funniest comedies ever made and afford the genre a unspoiled swansong before itdied a last in the 2010s .

Filmmakers have learned all the unseasonable lessons from the Apatow / McKay era and drollery picture show have pass into brilliantly light , lightly edited improv that drags on as actors playing themselves under a dissimilar name riff on generic subjects . The 2000s brought the last wafture of sincerely gravid comedy pic performances .

Rachel McAdams As Regina George In Mean Girls

It ’s not often that the villain of a comedy movie strikes a chord with audiences – Shooter McGavin and Wes Mantooth leaping to psyche – butMean Girls ’ Regina George ranks among cinema ’s most memorable opponent .

Rachel McAdams ’ carrying out encapsulates every popular high schooler who ruthlessly takes down anyone who threatens their home at the top of the food chemical chain .

Jack Black As Dewey Finn In School Of Rock

Richard Linklater ordinarily makes fad movies likeDazed and Confusedandsobering dramatic event likeBoyhood , so one would think that mainstream family comedySchool of Rockstands out on his filmography . But it ’s just as great asany of his other motion-picture show .

Jack Black anchors the movie in the role he was born to play , a struggling rock player who steals his ally ’s identity to make some ready cash as a substitute teacher and subsequently starts a band with his student .

Paul Giamatti As Miles Raymond In Sideways

No one doubted Paul Giamatti ’s dramatic chopper before he appeared in Alexander Payne’sSideways , but he show he also had enviable comic talents in the role of a bitter alcohol-dependent unpublished generator embarking on a route head trip across wine area for his best friend ’s bachelor party .

Whether he ’s chug disgorge wine from a spit bucket or fleeing from an angry naked valet de chambre , Giamatti makes every absurd situation in the film feel uproariously real .

Zach Galifianakis As Alan Garner In The Hangover

The unprecedented success ofThe Hangovercan mostly be attributed to Zach Galifianakis ’ star - make turn as breakout fictional character Alan Garner , rescue the lion ’s share of the movie ’s quotable lines .

The sequels overdrive Alan , which became too much of a good thing , but he ’s in the first one just the right amount and Galifianakis gives the performance of a life .

Ralph Fiennes As Harry Waters In In Bruges

In Martin McDonagh ’s directorial debutIn Bruges , Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson both give terrific functioning as hitmenhiding out in the titular Belgian city following a botched job , at routine hysterical and emotionally reminiscent .

But the picture ’s funniest performance arrives courtesy of Ralph Fiennes as the duo ’s foul - mouthed , spicy - tempered boss Harry Waters .

Will Ferrell As Ron Burgundy In Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy

After honinghis picky brand of absurdist comedyonSaturday Night Live , Will Ferrell teamed up with Adam McKay to makeAnchorman : The Legend of Ron Burgundy , one of the funniest comedies ever made .

Bychanneling Mort Crim , Ferrell bring his idle words transverse flute - play ‘ LXX newsman to life sentence in uproarious fashion , throw off himself wholeheartedly into every sceneand overacting in the best fashion .

Simon Pegg As Shaun In Shaun Of The Dead

Simon Pegg is underrated as an doer . A circle of consultation recognise that he ’s peculiar , but do n’t realize the astuteness of his operation . The claim character inShaun of the Deadis written ( by Pegg himself along with manager Edgar Wright ) as a relatable everyman , butPegg brings that everyman to life .

Not only does Pegg boom every laughable line saving ; he nails the striking mo , too . In his final scene with Ed in the cellar , as he sheds a bout , the emotions really resonate .

Ellen Page As Juno MacGuff In Juno

It ’s not easy for drollery - dramas to balance their two sides . Often , they can get hold a insipid middle earth between funniness and drama and fail at both . Jason Reitman’sJunois a double-dyed example of a clowning - drama thatveers deftly between jest - out - loud mirthful and hit - you - in - the - feels aroused .

A peck of this tonic counterbalance can be credit to Ellen Page ’s incredible operation in the deed function . She plays Juno ’s sardonic humour as a vindication mechanism andbeautifully catch the fears and insecurities of a teenage gestation .

Robert Downey, Jr. As Kirk Lazarus In Tropic Thunder

Robert Downey , Jr. ’s role inTropic Thundercould’ve gone awfully wrong , but the actor play it so well that he make an Oscar nomination for it . Kirk Lazarus is a white method actor who ’s so method that he has the pigments of his hide changed to toy an African - American solider .

The tragic layer that Downey bring to a world who can only express himself through grapheme elevated what could ’ve been an offensive , one - note role . Plus , he get bonus points for keeping Kirk ’s promise not to break character until he ’s done the videodisk comment .

Sacha Baron Cohen As Borat Sagdiyev In Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan

If the definition of playacting is to convince an audience that you ’re someone you ’re not , then Sacha Baron Cohen is , without a doubt , one of the greatest histrion in the world . In his mockumentaries , the pinnacle of which isBorat , he rightfully convince his interview subject that he ’s someone he ’s not .

Cohen evaporate into the role of Kazakh reporter Borat , rounding out the character fromDa Ali G Showand genuinely create some of the funniest scenes in pic account out of real situation .

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2000s comedic performances - featured image

Regina at the cafeteria in Mean Girls

Jack Black in School of Rock

Paul Giamatti’s Miles looks forlorn in Sideways

Zach Galifianakis in The Hangover

Ralph Fiennes in In Bruges

Ron Burgundy

Shaun

Ellen Page in Juno

Robert Downey Jr in Tropic Thunder

Borat

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