Comedy Movies 2002 List

It's two odd stories in one. The plot follows the attempt of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) to adapt Susan Orlean's nonfiction novel "The Orchid Thief" for the big screen. As Kaufman tries to work with the book's true story — the tale of John Laroche (Chris Cooper), a Florida plant dealer who works with Seminole Indians to create clones of rare orchids, which he sells to collectors for huge profits — he nearly goes mad. Enter his fictional twin (also Cage), a more successful version of Charlie. Charlie finally manages to finish the script, finding that in the process, he's incorporated himself and his writer's block into the story.

Sequel to the 1999 hit, "Analyze, This," follows Ben Sobel's struggle to help Paul Vitti, his mobster client. Paul, who's been spending time in prison, is released to the custody of his psychiatrist. Paul tries to adjust to a straight life, but it's Ben who has issues this time: he's depressed after the recent death of his father.

Jessica Spencer (Anna Faris) is convinced she has the perfect life. She's the hottest, most popular girl in high school, captain of the cheerleading squad and dating the dreamy quarterback. But thse gets a big does of reality when she wakes up in the body of a 30-year-old man (Rob Schneider)! She quickly discovers that trading on your looks isn't so easy when you're a girl who constantly needs a shave. And until she can figure out how to change herself back, Jessica must find a way to win the Cheer Competition, go to the prom, and win her boyfriend back - all as a guy. From some of the guys who brought you "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo" and "The Animal" comes a wild, heartfelt comedy everyone can enjoy no matter what you sex.

Jack Nicholson stars as Warren Schmidt, a man who is set adrift following retirement and the sudden death of his wife. Uncertain about his future as well as his past, Warren packs up his 30-foot Winnebago to set out on a journey across the Nebraska plains to attend his daughter's (Hope Davis) wedding to a waterbed salesman (Dermot Mulroney). But every step he takes seems wrong, and Warren seems destined to end his life as he lived it: a failure. But along the way, Warren recounts his journey and shares his observations with an unexpected friend - a poor Tanzanian boy he is sponsoring for 73 cents a day. In his long letters to the boy, Warren begins to see himself and the life he has lived with new eyes.

A street savvy, independent single mother who lives in the Bronx with her son, and works as a maid in a first class Manhattan hotel dreams of a better life but has learned to depend upon her own wits to get her there. When a handsome, debonair heir to an American political dynasty is in New York and staying in the hotel where Marisa works, the two meet by a twist of fate and mistaken identity. She soon finds herself gaining insight into the life of a man she might otherwise have judged from a distance. When her true identity is revealed, however, the truth sets in as to the disparity in their lives.

This Nickelodeon movie finds this animated family going on wild adventures around the world. Now 12-year-old Eliza is in Africa where she meets a mysterious shaman who grants her the power to talk to animals. But there's a catch - if she reveals her gift, she will lose it forever. One day, Eliza discovers that poachers plan to kill an elephant herd with an electrified fence and she and Darwin, her pet chimp, must stop them.

In the romantic comedy "Two Weeks Notice", Sandra Bullock plays a brilliant but detail-obsessed attorney opposite Hugh Grant as her charming, irresponsible and fabulously wealthy boss in a film that explores whether or not it's ever too late to say "I Love You."

Written by, directed by, and starring Roberto Benigni, this is the classic story of a wooden puppet come to life and his magnificent odyssey to become a 'real boy'. Despite guidance from the beautiful Blue Fairy (Nicoletta Braschi) and the love of his father, Gepetto (Carlo Guiffre), Pinocchio's curious spirit leads him into one wild adventure after another - distracting him from his goal, and distancing him from his loved ones. Using Carlo Collodi's original masterwork as its source, the film is filled with mysterious fairies, colorful circuses, mystical forests, talking animals, fantastical toys and magnificent playlands.

It's the long-awaited film version of the Broadway hit. Set in the roaring 20's, this is the story of Chicago chorus girl Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger), who shoots her unfaithful lover (Dominic West). Landing in jail, she meets Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), another chorus girl and murderess, currently enjoying media attention and legal manipulation, care of her attorney, Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), king of the old "Razzle Dazzle." Soon enough, however, Flynn takes Roxie's case as well, and Velma finds herself old news as Roxie is now the most famous murderess in town, on her way to getting out of jail and becoming a star. The two go through a series of attempts at getting what they both want: freedom and fame.

When the Switchblade, the most sophisticated prototype stealth fighter created yet, is stolen from the U.S. government, one of the United States' top spies, Alex Scott (Owen Wilson), is called to action. What he doesn't expect is to get teamed up with a cocky civilian, World Class Boxing Champion Kelly Robinson (Eddie Murphy), on a dangerous top secret espionage mission. Their assignment: using equal parts skill and humor, catch Arnold Gundars, one of the world's most successful illegal arms dealers, and foil his treacherous plans for the plane.

Scott Calvin has been Santa Claus for the past eight years, and his loyal elves consider him the best Santa ever. But Santa's world is turned upside down when he's dealt a double whammy of bad news: not only has his son, Charlie, landed on this year's "naughty" list, but if Scott doesn't marry by Christmas Eve—just a month away!—he'll stop being Santa forever. (It's right in his contract—the "Mrs. Clause") Desperate, Scott turns to the elves' new invention—a machine that can replicate anything—to create Santa II (a toy version of himself) and he leaves his double in charge. Things quickly go south at the North Pole when Santa II institutes some strange redefinitions of what's naughty and nice; worse, when Scott finally falls for a potential Mrs. Claus, she threatens to drive a wedge between him and Charlie. In a climactic battle pitting Santa, Charlie, the new Mrs. Claus, and the elves against Santa II and his army of tin soldiers, the future of Scott's family, the North Pole, and Christmas itself, hangs in the balance.

Davey Stone, a 33-year old party animal, finds himself in trouble with the law after his wild ways go too far. In keeping with the holiday spirit, the judge gives Davey one last chance at redemption — spend the holiday performing community service as the assistant referee for the youth basketball league or go to jail. Davey thinks he's gotten off easy until he meets Whitey Duvall, the eccentric, elf-like head referee. The mismatch between Whitey's good heart and never-ending optimism and Davey's constant troublemaking antics soon have them both wondering if going to jail wouldn't have been easier! In this new, full-length animated feature about basketball, old girlfriends, holiday spirits, and the mall, Adam Sandler voices the three lead characters of Whitey, Davey, and Whitey's fraternal twin sister Eleanore!

"Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie", stars a not-so-garden-variety cast led by the signature characters of the top selling VeggieTales series, Larry the Cucumber (as Pirate Larry, the undisputed laziest pirate in the world) and Bob the Tomato (as himself), as well as upper-crusty Archibald the Asparagus as the monocle sporting prophet, Jonah. Larry, Bob, Archibald and the rest of the Veggie gang set sail on a whale of an adventure in Jonah, the brand's first CGI theatrical feature film. Filled with music, laughs and the strangest adventurers ever to be swallowed whole, this is the story of Jonah and the whale as you've never seen it before - a story where everyone learns that one of the best gifts you can give - or get - is a second chance.

Filmed with a digital camera over the course of 18 months, from 1999 to 2001, this documentary follows comedian Jerry Seinfeld as he heads out on the road, testing new material he wrote after his marriage, the end of his eponymous TV show, and the birth of his first child. It's not a traditional concert film; most of the footage is filmed behind the scenes and traces the creative process.

With his trademark charm and wit, Michael Moore sets off on a journey to the heart of the country hoping to discover why the American pursuit of happiness is so riddled with violence. From a look at the Columbine High School security camera tapes to the home of NRA President Charlton Heston, from a young man who makes homemade napalm with "The Anarchist's Cookbook" to the murder of a six-year-old girl by another six-year-old, this is an alternately humorous and horrifying look at firearms abuse, destined to leave audiences dreading - but expecting - the next breaking news report about a homegrown assassin with a constitutionally-protected Uzi.

A story about the owner of a struggling phone-sex business with seven abusive sisters who soon finds that three thugs are chasing him. Meanwhile, one of his sisters tries to set him up on a blind date with a woman who plays the harmonium, but it doesn't quite work out. Eventually, his hobby of collecting pudding coupons pays off, and he's able to win enough frequent flyer miles to take a trip to Hawaii, in a quest to find the mysterious girl...

Ana, a first generation Mexican American teenager living in East Los Angeles, has just graduated from high school. Because she is a talented writer, a caring teacher urges her to apply to college. Ana secretly is excited about the possibility, but her overbearing and hypercritical mother Carmen insists that it is time for her to help provide for the family by working in her sister's sewing factory. When a crisis arises at the factory, it seems as if Ana's fate is unhappily sealed, but her indomitable will to reach beyond a sweatshop life eventually leads her to burst, defiant and resplendent, through every restriction on her life.

When petty thief Cosimo is given the plan for the perfect heist from a lifer in prison--the kind of job you dream about, the kind of job that the reprobates on the block refer to as a 'Bellini'--he has to get out of jail, fast. Opportunities like this don't come along every day for the hard-luck folks who hang around the streets of Collinwood, a working class neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. What Cosimo needs is a fall guy, a 'Mullinski,' somebody who needs the $15,000 Cosimo can offer more than they need one to three years of freedom. But with Cosimo stuck in the joint, it's up to his girl Rosalind to track down a patsy. But while no one wants to do the time for Cosimo's crime, everybody seems to know a guy who will--and for a share in the Bellini, they're willing to track him down. Before long, Rosalind has five guys trailing behind her, looking to get their bungling hands on a piece of the action. Led by Pero, a very amateur boxer who schemes to get the particulars of the job from Cosimo before leaving him in the joint to rot, the group assembles itself. The motley crew consists of: photographer and frustrated artist Riley, a single father with an infant on his hands who needs a thousand bucks to spring his wife from jail; Leon, who desperately wants to secure a better life for his sister, Michelle; Basil, a handsome Italian gigolo who's as broke as a one-wheeled wagon; and Toto, a thief way past his prime who's got nothing but time.

Set in a London working-class housing estate over a long weekend, it tells the story of Penny's love for her partner, taxi-driver Phil, has run dry. He is a gentle, philosophical guy and she works on the checkout at a supermarket. Their daughter Rachel cleans a home for elderly people, and their son Rory is unemployed and aggressive. The joy has gone out of Phil and Penny's life, but when an unexpected tragedy occurs, they are brought together to rediscover their love.

In the late '60s, the self-proclaimed belles of the rock 'n' roll ball (Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon) rocked the worlds of every music legend whose pants they could take off - and they have the pictures to prove it. But it's been more than two decades since The Banger Sisters earned their nickname - or even laid eyes on one another. Their reunion is the collision of two women's worlds; one who's living in the past, and one who's hiding from it. Together they learn the value of living in the moment.

In this romantic comedy, a New York fashion designer suddenly finds herself engaged to the city's most eligible bachelor. But her past holds many secrets, including the redneck husband she married in high school, who refuses to divorce her. Bound and determined to end their contentious relationship once and for all, she sneaks back home to Alabama to confront her past, only to discover that you can take the girl out of the South, but you can never take the South out of the girl.

A New York City taxicab driver is hired to be a chauffeur for a mysterious man named Clark Devlin. When Devlin is hospitalized, the driver takes over Devlin's covert mission for the U.S. government: to uncover the secret scheme of bottled water broker Diedrich Banning. The driver also inherits Clark's computerized tuxedo, which gives its wearer supernatural powers of combat, camouflage and seduction.

Toula is 30. And unmarried. Which means as a nice Greek girl -- she's a failure. All her cousins did the right thing -- married Greek boys and made Greek babies. So everyone worries: what will become of Toula? Then one day she sees the ultimate unattainable guy and realizes the only way her life will get better is if he gets away from her big, fat Greek family. Toula escapes from the family restaurant. She exchanges her seating hostess jacket for a college diploma, convinces her aunt to give her a new job, and trades in her coke-bottle glasses for contact lenses, just in time for "him" to walk back into her life. Ian Miller is tall, handsome but defnitely not Greek. Their courtship is an Olympian culture clash. Can Ian handle Toula, her parents, her aunts, uncles, cousins and several centuries of Greek heritage? Will Toula discover the love she's been missing right in the heart of her big, fat family? One thing is for sure, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, with Ian's proposal Toula is headed for her big, fat Greek wedding.

The career of a disillusioned producer, who is desperate for a hit, is endangered when his star walks off the film set. Forced to think fast, the producer decides to digitally create an actress "Simone" to sub for the star--the first totally believable synthetic actress. The "actress" becomes an overnight sensation, with a major singing career as well, and everyone thinks she's a real person. However, as Simone's fame skyrockets, he cannot bear to admit his fraud to himself or the world.

Joe Tyler (Matthew Perry) might just have one of the worst jobs in the world, but he'll stop at nothing to do it. A down-and-dirty process server with ingenious methods of laying legal documents on everyone from mobsters to millionaires, Joe is a man determined to serve his man - or woman - at all costs. Sara Moore (Elizabeth Hurley) is Joe's next victim. Her conniving partner, Gordon (Bruce Campbell), a wealthy cattle rancher with whom she has amassed a fortune, has hired Joe to serve Sara with papers that threaten to cut her off. While at first Sara might not know what hit her, once the shock wears off, she's ready to strike back and go after waht she's entitled to - the money she earned with Gordon, a sizeable chunk of his ego...and just maybe a shot at true love.

Bow Wow plays an orphan boy named Calvin who lives out his dream of playing in the NBA—with a little help from a magical pair of sneakers! Soon after he laces up the mysterious high-tops, Calvin's amazing basketball skills land him a spot on the Los Angeles Knights team. In addition to hitting 25-foot jumpers and throwing down rim-rattling slam dunks, the small superstar sets his sights on another dream...having a family. But first he and his pals must defeat Bittleman, the orphanage headmaster trying to sabotage Calvin's career and dash his hopes of ever being adopted.

Twenty thousand years ago, the Earth was being overrun by glaciers, and creatures everywhere were fleeing the onslaught of the new Ice Age. In this time of peril, we meet the weirdest herd of any Age: a fast talking but dim sloth named Sid; a moody woolly mammoth named Manny; a devilish saber-toothed tiger named Diego; and an acorn-crazy saber-toothed squirrel known as Scrat. This quartet of misfits unexpectedly, and reluctantly, comes together in a quest to return a human infant to his father. Braving boiling lava pits, treacherous ice caves, freezing temperatures and a secret, evil plot, these "sub-zeros" become the world's first heroes!

14-year-old Jason Shepherd (Frankie Muniz) has a reputation for stretching the truth. So, when big-time Hollywood producer Marty Wolf (Paul Giamatti) steals his class paper and turns it into a smash hit movie, no one believes Jason's latest tall tale! On a cross-country adventure to set the record straight, Jason and best friend Kaylee (Amanda Bynes) devise a high-tech plan to squeeze the truth out of Wolf through a series of outrageous pranks and crazy stunts.