Humor is an international concept. And we laugh at good foreign comedies to tears just like good Russian comedies. To make you charged with positive for all New Year holidays, we are pleased to present a list the best foreign New Year comedies. They are selected by audience rating on Kinopoisk.
10. Exchange Holidays
Once upon a time there were two women: one in the English province, and the other in sunny California. And there was nothing in common between them except one circumstance - both ladies were unhappy in love. And just before Christmas, the women met each other on a vacation home exchange site. In order to unwind and temporarily forget about the problems, the heroines of the film agreed to live with each other during the Christmas holidays.
What is the result? It turned out a romantic, sweet, family comedy, without black humor and sharp plot twists. Watching it under the Christmas tree, in an embrace with your loved one is priceless.
9. Family man
Jack Kembel (played by Nicholas Cage) lived in luxury, worked on Wall Street, and thought that in his life there is everything that is required for happiness. However, at Christmas, fate gives him a chance to understand that there are other values besides money and career. And then a millionaire wakes up in bed in a small house, next to him is his wife, and two peanuts. Where did the luxurious mansion go, and why now instead of working with securities you have to tinker with paper diapers?
This film is interesting in that it allows us to imagine how life could have developed if it had gone according to a different scenario. The topic of family values in “Family Man” is disclosed so well that, in the words of one of the viewers, it deserves applause.
8. Swap places
Respectable businessman Louis Winthrop the Third led a huge prosperous company on Wall Street and did not suspect what a surprise his bosses, the Duke brothers, were preparing for the New Year. The eccentric rich argued that not only a noble and well-mannered gentleman, but any rogue can manage the company. And Louis had to swap places with black scoundrel Billy Ray Valentine, who became the new management company. However, the Duke brothers did not yet know where their rash decision would lead them.
Perhaps when you watch this comedy, you will have associations with the book "The Prince and the Pauper." However, unlike the characters in the book, Winthrop and Valentine changed their places by force, which gave the comedy a distinct melodramatic connotation.
"Swap places" is an ironic, original and very interesting film. In many ways, all these advantages are explained by the brilliant game of the main characters - Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd.
7. Intuition
This picture, the action in which begins and ends before Christmas, is somewhat reminiscent of “The Irony of Fate” - the most popular Russian New Year's comedy.
One day, on a winter day in New York, Jonathan meets Sarah. After spending several hours together, young people fall in love with each other, but decide to check their fate. Sarah writes her phone in a book, and Jonathan on a banknote. The bill is exchanged, and the book is at the second-hand book dealer. What is the likelihood that the bill and the book will again find their owners?
“Intuition” is a lyrical and melancholic movie about love, the signs of fate and the fact that once you meet a loved one he should not be let go. It has no vulgar jokes, nudity and action. Just a plain, naive and very kind film that is good to watch together, under a warm blanket and in the soft flickering of a New Year's garland.
6. The Miracle on 34th Street
An old-old film of 1947, which still gives the audience a charge of positive emotions.
The protagonist - an elderly man Chris Kringle - on Christmas Eve played the role of Santa Claus at a parade organized by the Macy's toy store. And then this kind and funny gentleman began to insist that he was the real Santa Claus, because of which some began to play a trick on him, while others wanted to go to a psychiatric clinic.
To protect the strange old man is taken Fred Galey, counting on the noisy success of the case. And while Gayley is pursuing his interests, and the judge is considering whether to recognize the old man as real Santa Claus, and whether there really is Santa, Chris tries to help the little girl Susan, who dreams of her mother and Fred living together.
In this tape there was a place for corporate intrigue, and for judicial drama, and for a beautiful love story. And she also shows that everyone can become a good wizard for others.
5. Real love
Not only all ages are submissive to love, but also all positions - from the prime minister, embraced by a sudden passion for an employee, to the writer of detectives, who went to France in search of a cure for a broken heart. And all this romance is abundantly seasoned with snow, New Year's decorations and the atmosphere of the holiday.
For two hours (namely, the movie lasts so long), there are a lot of mini-plots in “Real Love”. Unlike each other, people participate in them, and this is an undoubted plus of the tape. Indeed, for all these heroes, with their so different, but always true love, it is interesting and funny to watch.
4. Shop around the corner
Remember the last time you sent a regular paper letter? Most likely, quite a long time ago, in our age of the Internet. But the heroes of this comedy started a correspondence romance through a regular mailbox. At the same time, the main character Alfred Kralik does not know what his beloved looks like, and does not even know her name. And everything would be fine, only in the store where he works does a new employee appear, beautiful, but very sharp on the tongue. As you might guess, she is that mysterious girl whom Alfred will meet at Christmas.
It is curious that the tape came out at a time when silent film was a thing of the past, and standards for constructing dialogs had already appeared in movies with sound. Therefore, in the “Shop around the corner” one can observe both amusing situations and jokes related to the action, as well as humorous dialogues and witty statements of the characters.
3. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
What selection of the best American New Year movies of the comedy genre would be complete without the masterpiece franchise "Home Alone"? The adventures of the boy Kevin McCalister, his parents, forever losing their nimble and adventurous child, as well as the unlucky crooks Harry and Marve will make us laugh year after year, in contrast to numerous imitative films that never come close to the success of the original.
This time, Kevin will have to stay alone in the room of the luxurious New York Plaza Hotel, as well as save the toy store from robbery.
In the second part of this wonderful New Year's comedy, the current US President Donald Trump flashed. But his shooting fee was probably much more modest than that of the leading actor, 12-year-old Macaulay Culkin. He was written a check for as much as $ 8 million.
2. Apartment
According to the editorial staff of The Independent, this comedy, shot in 1960, is the best Christmas film of all time.
In the center of the plot is a bachelor clerk, Baxter, whose apartment is used by married colleagues for love meetings. Baxter himself is in love with a sweet-girl lifter named Fran. And then one day, far from a wonderful day, Baxter finds out that the boss’s lover, whom he meets in his apartment, is the same Fran. A modest and insecure clerk faces a difficult choice: to give up his love or stand across the road to his boss.
For many Americans, “Apartment” is just as a must-see movie for Christmas, as for Russians, “The Irony of Fate” for the New Year.
1. Alone at home
Once a very large family gathered for a Christmas holiday in Europe. And in the bustle of fees, parents forgot the home of one of the children. However, the boy was not taken aback, and spent time very merrily. But the two crooks who decided to rob an empty (in their opinion the house) was not at all fun.
By the way, the rights to “Home Alone” passed from Fox to Disney, so maybe we will be restarted or continued with new characters.
In our ranking, there are very few films made at the beginning of the 21st century. Mostly foreign New Year comedies, dearly loved by the audience, were shot in the 80s and 90s of the twentieth century. And some (Miracle on 34th Street, Shop around the corner, Apartment) even crossed a 50-year milestone.
Despite this, they will continue to delight the audience on New Year's holidays, since the values (love, goodness, helping others) that this movie promotes are eternal.