“Dogma” is bloated.
Part of the reason you think a movie is really great is that it’s not too long. Editing is super important.
Comedy generally works in chunks of 90-120 minutes; that’s pretty well established.
A good example of this is Judd Apatow films. Everyone seems to like them with the exception that “it ran a little long”.
40 Year-old Virgin was damn near perfect and was just under two hours. Stuff like KnockedUp, This Is 40, Funny People just wear out their welcome.
According to Letterboxd, of the 1368 comedy films on Netflix US, ~160 of them (12%) are over 2 hours in length. However, the longest comedies are overwhelmingly foreign, primarily Indian. Roughly eyeballing, it doesn’t seem like there are more than 20 or 30 English language comedies over 2 hours long so 95%+ of comedies probably fall under 2 hours.
I, on the other hand, would offer these two movies as evidence proving that long comedy movies don’t work.
I tend to agree with the OP. It’s really difficult to keep good comedy going for too long a period. Even if the filmmakers manage to maintain a high level of comedy, at some point the viewer’s sense of humor will go numb and they’ll stop enjoying the jokes.
Like most other movie genres is the point.
Comedies average middle of the pack. Longer than the average documentary, horror, sci-fi, adventure, or thriller movie, and shorter than the average drama, romance, or musical … all of which often have comic elements. And they average well under two hours.
Too grossers average longer.
Heh. So do some comedy, and then some action; and then do some more comedy, and then some more action, and then some more comedy.
Which explains the runtime of True Lies.
Piffle.
A post was merged into an existing topic: Grundig Posts
If it’s drivel, it makes no difference how long it is. I ain’t watching it.
Though if I’m forced to for some reason, let’s cap it a 22 min.
And yet most comedies are under two hours. Live comedy shows are almost invariably under two hours. The professionals seems to think under two hours is best.
And yet most action movies, horror flicks, dramas, and even most musicals (the longest on average), most movies all genres, are under two hours.
I think it relates to the Hitchcock quote that movie length must be matched to bladder endurance. (Often whilst having a theater sized soda!)
Maybe horror movies and outrageously funny movies both need to be shorter else the jump scare or heavy laugh have too many peeing on themselves by the end?
I kinda like long movies, regardless of genre. Makes me feel like I’m getting more entertainment bang for my buck. The only movies I think are too long are movies I’ve already decided I don’t like after 90 minutes.
Other comedies longer than two hours include:
Playtime - 2:35
Being There - 2:10
Broadcast News - 2:12
Mrs. Doubtfire - 2:05
I think pacing is a reason comedies tend to be short. A joke or a funny situation usually works best if it doesn’t take too long to build. A drama can be slow-moving but still entertaining, but a slow-moving comedy is most often dull.
So cut the last minute of Some Like It Hot.
I had absolutely never noticed that that movie was over two hours long. It doesn’t feel anywhere near that. Amazing movie.
But I just looked up most of my mother favourite comedies and they do tend to be around 90-100 minutes, so I think this might be an exception.
Generally, I can’t sustain the joyful mood that a good comedy provides if it goes beyond 100 minutes or so. Happiness is tiring!
Dramas are different, to some extent - there are generally lots of relaxing moments, like where you’re looking at scenery and enjoying the beauty, or people are just sitting around talking indistinctly or something. A lot of longer action movies also have a scene (or more) like that, a kind of bridge between this act with tons of action and that act with tons of action.
There are lots of crossovers that can be longer - probably partly because of the crossover - but that’s different. You’re not sustaining the fun mood the whole way through, and, as long as you knew that going in or from the first ten minutes, that’s fine.