# Funny Caper/Heist movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356 "2015-09-15T13:51:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/81 "2015-09-18T18:11:51Z")
My favorite caper films have already been covered, so I’ll mention another book instead: _Bridge of Birds_, by Barry Hughart. It’s a sort of ancient Chinese fantasy adventure, but it features several hilarious capers planned by Master Li (a sage with a slight flaw in his character) and related by Number Ten Ox (his client and muscle). ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/82 "2015-09-18T18:55:52Z")
[Out of Sight](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120780/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_83) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/83 "2015-09-18T18:59:53Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Another Garner movie - Support Your Local Sheriff. Garner is a con man who somehow gets to be sheriff. No, he’s not a con man. He never has an ulterior motive and he never misrepresents who he is or what his intentions are. He’s an unlikely and unorthodox sheriff, but there is no “con” anywhere in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/84 "2015-09-18T19:04:02Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > I’l go so far as to say the remake is much better than the original. I put the original The Italian Job and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in the same category. They are remembered as being a LOT better than they really where. Or, more accurately, they don’t hold up well under the test of time and people remember them as being a lot better than they were. Having rewatched both of those films recently, I disagree 100%. The remake of _Italian_ is a particularly tedious, joyless experience (when it’s not being overtly stupid). Now, I will agree with your argument if applied to the original **Ocean’s 11** (and to a lesser degree, **The Thomas Crown Affair** ). I prefer the remakes of both. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/85 "2015-09-18T19:10:45Z")
Looks like we’ve moved away from “heist” films to con game comedies in general, so the granddaddy of them all–often duplicated, never equaled–is Ernst Lubitsch’s magnificent **Trouble in Paradise** , officially the best movie to now appear in this thread. Also worth mentioning (it was on TCM this morning) is the bank robbery caper **Larceny, Inc.** , a reminder that Edward G. Robinson was terrific at comedy, too. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/86 "2015-09-18T21:53:38Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Another Garner movie - Support Your Local Sheriff. Garner is a con man who somehow gets to be sheriff. > [@MovieMogul](#): > > No, he’s not a con man. He never has an ulterior motive and he never misrepresents who he is or what his intentions are. > > He’s an unlikely and unorthodox sheriff, but there is no “con” anywhere in the movie. _Support Your Local Gunfighter_, OTOH… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/87 "2015-09-19T00:11:54Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > I’l go so far as to say the remake is much better than the original. I put the original The Italian Job and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in the same category. They are remembered as being a LOT better than they really where. Or, more accurately, **they don’t hold up well under the test of time and people remember them as being a lot better than they were**. That is without a doubt the wrongest thing I’ve read today, and I’ve been reading Trump’s internet postings! I agree, _Support Your Local Gunfighter_ is the con job movie. If you want to count TV, damn near every episode of all four seasons of _Blackadder_, **plus** the specials. Bald-faced con jobs and funnier than a rubber crutch. Plus Baldrick! ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/88 "2015-09-19T01:30:14Z")
First movie I thought of was _The Pink Panther_–one of my favorite movies, ever since seeing it when I was 10. [Shoot 'Em Up](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465602/?ref_=ttexrv_exrv_tt) is funny, but does qualify as a “caper/heist” film? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/89 "2015-09-19T06:33:49Z")
Would Miyazaki’s _The Castle of Cagliostro_ count enough as both “caper” and “funny”? If those don’t work then, technically, it’s also sort of the only _Castlevania_ movie. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/90 "2015-09-19T07:20:58Z")
I suggest “[Capers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0826523/)”, which is also know as “The Brooklyn Heist”. That right there tells me you were meant to see this movie. A poker buddy of mine wrote and directed it. I was half terrified to attend a screening, simply because I am a pretty tough audience for comedy. BUt I knew that my buddy was a very funny guy, and I ended up very pleased with the film. I was just reading some of the imdb reviews and was pleased to see that other people really loved it and appreciated the creative and off-the-wall aspects. It won the jury prize for comedy at a Florida film festival. So check it out. ---
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/91 "2015-09-19T12:29:04Z")
Widow’s Peak [Widows' Peak (1994) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111712/) You have to watch it all the way to the end to get it though. Really leans a bit more to caper than comedy, but still… ---
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/92 "2015-09-19T12:32:44Z")
Burn After Reading almost fits in this category. ---
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/93 "2015-09-19T12:35:28Z")
I really liked Once Upon a Crime. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/94 "2015-09-19T14:23:10Z")
Another funny and unusual one is [The Maiden Heist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maiden_Heist), starring Morgan Freeman, William H. Macy and Christopher Walken as art museum guards, each of which is obsessed with a particular painting or sculpture. They decide to steal the art (replacing them with forgeries) when these pieces are to be shipped off to another museum. ---
**Author:** ![Reepicheep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@Reepicheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reepicheep)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/95 "2015-09-19T14:27:27Z")
Caper, not heist, and based on a true story [Sea Wolves](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081470/?ref_=nv_sr_1). ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/96 "2015-09-19T20:23:39Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > Looks like we’ve moved away from “heist” films to con game comedies in general, Which, by the way, is great. This is a genre I’m apparently even less knowledgeable about than I thought. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/97 "2015-09-27T16:49:15Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > [How to Steal a Million](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPStHOzjQWU) Hey–wanted to thank you for this recommendation. It’s the first film listed here that I was able to get my hands on and I really enjoyed it. The pacing’s a bit weird but that adds to it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/98 "2015-09-27T18:42:14Z")
> [@TheInimitableMaven](#): > > The one Woody Allen movie I’ve watched entirely, not in bits and pieces, and in turn REALLY liked, more than fits the bill here: [_ **Small Time Crooks** _](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0196216/?ref_=nv_sr_1) You’ve only seen one Woody Allen Movie?! Really? You should see one from when he was funny, like before 1978. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/99 "2015-09-27T20:15:32Z")
> [@neofishboy](#): > > A lot of classic movies have been suggested … quite a few of which I’m confident you’ve seen before. But seriously, if you haven’t seen _Quick Change_ that needs to be at the top of your list, as it sounds exactly like what you’re looking for in the OP. I cannot second/third/millionth time enough! It was immediately what I thought of. It’s part of a perfect Bill Murray trifecta consisting of **What About Bob?** , **Groundhog Day** and **Quick Change**. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/100 "2015-09-27T21:42:08Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Hey–wanted to thank you for this recommendation. It’s the first film listed here that I was able to get my hands on and I really enjoyed it. The pacing’s a bit weird but that adds to it. 🙂 The plot and the pacing weren’t the movie’s strengths. It relied on the charisma of its performers and they delivered. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356.md?page=6)