# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/101 "2015-09-27T22:07:11Z")
Another very funny book by Westlake (which I wish there was a movie of) is “Help, I Am Being Held Prisoner”. A neurotic practical joker gets sent to prison and finds himself situated with a group of cons who have dug a tunnel out of the prison. But they don’t use it to escape - that would make them wanted fugitives (and the older ones are too institutionalized to even want out). Instead they remain in prison, but use the tunnel to commute to the outside world at will. Some of them spend time with their families; one guy holds down a part-time job at a grocery store. It’s basically “The Shawshank Redemption” starring the Marx Brothers. ---
**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 28, 2015, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/102 "2015-09-28T02:31:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The plot and the pacing weren’t the movie’s strengths. It relied on the charisma of its performers and they delivered. Agreed—and the pacing wasn’t…bad…just very, very weird. The 20 minutes locked in the closet trying to use the magnet to get the key was just…bizarre. Not bad…just bizarre. But the Hepburn/O’Toole chemistry was great. I’d have loved to see a sequel. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/103 "2015-09-28T03:24:53Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I think you should give [Bedtime Story](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kYRKT5SvB0) a try, with David Niven and Marlon Brando. Not bad… but I like Caine and Martin better. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/104 "2015-09-28T04:33:01Z")
I think Colin Firth has appeared in some of the very finest movies ever made. But most of them are not comedies. Most are serious dramas. Kingsman: The Secret Service is another exception. It was extremely funny. Also, he made two movies about a school called “Trinians” and they were both real good too. Hmmm … I guess I have to take back what I just wrote. Colin Firth may be known mostly for his wonderful dramas. But he has also starred in some very excellent comedies as well. Gambit (2012) was a comedy he starred in together with Cameron Diaz. I really enjoyed it. It was not the kind of comedy that most American audiences usually like. The humor was very dry and it was aimed at a very refined audience. I would like to recommend Gambit to anyone who is looking for a first rate comedy movie. It is a British comedy and I hope you all know what that means you should expect. The humor is dry - very dry. But if you like Britcoms, I expect you will like this film very much. I sure did. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/105 "2015-09-28T04:34:25Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Not bad… but I like Caine and Martin better. I would just like to say that Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is my most favorite comedy film ever made. It was as close to perfection as a comedy film could ever get. At least IMO, it was as close to perfection as I could ever imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/106 "2015-09-28T20:22:50Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > I would just like to say that Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is my most favorite comedy film ever made. It was as close to perfection as a comedy film could ever get. At least IMO, it was as close to perfection as I could ever imagine. Seconded! ---
**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:** [October 13, 2015, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/107 "2015-10-13T03:45:03Z")
_A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum_ ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356/108 "2015-10-13T14:02:02Z")
Another in the con man comedy category. _The Flim-Flam Man_ with George C. Scott. From 1967. One of my mom’s favorite movies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/funny-caper-heist-movies/731356.md?page=5)