# Movies that gradually change in tone (e.g., starts a comedy, ends a drama)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [August 10, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200 "2011-08-10T15:09:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/41 "2011-08-10T22:37:42Z")
_Adaptation_ does this. Kaufman wrote it as a film about him (and his “brother”) writing a film script. Latish in the film, the “brother” takes over and it becomes a different type of film.
So not only does it switch, it _shows_ you that the reason for the switch is the change of authors.
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/42 "2011-08-10T22:42:45Z")
_Lucky Number Slevin_ looks like a mistaken-identity/caper movie for a while, then becomes something a lot bloodier.
It does seem like movies that darken are a lot more common than movies that lighten up.
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### Author:  [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/43 "2011-08-10T22:44:02Z")
> [@Beadalin](#):
>
> [Audition](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audition_%28film%29). Starts out slightly sweet and then takes an abrupt turn into utter horror. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I watched it.
Good News-She’s a hottie
Bad News-She’s a PSYCHO!
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### Author:  [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/44 "2011-08-10T22:47:01Z")
[quote=“awldune, post:37, topic:592200”]
I am not a fan of “sneak attack” movies like many of these. I went to see both Life is Beautiful and Marley and Me without knowing they would take a tragic turn.QUOTE]
How did you NOT know that \*Life is Beautiful \*was a downer movie? It’s about the FRICKIN" HOLOCAUST!
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/45 "2011-08-10T22:49:41Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#):
>
> How does [Brazil](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088846/) fit into this?
I don’t think there was a change in tone in Brazil. It was a dark comedy from beginning to end. The government was portrayed throughout the film as stupid yet dangerous.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/46 "2011-08-10T22:54:50Z")
**It’s a Wonderful Life** fits here to some degree. It went from totally light-hearted to rather dark later on when Jimmy Stewart takes in the full meaning of his “nonexistence.”
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/47 "2011-08-10T22:55:54Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#):
>
> _The Great Waldo Pepper_ starts out as a comedy and two-thirds of the way through the movie in an instant turns into a tragic drama.
Even William Goldman sort of admits he made a mistake there. He said he should have put more foreshadowing in the early parts of the movie so the audience would have been prepared for the event you referred to. As I recall, he said he wanted to surprise the audience, which he did, but he did it so well he lost them and never got them back for the rest of the movie.
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### Author:  [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/48 "2011-08-10T23:29:26Z")
I always thought of **Fargo** this way. It’s not that it’s particularly bright and happy in the beginning but until the Highway Patrol officer takes a shot point blank in the head, I had no idea it would get that bloody. And it stayed that way through the end.
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### Author:  [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/49 "2011-08-10T23:33:40Z")
My underrated favorite, **Swimming With Sharks**. Starts out as a silly office comedy, accelerates to “Watch this guy get wacky revenge on his boss!” and then gradually shifts to “Hey, this is why it would be a really bad idea in real life…”\*\*.
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### Author:  [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/50 "2011-08-10T23:57:48Z")
> [@RikWriter](#):
>
> From Dusk Til Dawn started out as a pretty heavy-handed crime thriller then abruptly turned into a somewhat dark-comedic vampire movie.
I remember the exact scene where the transition happens, even. It’s in the bar as the stripper chick starts dancing and nobody realizes she’s a vampire yet. 5 minutes later vamps are playing heavy metal on guitars made of human spines and rib cages.
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### Author:  [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/51 "2011-08-11T00:39:39Z")
From Dusk Til Dawn is example of a movie that starts out quite passably in one genre and then suddenly goes batshit in another genre.
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### Author:  [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/52 "2011-08-11T00:43:38Z")
> [@janis\_and\_c0](#):
>
> I was surprised at the sadder/more dramatic parts of **Click**.
> Adam Sandler is a better actor than most people give him credit for.
Cried my eyes out, and that was completely unexpected.
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### Author:  [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/53 "2011-08-11T00:59:51Z")
_Kindergarten Cop_. I know couple of people who were pissed off that the family comedy they took their kids to, about Arnold going undercover in a class full of adorable tykes, ended up as a tension-filled, violent action movie.
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### Author:  [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2011, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/54 "2011-08-11T01:08:44Z")
> [@Koxinga](#):
>
> From Dusk Til Dawn is example of a movie that starts out quite passably in one genre and then suddenly goes batshit in another genre.
I wish I’d thought of that… 😃
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### Author:  [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/55 "2011-08-11T01:55:58Z")
\*\*Auto Focus \*\*starts out looking and sounding like Herbie the Love Bug and ends up like something directed (but not written) by David Lynch.
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### Author:  [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2011, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/56 "2011-08-11T04:38:56Z")
> [@Stoid](#):
>
> Cried my eyes out, and that was completely unexpected.
Glad I’m not the only one!
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### Author:  [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/57 "2011-08-11T04:44:03Z")
[The Station Agent](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0340377/) starts out with some quirkily comic stuff then takes some dark turns in the second half.
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/58 "2011-08-11T04:49:24Z")
I don’t know if it necessarily changed in “tone”. But \*\*The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou \*\*seemed to get pretty violent and melancholy towards the end.
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### Author:  [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2011, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/59 "2011-08-11T06:26:49Z")
Not so gradual, but Robin Hood, the Kevin Costner version, went from a dark serious period piece to an action comedy about a 1/3rd of the way through. It was almost like they threw a switch rather than a gradual change though.
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### Author:  [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2011, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-gradually-change-in-tone-e-g-starts-a-comedy-ends-a-drama/592200/60 "2011-08-11T07:17:02Z")
**Shaun of the Dead** started out as a zombie comedy movie and ended up as a zombie chick flick, all serious n’ shit.
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