The Five Best Films Based on Comedy Sketches

"Wayne's World" parties on and "The Blues Brothers" get down in our five favorites.

“A Night at the Roxbury” (1998)

Despite its inclusion on this list, “A Night at the Roxbury” is not what one would normally describe as a “good” movie. But in its dogged, one-note stupidity, it’s just about a perfect adaptation of Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan’s head-bobbing SNL skit. And, in its inanity – rooted in the nagging question “Why is this a movie?” and the related query “Why am I watching it?” – it can also be pretty amusing. Provided one can stand to hear Haddaway’s “What is Love?” without having their killing-rage levels rise, John Fortenberry’s ode to male clubgoing stupidity gets some decent mileage out of Ferrell and Kattan’s development of their cardboard cut-out TV characters. Here, they’re positioned as brothers – Kattan’s the self-conscious one with daddy issues, Ferrell is the moron – striving to find love and careers in the nightclub business. It’s a hit-or-miss affair, but adhering closely to its dim-witted roots, “A Night at the Roxbury” works on its own limited terms, not to mention wisely finds some work for that faux-icon of early ’90s cool, Richard Grieco.

“Brain Candy” (1996)

Admittedly, “Brain Candy” – the debut (and sole) film from The Kids in the Hall – is not based on a specific sketch. But given the dearth of such efforts worthy of praise, I’m stretching the definition here and giving the nod to the Kids’ maiden cinematic effort on the basis of featuring Cancer Boy, a controversial character who originated in a sketch from the final season of the troupe’s TV tenure. The story involves a failing pharmaceutical company’s revolutionary new anti-depressant drug, which makes patients fixate on their happiest memories. But the film is really a scattershot showcase for the group’s particularly weird brand of dress-up comedy, with each member playing multiple roles (and, per tradition, both genders) and, in the process, skewering myriad targets with abandon. And as for Cancer Boy, the bald, cheery, wheelchair-bound author of the hit pop song “Whistle While You’re Low,” he’s the type of ludicrous, button-pushing comedic character that all films based on sketches could use more of.

[Additional Photos: Dan Aykroyd, Ray Charles and John Belushi in "The Blues Brothers," Universal Pictures, 1980; Stephen Root and Gary Cole in "Office Space," 20th Century Fox, 1999; Bruce McCulloch in "Brain Candy," Paramount, 1996]

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