October's 5 Comedy Movies, From Ali G's Return to a Christmas Horror at 3%
Sacha Baron Cohen dusted off the tracksuit, Olivia Wilde threw a dinner party, and somebody opened a Christmas movie on Halloween weekend.
By the Heckle Desk · · 2 min read
October was a strange month for comedy at the movies, in that most of the comedy didn't bother going to the movies. One of these five stopped at a theater for two days on its way to your couch, two arrived on streaming months after their theater runs, and one went out to 1,825 theaters and appears to have found about four people in each. The rest of the business happened on streaming services, where a film can bomb in total privacy, like a man singing in the shower.
Here are the five worth knowing about, best to worst in spirit if not always in money, with the critics' scores where they've been counted. If you missed them, you're in good company. So did almost everyone, and the studios have decided that's a business model.
- 01
The Invite (HBO Max, Oct. 23)
Olivia Wilde directs and stars opposite Seth Rogen as a married couple whose dinner with the upstairs neighbors, Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton, goes about as well as dinner with neighbors ever does. It sits at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, made more than $55 million worldwide after its June release, and climbed to No. 1 on HBO Max's movie chart. It's based on the Spanish film The People Upstairs, so somebody in Spain had this fight first.
- 02
Ali G: Who Iz I? (Prime Video, Oct. 28)
Sacha Baron Cohen directs a feature for the first time and brings back the character who made him famous, pranking strangers in mockumentary style. It played 125 theaters for two days, then went to Prime Video and hit No. 1 on the U.S. movie chart, according to FlixPatrol. Critics gave it 39% and said the joke has aged, and the joke could say the same about the critics.
- 03
Minions & Monsters (Peacock, Oct. 28)
The Minions land in 1920s Hollywood and conjure a real monster out of an enchanted book, which is roughly how studios develop franchises. It opened in theaters July 1 and made more than $520 million worldwide on an $85 million budget. Pierre Coffin directs and still voices the Minions, a man who has said nothing intelligible on screen for 16 years and been paid handsomely for every syllable.
- 04
Sacrifice (Netflix, Oct. 16)
Romain Gavras's satire casts Chris Evans as a movie star rebuilding his image after a flamethrower stunt and Anya Taylor-Joy as a cult leader convinced a volcano needs three people. Reviews were mostly rough, about 40% on Rotten Tomatoes at launch, though nearly every critic liked Evans. A movie about throwing celebrities into a volcano should not be this hard to sell to the American public.
- 05
Christmas at the Kringles (theaters, Oct. 30)
Ron Livingston and Rachel Bilson move in next to a family that celebrates Christmas all year with sinister intentions, and team up with an alcoholic mall Santa played by Rob Riggle; Thomas Lennon and Beverly D'Angelo are among the Kringles. It opened on 1,825 screens, had made about $711,000 at last count, and holds 3% on Rotten Tomatoes from 30 critics. Opening a Christmas movie on Halloween weekend is either bold or a clerical error, and the numbers lean clerical.