The comedy Paul Rudd called “the funniest movie of all time”
Throughout his time onscreen, Paul Rudd has always found a way to get the audience to smile. Whether playing the lovable idiots onscreen or making sentimental family films, Rudd has earned his reputation as one of the most charming actors working today, continuing to provide entertainment to anyone watching. Although his tastes tend to verge towards comedy most of the time, he still heralds this film as one of the most gripping movies ever made.
When looking at his filmography, it’s easy to see why Rudd would favour comedies more than anything else. Compared to the historical dramas many of his contemporaries may like to get into, Rudd knows his strength lies in waking stories that are true to life rather than something too extravagant.
Even when playing people with extraordinary powers, like in the Ant-Man series, Rudd knows how to bring a certain vulnerability in his role. As much as he may be able to outsmart the supervillains half the time, most of his strength comes from the fact that he’s making his luck as he goes rather than trying to have a convoluted plan half the time.
That’s not to say that Rudd has always shied away from dramas. When talking about the most incredible movies he has ever seen, Rudd singled out The Godfather as a particular favourite in the past, thinking that it was equivalent to The Beatles in cinema. As far as his taste is concerned, though, Rudd tends to relate to what happens in comedies a lot more often.
While many dramas fall into the trap of taking themselves way too seriously half the time, Rudd found it much easier to relate to movies that had a bit more tongue-in-cheek regarding their humour. As opposed to the most celebrated comedies in cinema history, Rudd circled back to the movie Withnail and I as one of the pinnacles of comedy for him.
Then again, Withnail and I doesn’t prime itself to be a sidesplitting good time throughout its runtime. Framed as a black comedy, the 1987 film tells the story of two down-on-their-luck actors desperately trying to make ends meet as we watch them go from their desolate flat back to the pub and occasionally go to the unemployment office.
When discussing the movie’s impact on him, Rudd thinks that the humour comes from the horrible situation they find themselves in, telling Hot Ones, “One of the funniest movies of all time for me is Withnail and I. It’s essentially a very sad film. But whenever I see something experiencing something heartbreaking or some kind of struggle and the way they deal with it is through humour, there are many levels to that”.
Rudd would say that the same humour was found in Alan Partridge’s The Office, featuring a similar approach to comedy with a healthy dose of heartbreaking reality. Even though the root of each of these films is about dealing with the harshest sides of one’s humanity, Rudd finds it easier to connect to the human side of the filmmaker, explaining, “I find that really funny but I also find it relatable. I find that something can be very funny and very heartbreaking at the same time. It’s very funny but it’s also kind of sad”.
