Comedy

The Puffy Chair filmmaking duo Jay and Mark Duplass return to the realm of cinema with this tale of a man, a bag, and the strangeness that occurs when the two independently inconsequential factors come together. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A CIA agent who is currently in the process of writing a book loses the disc containing his only manuscript in this comedic tale of espionage that reunites filmmaking duo Joel and Ethan Coen with Intolerable Cruelty and O Brother, Where Art Thou? star George Clooney. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

When Playboy playmate Shelley (Anna Faris) is unceremoniously evicted from Hugh Hefner's lavish mansion in order to make room for some younger beauties, her quest for employment finds her serving as den mother to an unpopular L.A. sorority in this Happy Madison production directed by Fred Wolf. Colin Hanks, Rumer Willis, Katharine McPhee, Monet Mazur, and Beverly D'Angelo co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Hijinks and spyjinks lighten this effective comedy by Richard Murphy, based -- very loosely -- on an actual incident in World War II. The place is somewhere in the Pacific and the not-so-good ship USS Echo, captained by the comic Lt. Rip Crandall (Jack Lemmon), has a very specific assignment. The floating anachronism has to safely carry an Australian spy deep into enemy territory where he will be stationed to report on the Japanese fleet's activities. Since the Echo should have been dismantled and sold for its parts long ago, this assignment is not easy. As the military and its stereotypical traits are parodied with sophistication and sharp humor, the Captain and his motley crew do their best to successfully complete their mission. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

George Stevens' Talk of the Town is a quick-witted comedy driven by wonderful performances by Cary Grant, Ronald Colman and Jean Arthur. Michael Lightcap (Colman) is a stuffy law professor in line to a Supreme Court appointment, who is spending the summer at the house of schoolteacher Nora Shelley (Arthur). But Lightcap is not the only guest at the house. Shelley has also let Leopold Dilg (Grant)--a man who had recently escaped from prison, where he was serving a sentence for false accusations of immolating a local factory--stay at the house, telling Lightcap that he is a gardener. In addition to striking up a friendship, Lightcap and Dilg also compete for the affections of Shelley. Eventually, the professor learns of Dilg's true identity, finding out that Leopold was framed by a crooked government, led by the foreman of the factory, who supposedly died in the fire. When Dilg is captured by the police, Lightcap comes to his defense, bringing the still-alive foreman out of hiding and, in the process, clearing Leopold of all the charges. Talk of the Town received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Original Story, Best Score, Best Editing, and Best Interior Decoration, yet it lost in all of the categories. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide