Best Comedy Movies of 1988

The highest-rated comedy films from 1988, ranked by MovieMagicScore based on authentic viewer ratings.

Comedy 1987 Comedy 1989 All Time Comedy

Action Drama Horror Science Fiction Thriller Romance Animation Documentary Fantasy Crime

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

1988

'Toon star Roger is worried that his wife Jessica is playing pattycake with someone else, so the studio hires detective Eddie Valiant to snoop on her. But the stakes are quickly raised when Marvin Acme is found dead and Roger is the prime suspect.

7.5

Beetlejuice

1988

A newly dead New England couple seeks help from a deranged demon exorcist to scare an affluent New York family out of their home.

7.4

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

1988

When the bumbling Lieutenant Frank Drebin investigates events following the shooting of his partner, he stumbles upon an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.

7.3

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

1988

Pepa resolves to kill herself with a batch of sleeping-pill-laced gazpacho after her lover leaves her. Fortunately, she is interrupted by a deliciously chaotic series of events.

7.4

Heathers

1988

A girl who halfheartedly tries to be part of the "in crowd" of her school meets a rebel who teaches her a more devious way to play social politics: by killing the popular kids.

7.3

Time of the Gypsies

1988

In this luminous tale set in the former Yugoslavia, Perhan, an engaging young Romany with telekinetic powers, is seduced by the quick-cash world of petty crime that threatens to destroy him and those he loves.

7.6

Big

1988

When a young boy makes a wish at a carnival machine to be big—he wakes up the following morning to find that it has been granted and his body has grown older overnight. But he is still the same 13-year-old boy inside. Now he must learn how to cope with the unfamiliar world of grown-ups including getting a job and having his first romantic encounter with a woman.

7.2

A Fish Called Wanda

1988

While a diamond advocate attempts to steal a collection of diamonds, troubles arise when he realises he’s not the only one after the collection.

7.2

Midnight Run

1988

A bounty hunter pursues a former Mafia accountant who is also being chased by a rival bounty hunter, the F.B.I., and his old mob boss after jumping bail.

7.2

#10

Heart of a Dog

1988

"Heart of a Dog" is a Soviet film adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s iconic novella. Set in 1920s Moscow, it tells the satirical and darkly humorous story of a stray dog named Sharik, who is transformed into a human by Professor Preobrazhensky through a daring medical experiment. The resulting man, Poligraf Poligrafovich Sharikov, embodies the social and ideological tensions of early Soviet society. With its sharp critique of class struggle, human nature, and the perils of radical change, the film is celebrated for its faithful adaptation, brilliant performances, and rich allegorical depth.

7.9

#11

Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf

1988

Shaggy is turned into a werewolf, and it's up to Scooby, Scrappy and Shaggy's girlfriend to help him win a race against other monsters, and become human again.

7.4

#12

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

1988

Con artist Lawrence Jamieson is a longtime resident of a luxurious coastal resort, where he enjoys the lavish fruits of his deceptions -- that is, until a competitor, Freddy Benson, shows up. When the new guy's lowbrow tactics impinge on his own sophisticated work and believing him to be the infamous conman 'The Jackal', Lawrence resolves to get rid of him. Confident of his own duplicitous talents, he challenges Freddy to a winner-takes-all competition: whoever swindles their latest mark, American heiress Janet Colgate, out of $50,000 first can stay, while the other must leave town.

7.1

#13

Compagni di scuola

1988

A group of former high school classmates meets for a reunion 15 years after graduation, only to discover that any innocence or friendship is long lost.

7.2

#14

Dragons Forever

1988

A hot-shot lawyer is hired by a Hong Kong chemical plant to dispose of opposition to their polluting ways. But when he falls for a beautiful woman out to stop the plant, he is torn in a conflict of interest and asks his trusty friends Samo and Biao to help out at least until they discover the true purpose of the plant.

7.3

#15

Coming to America

1988

An African prince decides it’s time for him to find a princess... and his mission leads him and his most loyal friend to Queens, New York. In disguise as an impoverished immigrant, the pampered prince quickly finds himself a new job, new friends, new digs, new enemies and lots of trouble.

6.9

#16

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

1988

An account of Baron Munchausen's supposed travels and fantastical experiences with his band of misfits.

7.0

#17

Ariel

1988

A Finnish man goes to the city to find a job after the mine where he worked is closed and his father commits suicide.

7.1

#18

Scrooged

1988

Frank Cross is a wildly successful television executive whose cold ambition and curmudgeonly nature has driven away the love of his life. But after firing a staff member on Christmas Eve, Frank is visited by a series of ghosts who give him a chance to re-evaluate his actions and right the wrongs of his past.

6.8

#19

Drowning by Numbers

1988

Three generations of women who seek to murder their husbands share a solidarity for one another which brings about three copy-cat drownings.

7.0

#20

Oliver & Company

1988

A young cat named Oliver is left alone in a kitten box, while all the other young cats have new owners. A big dog named Dodger shows him how to get food and later Oliver lives with him, his owner Fagin and Fagin's other dogs Tito, Rita, Einstein, and Francis. Fagin has one problem besides being broke he owes a nasty man named Sykes a lot of money. If he can't pay it back he's in big trouble. While Oliver runs into a little girl named Jenny who becomes his new owner which he is happy with and later Sykes sees Jenny as the key for him to get his money.

6.7

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Best Comedy Movies of 1988

This ranking features the top comedy movies released in 1988, sorted by MovieMagicScore viewer ratings. Looking for more? Browse all genres from 1988 or see the best comedy movies of all time.