I’ve made no secret of my low mood at the moment, so help cheer me up:
What are the cheeriest, happiest movies you’ve ever seen?
The first one that comes to mind for me is the utterly delightful Legally Blonde. Its protagonist, Elle Woods, is surely one of the sweetest, kindest characters ever to feature in her own movie.
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The Princess Bride is too predictable, so I’m going with The Great Muppet Caper.
Some of my go-tos are The Princess Bride (natch), My Neighbor Totoro, and the concert film Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band: Live in New York City. Not every song the Boss sings is cheery, but the entire thing is cathartic and celebratory.
Here’s “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” from that film. Legendary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1twvwbB_cU&ab_channel=BruceSpringsteenVEVO
For me, definitely: “Much ado about nothing”.
“Legally blonde” is among my favourites, too.
“While you were sleeping” – not as strong as the other two, but I definitely remember leaving the cinema happier than I had entered it.
These are old-fashioned choices, I realize, buy as far as comedy films go, Laurel and Hardy in “Sons of the Desert:” from 1933 is hard to beat. I laugh every time Betty and Lottie go to the movie theatre and find out that Stan and Ollie deceived them and went to the Chicago convention after all.
There’s also Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon in “Some Like It Hot” from 1959, though the movie would probably be picketed in parts of the US today, assuming it could even be produced in the first place.
… but as far as comedy films go…