Now is probably as good a time as any to spend a long binge session with some of the best comedies on Netflix, thanks to the sub-optimal state of the world right now. The pandemic, the embarrassing state of our political discourse, the effects of climate change speeding up — you get the idea.
For millions of people, Netflix was a bit of a lifeline over the past year and a half. In this post, we want to speak specifically to those of you needing more good comedies and other movies to binge on the streamer right now. Those of you who want to laugh, and forget about, well, basically everything for a little while. Many of you apparently feel the same way, because one of the titles right now on Netflix’s combined Top 10 list, which includes both TV shows and movies, is a comedy film from the 1990s: Major Payne.
Best comedies on Netflix – Major Payne
“A hardened Marine is given his marching orders and must now lead a disorderly group of mismatched cadets into a junior ROTC competition,” reads the description of this comedy via its Netflix landing page.
The roughly 90-minute-long film, starring Damon Wayans, has a 68% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. This seems a little meh, until you consider the fact that it’s based on more than 100,000 user ratings.
“I said hold it, turd!” 😂
MAJOR PAYNE is available to stream on Netflix (US) pic.twitter.com/AHhDU9mEKH
— Strong Black Lead (@strongblacklead) August 6, 2021
Many critics, as you might imagine, excoriated the film. Often by making a pun from the title, calling this comedy a major pain. Not all of them did, though. The late critic Roger Ebert seemed to enjoy it, based on his review from 1995. “Although the plot of the movie is a familiar formula,” he writes, “the dialogue and performance are not. It’s a smart, funny job of poking fun at all those movies where sadistic drill instructors terrorized their green recruits.”
More top movies on Netflix
As we noted, the movie is hanging around Netflix’s combined Top 10 list right now. Here’s a look at that list, in total (current as of Thursday, August 12):
- The Kissing Booth 3
- Outer Banks
- Vivo
- All American
- Hit & Run
- Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami
- CoComelon
- Untold: Malice at the Palace
- Major Payne
- Top Secret UFO Projects: Declassified
Check out our recent coverage to read more about some of the other titles on this list. That includes Cocaine Cowboys as well as Hit & Run. The latter is a particular favorite, and stars Israeli actor Lior Raz.
“In this new action thriller,” reads Netflix’s official synopsis, “a happily married man’s life is turned upside down when his wife is killed in a mysterious hit and run accident in Tel Aviv. Grief-stricken and confused, he searches for his wife’s killers, who have fled to the US. With the help of an ex-lover, (Sanaa Lathan), he uncovers disturbing truths about his beloved wife and the secrets she kept from him.”
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