There are a lot of famous satire films out there but here’s a list of some that I feel are underrated.
- Bowfinger
Steve Martin (“Planes, Trains & Automobiles”) and Eddie Murphy (“Beverly Hills Cop”) star in this satire of Hollywood. It takes shots at filmmaking executive, pampered stars and even Scientology.
- Looking For Comedy In The Muslim World
Albert Brooks (“Finding Nemo”) plays himself as he’s tasked by the American government with finding out what Muslims find funny. The film is really more a satire of cultural barriers and celebrity status than it is about Islam. It could have easily been about finding out what the Chinese laugh at.
- Idiocracy
A film that has started to get some recognition in more recent years. Directed by Mike Judge (“Office Space”), this movie sees Luke Wilson (“Bottle Rocket”) play the most average of our times. He gets cryogenically preserved and awakens in a future where the average intelligence has decreased drastically. It’s sort of like a live-action version of “Futurama”.
- The Infidel
Omid Djalili (“The Mummy”) plays a British Muslim, who learns that his birth parents were actually Jewish. If he wants permission from a rabbi to see his dying biological father, he must learn about his Jewish roots. However, he also has to keep up appearances as a Muslim to impress an Islamic hate preacher to secure his son’s marriage the imam’s daughter. There are some great jokes about Islamic and Jewish cultures as we see the similarities and differences between the two.
- Thank You For Smoking
“Thank You For Smoking” offers a really great look at the world of lobbying. It follows Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart “The Dark Knight”), a tobacco lobbyist with friends that include firearms and alcohol lobbyists. This movie demonstrates how slick and confident people can spin stories and data. Naylor has the manipulative skills to make smoking seem like a perfectly safe activity. The movie shows you just how many people die of smoking related illnesses and how those numbers put despots such as Genghis Khan to shame.