Five other Canadian comedies worth seeing

1. Roadkill (1989)

Don McKellar and Valerie Buhagiar star in this black and white satire of Canadian culture. From its opening shot skewering the iconic Hinterland Who’s Who, to the idea of McKellar playing a man desperate to realize the American dream and become a famous serial murderer, this breakthrough from Bruce McDonald proved Canadians could be subversive with a smile.

2. waydowntown (2000)

Calgary filmmaker Gary Burns has made a few funny movies, but waydowntown stands as his Mona LOLisa. The film centres on a group of young cubicle dwellers who wager a month’s salary on who can stay inside Calgary’s “Plus15” skyway mall network the longest. Without huge gags, the movie finds humour in the mounting paranoia that sets in.

3. It’s All Gone Pete Tong (2004)

Michael Dowse continues to build a reputation for making funny, marketable motion pictures that capitalize on boyish inanity, with Fubar (2002) standing front and centre. But it was Dowse’s followup effort that really raised the bar. Pete Tong isn’t just an elegant comedy about a euro club DJ who goes deaf, it’s a loving ode to existence.

4. The Saddest Music in the World (2003)

It’s a musical set in Winnipeg during the Great Depression, and if that already sounds like fun, consider this: It’s in black and white, stars Isabella Rossellini as a one-legged beer-brewing queen, and features a contest for the saddest music in the world. Guy Maddin’s mind-altering film feels like an acid trip directed by Charlie Chaplin.

5. Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2006)

Patrick Huard starred in Ken Scott’s 2011 smash Starbuck, which remains Canada’s highest-grossing comedy next to Porky’s, but it was Huard’s performance as a Quebec Starsky opposite Colm Feore’s Ontario Hutch that cooked up the best results on the Anglo side of the equation in this bilingual groundbreaker from Erik Canuel.