Wouldn't you consider almost all of the teenage-coming-of-age comedies of the 90s frustration comedies?

Almost all revolve around being unable to get the girl and coming up with failed scheme after failed scheme to try and get her.

And likewise most romantic comedies.

I'm curious what makes frustration comedies separate and different enough for their own genre.

It's a strange term, that seems to cover a large portion of comedy, as the frustration of human existence is often a great place to mine for humor.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems a lot of comedies fit into the frustration comedy, as well as another genre, but the ones listed here are the comedies that didn't fit into any other category.

It seems to be an exclusive genre, rather than an inclusive one, which strikes me as interesting.

BTW -- I'm not saying all comedies are frustration comedies. There's slapstick, and farce, and others. It just seems like "frustration" is a catch all.

Curious on people's opinions.

A recent (and quite decent) film, Get Him To The Greek. "A record company intern (Jonah Hill) is hired to accompany out-of-control British rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) to a concert at L.A.'s Greek Theater" (IMDB).

WHAT ABOUT BOB is the ultimate "frustration comedy"... Richard Dryfuss literally goes crazy by the end of it.

Some of Kafka's works, particularly the longer ones. (Kafka himself said he was writing to amuse his friends and thought much of what he was doing was funny.)

10

@James: It's probably possible to look at most every movie and see some frustration dynamic at play. When you use the term in Hwood, it's talking about a movie where the frustration is central to the Plotline. For example:

K-9: A stubborn cop gets a new partner. A police dog.

There are all sorts of frustrating moments in the story, but the dynamic isn't central to the Plotline.

The Hangover: Three groomsmen lose their about-to-be-wed buddy during their drunken misadventures, then must retrace their steps in order to find him.

Protag's goal: Find the groom. But the fact they got so drunk they can't remember the details of the previous evening and events that transpire as they seek their friend frustrate their attempts to achieve goal.

A frustration comedy is where the frustration dynamic is front and center in terms of the story's thematic focus.

"Groundhog Day" is one Frustration Comedy I really like. How frustrating would it be to have to live the same day over and over again?

Along with the wonderful "After Hours" (which, like "The King of Comedy," never gets nearly enough respect when folks look at the Scorcese catalog) one should also take a look at Jonathan Demme's grossly underrated "Something Wild" and the even more undervalued "Into the Night," John Landis's answer to the question 'why you should never drive your car to the LAX parking lot when you have insomnia.'

After Hours, Something Wild, and Into the Night all basically came out around the same time, '84 - '85 - ish. A wave of sweeping statements on male yuppie disillusionment in America, eh?

These two movies have similar plots (guy trapped in a crazy small town gets involved in a murder conspiracy) and though they are both funny, have dramatic and disturbing elements as well:

"Red Rock West" with Nic Cage
"U Turn" with Sean Penn

@P.A.: You recommend Get Him to the Greek. So have a few other folks I know. I was tempted to watch it because it reminds me of the premise of My Favorite Year, but the ad campaign struck me like it was a pretty dumb movie. Based on these recs, yours included, I'll add it to my list of films to see.

What About Bob, 10, Groundhog Day, Something Wild, Red Rock West - all wonderful movies.

Die Hard.

Yippy-ky-yay hilarious, yes?

Speaking of The Hangover, Dirty Pretty Things is a supremely fucked up frustration "comedy" that tells a disturbingly similar story to The Hangover, but does it ten years earlier, and goes way way darker. One of Peter Berg's first movies. Great cast, too. Anyone who likes black comedies, check that one out. Pretty sure it's streaming on Netflix.

@ Scott -- Interesting. So would you say frustration comedies have largely impossible goals? (I don't mean impossible in unreachable, but for the protagonist, largely unrealistic).

@ Get Him To the Greek -- It is a dumb movie. But it's hilarious. I laughed through the whole thing. And the gags and dilemmas, while over the top and ridiculous, didn't feel like they were just there for the laugh.

Also P.Diddy is HILARIOUS. You should see it for that alone.

I think you'll enjoy it, Scott.

It's definitely not a movie that will stand the test of time. But it was well worth my ten bucks and had me laughing more than most recent comedies.

One that came immediately to mind is "The Out of Towners" --- the original with Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis. I couldn't bring myself to watch the re-make. And this may have been one of the earliest ones, made in 1970 I think. No one is/was better at frustration than Jack Lemmon.
Uh oh, am I revealing my age here?

Meet the Parents

@James: Actually the task can seem pretty simple. Take PT&A: The goal is simply to get home. But a snowstorm happens and everything else goes to hell. In fact, the easier the task is, the more frustrating the situation can become because... well, it should be so damn easy!

Nate - are you sure about the Dirty Pretty Things/Peter Berg reference?

The only Dirty Pretty Things movie I can find on IMDB, is one I'm familiar with, directed by Stephen Frears, written by Steven Knight - no Peter Berg associated with it and it's not a comedy and the story isn't like the Hangover.

OTOH - went to Peter Berg's IMDB and no reference to Dirty Pretty Things.

I'm only asking b/c the Stephen Frears movie is one of my all-time favorites so you mention caught my eye.

Re: James and unrealistic goals

My example to add would be National Lampoon's Vacation. Like Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, the goals are ridiculously simple, and the frustrations are very realistic. Who hasn't had a delayed flight, a broken down car, or a bad vacation? Yet the Griswold's manage to screw up summer vacation.

Since someone invoked the Holy Lemmon (as in Jack) I guess citing Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple" would be appropriate at this time.

In fact, could that possible be crowned the KING of the "frustration comedy?" I mean, let's face it, one man is about to jump 11 stories ("It's only 10, I swear") to his death and the other man is throwing spaghetti ("It's linguini!") against the wall because he DID NOT KNOW WHAT LADLE was.

Such a great film.

Right now I can't help out with a movie example but I think I know where Scott is going with this.

And correct me if I'm wrong...

But if you watch any episode of Green Acres it could be considered a frustration comedy.

One simple task that Oliver Douglas (Eddie Albert) needed to complete was entirely turned upside-down by his wife, the "town folk" and of course, Mr. Haney.

And if I remember correctly what made it more frustratingly comedic was that Oliver could never complete a sentence because someone always cut him off.

The poor guy couldn't win.

Oh Courtney... you touch my heart. "Green Acres" got me through college. As crazy as my life was, a trip to Hooterville every night around 11pm on the old Nick at Nite... a most welcome respite from the hell of my existence at the time.

And, contrary to what most think, that show was almost consistently well written. They dipped into the surreal on occasion and, yes, Oliver Wendell Douglas was never anything but frustrated, flustered, and flabbergasted.

But then who wouldn't be having to suffer Lisa's "hotscakes" every morning for breakfast right?

Very Bad Things is the name of the movie by Peter Berg.