One of the most amazing things in Fincher's movies is that as dark as they may be they miraculously manage to have hilarious, sometimes even laugh out loud funny moments. Whether it's Robert Downey Jr.'s character genius lines in Zodiac, Tyler pissing and - doing worse things - into people's soup in Fight Club or snarky Harvard president being absolutely dismissive of his students, Fincher's films have really wonderful moments of humor which I always appreciate.
I hate tonally black and white films - just because something is a thriller doesn't mean you have to sit there stewed in dark tension for 2 hours straight. So let's take a look at some of the funniest moments in Fincher's films.
I'm sure Gone Girl will bring a few of those as well. Tyler Perry's "would you look at this stupid motherfucker incriminating himself?" looks at Ben Affleck are already so funny and we just saw a little bit of that in trailers.
(I didn't bother rewaching Alien 3 for this, though, I'm sure there are some great moments of unintentional humor, Benjamin Button was shockingly devoid of funny bits despite all its warmth, the funniest thing about Panic Room was Jared Leto's acting and The Game, while did have few golden moments of Douglas being disgusted, didn't make the cut)
10. Asleep - Se7en
This image of Mills and Somerset sleeping while waiting for the results of the forensics is certainly one of the memorable moments in the dark thriller.9. The Marked Man - Zodiac
Paul's drunken/hazy state as he talks to his confused boss going on and on how he is the marked man for Zodiac killer because he sent him bloodied cloth and threatened his life. Downey's whole performance in the movie is just terrific and as usual filled with the actor's charm and sense of humour.8. Dante - Se7en
Relieved Mills finds out Somerset wants to help him and he left him some clues. But then Mills realizes that Dante's writing isn't really to his liking.
At all.
7. Shorty - Zodiac
Shorty is a wonderful comic relief character in Zodiac, but the best part is him and Paul watching TV when the Zodiac supposedly calls the studio. You said it!
6. I didn't do that - Se7en
Perhaps the only time I laughed so soon after the words 'dead dog' were uttered.
5. Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me. - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The code word in this one is just brilliant. It comes in so unexpectedly and the fact that Craig is delivering it, who plays this good, kind, sorta clumsy guy only adds to the hilarity. It's just the perfect code - you can just imagine it's what Lisbeth said to him after he asked -
'What's the code word?'
*shrugs*. Fuck me.
4. The Fight - Fight Club
Fight Club is filled with hilarious moments but Norton's fight with his boss - or to say more accurately - him fighting himself - as his boss is watching, horrified, was close to winning here. How many of you daydreamed about doing something like this?
3. The Chicken - The Social Network
The story of the chicken Eduardo was taking care of and one day, with no sinister thought in his head, fed him some....chicken is referred to several times in the movie. But the best part comes when Eduardo finally freaks out - don't fish eat the other fish?!
2. Punch me in the face - The Social Network
Here's the thing - Larry Summers admitted to being even more rude in reality than he was in this scene. Can you imagine? Anyways, his total contempt for both the rules of Harvard and the brothers Winklevoss makes for totally hilarious scene. I wish I had Anne of my own to say it to several times a day.
1. Lou - Fight Club
There really aren't the words to describe this scene. When the owner of the bar, Lou, comes down to the basement to throw the guys out, Tyler takes a stand. Lou beats the shit out of him, but Tyler keeps getting back for more until it's him on top of Lou, getting his word that they can continue to come to the bar and fight in the basement. How did he accomplish that? I wouldn't say it was pacifist attitude.
It was batshit crazy attitude.
The cherry on top? When Lou is leaving and his bodyguard pulls a gun on the Fight Club. A gun, because what he witnessed was so messed up his first response is to pull a gun on a bunch of unarmed men and Tyler, covered with blood, lying on the ground.
I should probably be disturbed but that scene always cracks me up.
YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE I'VE BEEN LOU!
YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE I'VE BEEN!
Ahaha your number 1 is probably the only scene I find truly disturbing in Fight Club :P I think the Chicken from TSN wins it for me although I remember losing my shit when I realised the code in TGWTDT. An oh my god, the Enya song in that is genius too.
ReplyDeleteTSN and Fight Club in general are hilarious though.
Haha, I just always crack up during this scene, Pitt is going insane in that moment :)
DeleteAwesome list! Love the Social Network mentions. Perfect.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Garfield's freakout was so great.
DeleteBasically any conversation between Downey & Gyllenhaal in Zodiac is hilarious. I love the edit when they're at the bar and Downey is questioning the blue cocktail Gyllenhall has to them drunk off a bunch of them. I also love Ruffalo's love for animal crackers. For a movie that dark, it's surprising how funny it is.
ReplyDeleteHaha yeah, then they show several of Aqua Velva in front of RDJ :P Fincher really knows how to sneak in some amazing details in his movies.
DeleteOh wow, who knew Fincher has great comic sensibilities :P LOVE these Sati. That first photo of Pitt & Freeman sleeping is a hoot, what w/ Pitt's mouth open and all, ahah. There are some funny scenes of Zodiac, RDJ being his zany self is always entertaining.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Pitt is such a funny dude, I think his comedy performances are my fav of his
DeleteI don't think Fincher gets a lot of credit for his approach to humor which is very subtle as I think it's one of the reasons why he is so revered as a filmmaker. The man knows where to put funny moments in films that are often very dark. Kubrick is a master at that.
ReplyDeleteI don't know Kubrick's movies well enough, but hopefully I'll get a chance to fix that some day :)
DeleteGreat post! I love #4 & #8.
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
DeleteLol, number and 8 is my favorite ;dd
ReplyDeleteI was just about to watch Zodiac, but got interrupted. Whatever, it seems like a good one.
Pitt has some really fantastic comedy talent :)
DeleteHope you'll like Zodiac!
Love the list!! Especially The Social Network and Se7en mentions, but honestly, all of these are perfect :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
DeleteVery good list Margareth. Love the mentions of The Social Network. Being almost all Fincher movie genuinely brilliant and different the facebook story is still my favorite. Such good dialogues.
ReplyDeleteThe dialogues in the movie are fantastic, I prefer some other movies by Fincher to TSN but TSN is definitely the one that is impeccably directed, Fincher was robbed of that Director oscar
DeleteI too laughed at that moment when John Doe said he didn't kill the dog. Hmm I didnt remember a lot of funny arts in GWTDT. I need to rewatch that one
ReplyDeleteThere's also that Enya bit there which is probably the most famous one :) But the film actually has plenty of funny scenes mostly thanks to Craig's character acting awkward or confused
DeleteAwesome list!! I love all of these, especially the "I didn't do that." So funny. I loved that chicken scene in the Social Network too, it was so random.
ReplyDeleteThen of course there's "This is Bob. Bob has bitch tits."
Thank you! Bob was awesome! I always feel terrible when laughing during this 'his name was Robert Paulson" scene
DeleteAwesome post even if I skipped everything from Zodiac and Se7en as I still haven't seen them. I love, love, love The Social Network, and both scenes you featured here really crack me up every time I watch that film, which is several times a year. I love your Fincher event, by the way, I'll try to be around and comment more!
ReplyDeleteThank you! You've gotta see Se7en!
DeleteHeh, some good stuff here. I can almost always appreciate some dark humor, and Fincher's done a nice job sneaking that into his films it would appear. Nice post. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I think Gone Girl will have plenty of dark humor too
DeleteThe moment where Brad just waves his hand.. you can almost see the confusion, and you don't even see his face. I just figured, he is a very good physical actor.. he can show emotions through his body without even saying anything.. Burn After Reading being a fine example to add to this fact.
ReplyDeleteA nice list as always and may I say, I'm enjoying this Fincher event A LOT!! Thanks for putting so much effort into every post and educating me on the way! :)
He really is awesome, people don't give him enough credit! It's rare for an actor to be good both comedy and dramatic scenes.
DeleteOh I'm not the one who should educate people, my knowledge mostly comes from reading imdb :)
Ahh, this is great! Further reminder that I need to rewatch Seven, Fight Club and The Social Network sometime soon.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I've been rewatching everything by Fincher lately. He really is an exceptional filmmaker.
DeleteA perfect list. The humor in Fincher's films never gets enough credit. I love all the moments you mentioned. "Punch me in the face" is my favorite scene from The Social Network - priceless. I also love the humor of Downey's Zodiac performance:
ReplyDelete"I cover crime in Vallejo?" (Looks around editorial room). "Yeah, I cover crime in Vallejo."
Thank you! Downey was so funny in Zodiac, I love that moment you mentioned. Also 'Damn right someone should write a book!' - he has such a great timing and he is always so witty.
DeleteThe first time I view your blog, and you are reminding me of some of the funniest moments of some of my favorite movies, thanks for improving my day for one, and two what a great list idea. I couldn't disagree with any of these except the fact that I haven't seen The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, so I cannot logically speak about that one. But I have to say my favorite would have to be the Dante scene from Se7en, makes me laugh every time. Then he has to get the Dummy's guide to the books and has to hide them from Somerset, man that's humor. I also love the scene from Fight Club where Ed Norton is peeking in Brad Pitt's room in which he is sharing with Helena Bonham Carter, and all of a sudden he opens the door with a dish washing glove, and asks:
ReplyDelete"Wanna finish her off?"
Just the way he says it while scratching his stomach, makes me laugh everytime. Anyway great post, I loved it.
Thanks for the visit and leaving the comment!
DeleteThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is terrific, definitely worth seeing, I think it ranks 3rd when it comes to Fincher's movies for me, after Se7en and Fight Club.
Love that scene, Pitt's yellow rubber gloves only add to the hilarity, I rather not know what he was doing exactly :)
Out of the David Fincher’s movies I have watched, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is my favorite movie. Although it could not be classified anywhere in the list of funniest movies of all time it is very entertaining.
ReplyDeleteNice list. Fight Club is another Fincher film I need to rewatch. Right now, my favorite is the Dante line from Se7en. I love everything about Pitt's performance in that movie.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Haha Pitt was great there, loved his subtle funny moments
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