Small town life in comedies is great since it’s all down home and it’s all about heart rather than the professional drive that seems present in so many movies. Small towns don’t often aspire to much more than just getting by and enjoying the life they’ve got rather than the heights that cities tend to soar towards on a regular basis. This makes the comedy a lot less cerebral at times and more down to earth, like the small town in which they’re based. Sometimes the big city life and the small town life collide in a funny and very engaging way that a lot of people feel is easy to relate to.
Like John Mellencamp once said, “…I can breathe in a small town.”
5. Funny Farm
When a prominent writer and his wife move to the countryside from the big city they discover that there’s a lot more to the serenity and getting back to nature thing than they’d anticipated. Between psychotic mailmen and down home cooking that features menu items that big city folks might never think about eating they’ve got a huge adjustment to think about.
4. Gremlins
More of a horror comedy than anything, Gremlins leaves you to wonder just what kind of effect these little green guys would have on a big city if they were allowed to roam, and what might happen if they were to fall into the sewers where adequate moisture is abundant to allow their numbers to swell to epidemic proportions. I mean look what a theater-full did to a small town.
3. Hot Fuzz
It was kind of interesting to see a former James Bond actor become the big bad villain in this film but the comedy really lies with Pegg and Frost who play up their roles to the extreme in a way that makes you almost feel guilty for laughing at times. The movie was pretty cool however and there were a few dark moments, but by the final battle you’re really rooting for Nicholas Angel to just kick some butt.
2. Groundhog Day
How long do you think Phil was stuck in that one day? I mean look at it this way, he learned how to play the piano, read French poetry and speak the language, sculpt ice statues, learn everyone’s little secrets and memorize them, and even get down the timing of every little thing in town to the second. I think that I’d actually hate to know just how long that one day really lasted.
1. Doc Hollywood
Doc Hollywood was more about a guy dreaming of riches and a burgeoning practice all the way across the country without realizing that his place in life was bound to be a lot closer than he realized. His car crash in Grady was an accident of course but the resulting time he had to stick around to get his car fixed and of course pay for the damage he did to the fence made him grow up a bit and realize what that what he needed to be happy was right in front of him.
Small town living makes for some great comedy.
