27 R-rated comedies you need to see in your lifetime

• R-rated comedies are making a comeback with movies like "No Hard Feelings" and "Joy Ride."

• You need to see movies like "The Blues Brothers," "Coming to America," and "Slap Shot."

• Below, a look back at the all-time best R-rated comedies.

"The 40 Year Old Virgin" (2005)

Before Steve Carell, Seth Rogen, and Paul Rudd became household names, they starred in this Judd Apatow comedy in which Carell plays a 40-year-old man who has never had sex.

When his friends at work discover this factoid, they go on a quest to get him laid, leading to some awful yet hilarious hijinks.

What makes this movie a classic is not just the comedic moments, but Carell's gentle performance as a guy who goes through some embarrassing situations to figure out what he really wants.

"American Pie" (1999)

In American Pie, four guys make a pact to lose their virginity on prom night. What unfolds is a laugh-filled story with some very memorable moments, including a unique way to use a flute. Come for the unapologetic glimpse at teenage life, stay to find out why Jason Biggs will forever be associated with pie.

"Blazing Saddles" (1974)

Director Mel Brooks' beloved comedy pushed the envelope in mixing mix race, social issues, and potty humor in movies. The satirical Western follows a Black sheriff (Cleavon Little), who, with the help of a drunk gunslinger (Gene Wilder), outsmarts a corrupt politician (Harvey Korman). The resulting film delivers some now-classic scenes, like the infamous bean-farting scene and the fourth-wall-breaking finale.

"The Big Lebowski" (1998)

In one of the Coen brothers' most beloved movies, Jeff Bridges plays Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, a burnout who stumbles into a kidnapping plot when he's mistaken for a millionaire with the same name.

From the outlandish characters, to Bridges' amazing performance, to costar John Goodman's F-bombs, this comedy earned its cult status for a reason.

"The Blues Brothers" (1980)

Based on characters created for "Saturday Night Live," the Blues Brothers movie creates a plot largely to justify spending 133 minutes with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd's characters. The fun comes not from wondering if they'll raise enough money to save the orphanage they grew up in from closing down, but from the situations — complete with musical numbers —that they get in along the way.

Plus, the ending, which features an exhilarating car chase, could rival scenes from most action movies.

"Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" (2006)

In "Borat," Sacha Baron Cohen takes one of his characters from his hit show, "Da Ali G Show," and creates one of the best mockumentaries of all time.

As Borat, a fictional journalist from Kazakhstan, Cohen meets up with unsuspecting Americans under the guise that he wants to learn about American culture, leading to hilarious and cringeworthy encounters that uncover uncomfortable truths about sex and race.

"Bridesmaids" (2011)

A few years after audiences were obsessed with "The Hangover," it was the ladies' turn for a raunchy bachelorette party comedy.

Kristen Wiig's turn as the chaotic matron of honor trying to pull everything off for her friend on the cheap would go on to be immortalized in several gifs — but it was Melissa McCarthy who would ultimately steal the show when she became a superstar thanks to her Oscar-nominated performance.

"Caddyshack" (1980)

Comedy greats Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield, and Ted Knight are all in top form in this classic set at a country club.

From Chase and Murray's funny scene together to the Baby Ruth bar mistaken as poop in the pool, the laughs in this movie never get old.

"Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke" (1978)

After crafting their comedy on stage for a decade, the duo of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong got a movie. And they didn't miss their chance to show off their stoner material to the masses.

Here, they play two stoners who are tasked with driving a van from Mexico to Los Angeles, though they have no idea the entire vehicle is made of marijuana.

The result is a beloved comedy that launched the stoner movie genre.

"Coming to America" (1988)

Eddie Murphy was at the top of his game in this comedy in which he plays a prince from Africa who travels with his friend, played by Arsenio Hall, to Queens, New York, to find a wife.

Murphy's foul-mouthed comedy, mixed with the fact that he plays numerous roles disguised in prosthetics, has made this fish-out-of-water story one of his greatest comedy performances.

"Friday" (1995)

This movie starring Ice Cube (who also cowrote the script) and a then-unknown Chris Tucker as friends who in the span of a day have to ward off a drug dealer and the neighborhood bully is one of those comedies that never gets old, regardless how many times you've seen it.

It doesn't matter if you know all the great one-liners by heart, the movie is timeless because the performances by Cube, Tucker, John Witherspoon, Bernie Mac, and Tiny "Zeus" Lister are that good.

"Girls Trip" (2017)

Regina Hall, Tiffany Haddish, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Queen Latifah are perfectly cast in this raunchy comedy that follows a group of friends who have known each other since college, when they were known as the "Flossy Posse," as they meet up to attend the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans.

It's a showcase that proves that not only can female-driven comedies be hits, but they can do so by being as raunchy as the guys.

"The Hangover" (2009)

Todd Phillips found success with comedies like "Road Trip" and "Old School," but he would create his magnum opus within the guy-comedy genre with this movie about three groomsmen who somehow lose the groom in Las Vegas and must retrace their steps after a wild night.

The movie would make Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis stars overnight and lead to countless copycats (and two awful sequels).

"House Party" (1990)

Starring hip-hop duo Kid 'n Play at the height of their popularity (plus a then little-known actor named Martin Lawrence), this movie about friends holding the ultimate house party became an instant classic thanks to its humor and a hip-hop soundtrack that was perfect for the 1990s youth.

Let's also not forget a scene-stealing performance by legendary standup comic Robin Harris, who plays Kid's father.

"Knocked Up" (2007)

Two years after Judd Apatow made Steve Carell a star with "The 40 Year Old Virgin," he went and did it to Seth Rogen with this comedy in which Rogen's character has a one-night stand with a woman way out of his league (Katherine Heigl) that leads to her getting pregnant.

Taking a usual Apatow theme of men who still act like boys and throwing in the grown-up responsibility of parenthood, this comedy works because it finds the humanity amid the raunch.

"National Lampoon's Animal House" (1978)

With the talents of director John Landis ("The Blues Brothers," "Coming to America") and National Lampoon magazine cofounder Douglas Kenney as the screenwriter (who cowrote the script with one of the magazine's writers Chris Miller) "Animal House" follows the outlandish antics of members of a rowdy fraternity.

The movie would make John Belushi a beloved comedy icon, despite showing up in only a handful of scenes, and the film would become a blueprint for countless raunchy college comedies to come.

"Office Space" (1999)

Following the success of "Beavis and Butt-Head," its creator Mike Judge stepped away from animation to make a movie that highlighted all the annoying things about working in an office.

"Office Space" is beloved for Judge's minute observations about the mundanity of the workplace, which fuel for the script's comedic moments. And then there's the casting: From Ron Livingston as a guy who just doesn't care anymore to Stephen Root's stapler-obsessed character, the film is perfectly idiosyncratic.

"Old School" (2003)

With Todd Phillips directing and Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, and Luke Wilson as the stars, this comedy about three adult men who create their own college fraternity has become the modern day "Animal House."

But it was the outlandish antics of Ferrell, who at the time of the movie's release was still best known for "Saturday Night Live," that cemented the movie's greatness.

"Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping" (2016)

Criminally underappreciated when it was released, this movie has grown a loyal cult following as it takes the "This Is Spinal Tap" mockumentary style and plugs it into the pop music realm.

Andy Samberg, along with his The Lonely Island cohorts Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, craft a hilarious character played by Samberg named Conner4Real, who spirals out of control when his latest album bombs.

The mix of silly bits that happen to Conner off stage with the awfully offensive songs he sings on stage make for a comedy that is hard to forget.

"Porky's" (1981)

Before director Bob Clark made "A Christmas Story," he was known best for "Porky's," which essentially created the teen sex comedy genre.

The movie follows the antics of teenage friends at a 1950s Florida high school as they do everything to feed their horny urges, including going to a strip club and watching the girls shower in their locker room. The film pushed the envelope in what could be done in a high school comedy, paving the way for many raunchy comedies to come (including many on this list).

"Scary Movie" (2000)

After spoofing blaxploitation with 1988's "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka" and inner-city dramas with 1996's "Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood," Keenen Ivory Wayans set his sights on horror in the new millennium and made a classic with "Scary Movie."

Using the structure of Wes Craven's hit "Scream," but also taking jabs at "I Know What You Did Last Summer," "The Sixth Sense," and "The Blair Witch Project," Wayans crafts a hilarious slasher parody highlighted by the stoner character played by his younger brother Marlon Wayans and a then-unknown Anna Faris in the lead role.

"Slap Shot" (1977)

Paul Newman plays against his usual heartthrob hero type with this role as a grimy hockey player and coach of an awful minor-league team, delivering a performance filled with charm and F-bombs.

"Step Brothers" (2008)

We basically flipped a coin on whether "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" or "Step Brothers" should be on this list, and "Step Brothers" won.

Either way, you can't go wrong. The combination of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly is absolute magic. Here playing two men who act like boys, they are given a lot of rope by director Adam McKay to run wild with the comedic bits.

And there's a reason why the movie's ending at the Catalina Wine Mixer is so memorable. The comedy pulled off in the last act is perfection.

"Superbad" (2007)

Based on the high school years of screenwriters Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, this beloved high school comedy captured teen life in the early 2000s unlike any other.

Then there's the perfect casting of Jonah Hill and Michael Cera in the lead roles, plus Emma Stone in a breakout role, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse immortalized thanks to his fake ID name, McLovin.

"There's Something About Mary" (1998)

If there was ever a movie that could define the gross-out comedy era of the late 1990s, it's this Farrelly Brothers classic.

Starring Ben Stiller as a guy who finds himself in competition to win the heart of a woman, played by Cameron Diaz, Peter and Bobby Farrelly's outlandish comedic style (no, that was not hair gel in Diaz's hair) led to the movie becoming a box-office sensation.

"This Is Spinal Tap" (1984)

The greatest mockumentary ever made, Rob Reiner's feature directing debut chronicles the fictional heavy metal band Spinal Tap as they set off on a tour of America. What follows is one amusing mistake after another, from the band getting lost en route from their dressing room to the stage to discovering their Stonehenge stage design is disappointingly small.

Comics Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer would become comic gods thanks to this movie, while Guest would go on to direct other now-classic mockumentaries like "Waiting for Guffman," "Best in Show," and "A Mighty Wind."

"Wedding Crashers" (2005)

Fueled by the perfect casting of Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn as best friends who crash weddings, this comedy is packed with memorable lines ("I got a stage-five clinger") and outlandish moments (Vaughn's character climaxing at the dinner table).

Plus, Bradley Cooper as the villain of the movie is pure gold.

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