How much do you value comedy in a movie?

[metaridley]

Personally, I find that comedy is a very important, oftentimes crucial, element to make a movie work overall. Sure, not every film has to be a comedy, but I like it when even serious films put in a good joke or two, in order to alleviate some of the tension.

The popcorn/blockbuster films do a good job of this, but so do some of the serious epics and even war movies. Pick any movie and you can bet there's going to be something (intentionally) funny in it, unless of course it's a bad movie (and unintentional comedy is fine, too: see Battlefield Earth).

Of course, there are some subjects that are just so grave that you really can't inject any humor into it without betraying the film. Requiem for a Dream comes to mind.

I really appreciate the touches of comedy in films, and I consider it to be a crucial element in order for the movie stew mixture to taste really good.

And in case anyone's wondering, The Big Lebowski is my favorite comedy.

So, how much do you value humor in films?

[BJacks]

If it's a comedy, I value humor a lot. If it's a movie about rape or the Holocaust, then I don't value comedy so much.

[metaridley]

Makes sense, and I'd rather not see humor in movies based on those subjects either.

[talemyn]

I think most any kind of movie can use humor effectively . . . even Holocaust movies . . . ever seen Life Is Beautiful? Hilarious and yet deadly serious and poignant at the same time.

I think that the key to effectively using comedy in a movie is establishing it early in the story. If the audience is expecting humor, they can gear their minds to it. If you have a movie that is serious fir the first 3/4's of the story and you try to throw some humor in, it will probably seem, out-of-place, inappropriate, and prossibly irreverant.