Who are films ultimate double acts?

With the release of War Dogs on Blu-ray and DVD on Boxing Day this year from Warner Brothers, a new comedy act in Jonah Hill and Miles Teller beckons. As we eagerly await 26th December we’re taking a look at the best comedy double acts in film that the 21st century has seen so far ( with a small deviation into the previous one for good measure)…

From a couple of rookie cops to a couple of buddies who find themselves facing utterly ridiculous situations, we all love a good comedy double act. Here are five of our favorites…

Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races – Groucho Marx & Margaret Dumont

Groucho Marx & Margaret DumontFirst, let’s take a trip into the previous, twentieth, century with a double act that’s not that well know.  If known at all!

Groucho Marx was one of the greatest film comedians of the 20th century.  Margaret was his foil in some of the Marx Brothers most famous films.   With two of the films they both starred in becoming even more iconic when they were used in the 1970s by Queen to name their albums.

She was his “love interest”, and Groucho called her the “fifth Marx Brother” because of the seven times she played the wealthy woman that Groucho always ran after; mainly for her money.

Possibly the greatest of this sort of act as she never “got” the joke.  The perfect straight woman for him to play with.

The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy – Simon Pegg and Nick Frost

Simon Pegg and Nick FrostReal life best friends Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have starred in loads of films together, most famously the spoof genre movies, The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy: Hot Fuzz, Sean of the Dead and The World’s End.

Their career began with short-lived British TV series, Spaced in 1999 that cemented their status as nerds with geeky references dominating every script. By 2004 the duo moved into features and Shaun of the Dead was born, with commercial and critical success, it has since become the stuff of pop culture legend. The trilogy; a zombie film, a cop film and a sci-fi film, are typical buddy movies and the pair tend to play slackers who have lost their girlfriends, their jobs or their sense of purpose – or all three.

Together the pair have become some of Britain’s most powerful funnymen by bashing zombie’s over the head with a garden spade, battling with supermarket employees, jumping over (or through) fences, having a casual pint in their local whilst mayhem and carnage is going on outside and having hilarious fight scenes and wild car chases. These two really do have an epic Hollywood bromance.

Pineapple Express, This is the End, The Interview – Seth Rogan and James Franco

Seth Rogan and James FrancoThe friendship that generated a cyber war! James Franco and Seth Rogen came up together in the industry, first co-starring together in the Freaks and Geeks before starring alongside each other in Hollywood blockbusters such as Pineapple Express and This Is The End.

Having worked together so many times they have marvelous chemistry and make a great double act in The Interview. They star as a pair of journalists who set up an interview with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and are recruited by the CIA to assassinate him in.
Eminem comes out as gay, hands free sex and Seth Rogen getting his fingers bitten off . . . twice make for some of the funniest moments in The Interview.

Zoolander, Starsky and Hutch… – Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson

Ben Stiller and Owen WilsonWhat is this, a centre for ants! No, it’s Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. They have appeared in 12 movies together. Among them: three Focker movies, two Zoolanders, three Night at the Museums and one Starsky & Hutch.

The pair always work well together and their films are always a hit… Some say Stiller and Wilson are at their comic best as undercover cops, Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson and Dave Starsky in Starsky and Hutch, and in Zoolander the pair play rival world famous models, delivering a hugely successful and hilarious comedy. Now give us your best Blue Steel impression!

War Dogs – Jonah Hill and Miles Teller

Jonah Hill and Miles TellerWar Dogs follows two friends who, during the Iraq war, exploit a little-known government initiative that allows small businesses to bid on U.S. Military contracts. Starting small, they begin raking in big money but soon the pair get in over their heads when they land a 300 million dollar deal to arm the Afghan Military…

Jonah Hill already very established on the comedy scene having starred in 21 Jump Street, Superbad and Get Him to the Greek (basically most films in this feature!) teams up with Miles Teller, critically acclaimed for his role in Whiplash and known for his roles in the Divergent series.

The pair have excellent chemistry and bring some superb dark humour and energy to the film. Some of the funniest moments are when the pair realise how much cheaper they were than other bidders on a deal, when they find out they drove through the ‘Triangle of Death’ and when they are told ‘Very safe, 50/50’ when driving through Baghdad.

Own War Dogs on DVD, Blu-ray or 4K from 26 December