The buddy movie has been a staple of American cinema since the early days, and some believe the pairing of two characters — often men, often mismatched — can be traced to vaudeville stage shows and even classic literature, such as “Huckleberry Finn.”
Whatever the origins, the formula has proven to be gold over the years. From Laurel and Hardy to Martin and Lewis to any number of 1980s buddy-cop films, pairing actors onscreen in non-romantic, mainly comedic, partnerships never goes out of style.
For proof, check out “The Hangover Part III,” opening Thursday. The original film was never meant to spawn a trilogy, but audiences went so crazy for the characters that here we are, four years and two movies later, and the Wolfpack is on its way back to Vegas.
To mark the release of the film, The Post asked readers to pick the greatest buddy movies of the modern era. We gave them 50 solid choices dating from 1969 to the present, ranging from mainstream comedies such as “48 Hours” to indie flicks like “Ghost World.” After tallying more than 2,000 votes, here are the picks. Watch them with a buddy of your own.
1. The Hangover (2009)
Maybe Post readers are suggestible. Maybe they just have “The Hangover Part III” on the brain. Whatever the reason, poll voters anointed it their fave buddy flick.
The movie was inspired by real events. A Hollywood producer went missing from his Vegas bachelor party, only to black out and wake up later in a strip club.
Many actors were considered for the lead roles, but Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper and a then-mostly-unknown Zach Galifianakis (who had to audition) were cast. Oh, and Justin Bartha’s in there somewhere, too.
The plot was built like a mystery. Three friends at a bachelor party wake up after a wild night, discover the groom missing and have to retrace their steps from the night before to find him. That retracing involves tigers, random babies, Mike Tyson, a missing tooth, a stolen police car and a naked Asian man jumping out of a car trunk. (Doffing his clothes was actually actor Ken Jeong’s idea.)
Audiences quickly fell in love with the Wolfpack, as the group was known. Cooper’s Phil was the handsome Dad-like figure, Helms’ Stu the neurotic wimp and Galifianakis’ Alan the eccentric screw-up. Together, they were loads of fun to watch, in part because they were so mismatched.
The movie was a box-office smash — grossing more than $467 million worldwide — and changed the lives of the actors involved, as well as Las Vegas itself. There’s now a “Hangover Suite” at Caesars Palace. You can also find Alan impersonators working the Strip.
“There are so many of them,” Galifianakis says. “One guy told me he is making over $100,000 a year. Maybe as the real guy I would make more. Maybe I should stand next to him.”
“For sure it had a huge impact on our careers and it’s wonderful, exciting and cool,” Helms adds. “It’s cool to have had such a cool life in this ‘Hangover’ world.”
2. Dumb and Dumber (1994)
Harry and Lloyd made idiocy funny six years before George W. Bush got into office. The movie partnered Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as two idiotic friends who drive cross-country to return a suitcase full of money to a beautiful woman. Its brilliance was its utter stupidity. These characters weren’t just dim, they were a level of dense three floors below out-to-lunch.
The most charming conceit was that Harry and Lloyd never realized they were stupid, because they had each other and both were equally nit-witted. They live in a bubble of stupid.
After an awful 2003 “prequel” with a different cast, a sequel reteaming Carrey and Daniels is in the works, titled “Dumb and Dumber To.” Directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly say they’re currently raising money and hope to begin shooting this year.
3. Wedding Crashers (2005)
Owen Wilson has said that teaming with co-star Vince Vaughn brings comedy gold. “I think Vince would probably bring out the best energy in me, because he has such a kind of you know [high energy level],” Wilson said. “You gotta keep up because he talks a mile a minute.”
The greatness of the partnership can’t be denied in “Wedding Crashers,” a movie that takes a one-joke premise — two overgrown frat boys pick up girls by showing up at weddings they’re not invited to — and turns it into something greater, due mostly to the back-and-forth between Vaughn and Wilson. They bicker beautifully.
Watch the scene where Vaughn complains to Wilson about being accosted in the middle of the night by his date’s brother.
“I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, John,” an agitated Vaughn says.
“Soft mattress?” Wilson asks.
“Yeah, it could have been the soft mattress. Or it could have been the midnight rape. Or the nude, gay art show that took place in my room. One of those probably added to my lack of sleep.”
“Try one of these scones,” Wilson says. The two team up again in this summer’s “The Internship.”
4. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Truly good friends go down in a hail of bullets together.
This pastiche Western established the ultimate level of bromance — a level that likely won’t be achieved by regular guys who can only drink a beer and watch a game with friends.
Robert Redford and Paul Newman played two outlaw members of The Hole in the Wall Gang, who rob trains before going on the lam to Bolivia. They’re like brothers, and so close they even date the same woman, though only Butch gets to ride a bike with her.
Writer William Goldman had originally called his script “The Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy,” but the names were later reversed because Newman, who played Cassidy, was the bigger star.
Stars or not, the chemistry between the leads was undeniable. The two actors went on four years later to star in “The Sting,” another classic that won seven Oscars.
5. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Alan Ruck, who plays downer Cameron, only got the role after Emilio Estevez passed, but his rapport with Matthew Broderick was already strong. The two actors had worked together on a 1985 Broadway production of “Biloxi Blues.”
The two didn’t have to work at playing friends on-screen, because they already were in real life. (One of their in-jokes makes an appearance in the film, when Cameron calls principal Ed Rooney pretending to be Ferris’ girlfriend’s father. The voice the actor uses is an imitation of the director of “Biloxi Blues.”)
The movie revolved around the friends skipping school and having fun throughout Chicago. Millions of fans will never forget who the real “Abe Froman, Sausage King of Chicago” is. He’s even got a novelty T-shirt available online.
6. Lethal Weapon (1987)
The premise is so familiar now that it’s almost beyond cliché: a buddy-cop picture in which a loose-cannon rookie teams up with a grizzled veteran. The two at first hate each other, but as the partnership goes along, they learn to work together and solve the crime.
The premise is only cliché because Mel Gibson and Danny Glover did it so well, spawning legions of imitators over the ensuing years. Three more films were made in the franchise and a fifth installment was floated in 2011 but looks unlikely. The two leads really are “getting too old for this s – - t.”
7. The Blues Brothers (1980)
These buddies are so simpatico, they even dress alike. Wearing dark suits, black ties, sunglasses and fedoras, comedians John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd adapted characters that they initially created for “Saturday Night Live” for the big screen. The film filled in the backstories for the characters and finds the brothers assembling a band to go on “a mission from God” that will save an orphanage.
Not everyone loved the movie or the now-classic chemistry between its two leads. Newsweek called it “desperately unfunny,” while the Los Angeles Times called it a “$30 million wreck.” Some exhibitors were down on the film and refused to show it at their theaters, thinking it was “too black” to make money, director John Landis has said.
But the director coaxed brilliant musical performances out of his leads, as well as legends such as Ray Charles, James Brown, Cab Calloway, John Lee Hooker and Aretha Franklin. Now the film is a legendary combination of funny and funky.
8. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
This adaption of a Steven King story fizzled at the box office, but found a second life on home theater releases and cable TV, becoming a beloved classic.
At the heart of the movie is the relationship between mild-mannered banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) and murderer Red (Morgan Freeman), two cons stuck behind the walls of a prison who become unlikely friends.
It’s unusual for a buddy movie, in that “Shawshank” isn’t a comedy. The two characters are thrown together by circumstances beyond their control and develop a relationship over decades that eventually culminates in getting out of the prison — one via escape, the other via release — and meeting up on a Mexican beach.
9. Blazing Saddles (1974)
“Well,” says the sheriff played by Cleavon Little to Gene Wilder’s Waco Kid, who is sitting in jail, “since you are my guest and I am your host, what’s your pleasure? What do you like to do?”
“Oh, I don’t know — play chess, screw,” The Kid replies. “Well, let’s play chess,” says the sheriff.
The exchange is just one of the funny moments between the two, who later join forces to save a frontier town from destruction.
“Blazing Saddles” has become better-known for boundary-pushing comedy, including liberal use of the N-word and the infamous campfire flatulence scene, but it wouldn’t have been so successful without the two leads.
10. Pulp Fiction (1994)
Quentin Tarantino’s pop-noir boasted a sprawling cast and multiple storylines, but it was the saga of Jules and Vincent, hitmen played by Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta, that connected with audiences. The duo’s banter about the “Royale with cheese” has become one of the most quoted pieces of modern dialogue.
Both actors, however, very nearly lost the roles. Studio boss Harvey Weinstein thought Travolta was a has-been. He wanted Daniel Day-Lewis or
Sean Penn. And even though Tarantino had written the part of Jules with Jackson in mind, filmmakers were ready to give the role to little-known Paul Calderon. Livid, Jackson flew to LA for another audition. He strolled into a room eating a hamburger, sat down and just stared angrily, saying nothing. This time he got the part.
Hono-bro mentions
They didn’t make the Top 10, but there’s no reason we shouldn’t give these classic buddy pairings their due recognition.
11 (tie). Step Brothers (2008) Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly
Superbad (2007) Jonah Hill, Michael Cera
13. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) Steve Martin, John Candy
14. 48 Hours (1982) Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy
15. Midnight Run (1988) Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin
16. Swingers (1996) Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau
17. The Sting (1973) Paul Newman, Robert Redford
18. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) John Cho,
Kal Penn
19. Fight Club (1999) Brad Pitt, Ed Norton
20. Rush Hour (1998) Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker