The Heat, Hot Fuzz, The Guard and more: Seven buddy cop comedy movies to devour

Who doesn’t love a buddy cop comedy? Two unlikely partners, life-and-death stakes and silly hijinks.

It’s a winning combination that promises a breezy good time without having to think about anything too much – in fact, you shouldn’t interrogate it, it’s better to suspend your disbelief.

Here are seven you can’t go past.

THE HEAT

The movie gods knew that after Bridesmaids, putting director Paul Feig together with star Melissa McCarthy was a no-brainer. Throw in some bonus Sandra Bullock and you have one of the most riotously funny buddy cop comedies of this century.

Smart, hilarious and still broad, The Heat sees McCarthy lean into her slapstick chops as a loose Boston detective who teams up with an uptight FBI agent (Bullock) as they investigate a drug ring with family connections.

McCarthy and Bullock know how to give it to each other, slinging zingers back and forth while, despite themselves, forming a bond.

Watch: Disney+

THE GUARD

If there’s anyone who can weaponise that dark Irish humour, it’s one of the McDonaghs. Martin McDonagh is better known for his films In Bruges, Three Billboards, and Banshees of Inisherin, but his brother John Michael McDonagh has great form, too, with Calvary and The Guard.

The latter stars a sublime Brendan Gleeson as Boyle, an inappropriate Irish garda in a small-ish town who confuses the American FBI agent (Don Cheadle) who’s chasing a drug shipment.

They initially clash, especially over Boyle’s casual racism but The Guard has a lot to say about Irish culture and insularity. It also boasts delightfully rhythmic, crass and sweary dialogue.

Watch: Digital rental

HOT FUZZ

The second entry of Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogy with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, Hot Fuzz expertly blends absurd humour, British crime procedurals and big Hollywood action set-pieces for something that is distinctly them.

Only Wright, Pegg and Frost can conjure the pure joy and pizazz of this story about an alpha London cop transferred to a sleepy countryside village in which he finds himself at odds with his new easygoing partner.

But there’s much lurking in this most unlikely of places, including a nefarious cabal of criminals.

Watch: Binge

RUSH HOUR

There was a time when Chris Tucker was a big deal, famed for his ability to spew rapid-fire lines of dialogue without seeming to stop to breathe. Team him up with the martial arts dynamism and megawattage charisma of Jackie Chan and you have a franchise.

The Rush Hour movies (there are three) make the most of their opposites attract equation in a story about a Hong Kong cop who busts up a smuggling operation only to have the bad guys flee to the US and kidnap the daughter of a diplomat.

It’s east meets west and while it traffics in some stereotypes, it was of an era. It’s still bloody entertaining, though.

Watch: Digital rental

KISS KISS BANG BANG

You know what? Filmmaker Shane Black knows something about this genre. After writing the first two Lethal Weapons movies, he helped revitalise Robert Downey Jr’s career by casting him in this showcase for his comedic talents.

Downey Jr. plays a small-time crook named Harry who accidentally books a job as an actor when he barges into an audition while on the run.

While shadowing a private eye in LA (Kilmer), the two engage in a verbal sparring war but also run into more trouble when they tangle with a third player (Michelle Monaghan), a woman Harry once had a crush on as a kid.

Watch: Digital rental

MEN IN BLACK

Here they come, galaxy defenders Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in Barry Sonnenfeld’s unapologetically goofy, zippy and undeniably satisfying action sci-fi comedy. Yes, you can mash together all those genres and produce one of the most beloved films of the 1990s.

Aliens exist, they live among us and shaded government agents are engaged in a wide-ranging plot to keep everyone in the dark with their memory-wiping devices. Who knew conspiracies could be so delicious instead of just weird?

Watch: Netflix, Prime Video, Binge, Stan

LETHAL WEAPON

OK, OK, so there’s the Mel Gibson of it all. The American citizen/one-time Australian resident has disgraced himself in so many ways over the years and it would be easier if we could just disavow everything he’s ever done.

But those Lethal Weapon movies kill. They’re funny, super pacy and have a gooey centre that belies the tough guy genre expectations. Also, this is some of Danny Glover’s best work, as the veteran cop to Gibson’s basketcase former Green Beret.

Not surprisingly, while Riggs and Murtaugh start off sceptical of each other, they soon start to become besties. How sweet, so sweet they made another three movies, all directed by Richard Donner.

Watch: Binge