8 Comedies Critics Hated That Audiences Would Fight For. The Crowd Was Right, Deal With It.

Critics wrote the obituaries. Audiences kept buying tickets. Eight comedies where the crowd beat the critics by a mile, and the crowd was right.

Number one has a 14% on Rotten Tomatoes. I'm defending it anyway.

1. 8
   Bad Boys (1995)5.8

   Bad Boys is a thin buddy movie that earned its sequels.

   Rotten Tomatoes gave it 44%. Audiences gave it an A CinemaScore and $141.4 million worldwide on a reported $19 to 23 million budget. The plot is thin. Smith and Lawrence aren't.
2. 7
   We're the Millers (2013)5.6

   We're the Millers is way funnier than its 48% admits.

   532,404 IMDb voters landed on 7.0, and it made $270 million worldwide on a reported $37 million. The third act goes soft. The RV carries it.
3. 6
   The Bucket List (2007)5.7

   Critics called it sappy. It is sappy. That's the product.

   Rotten Tomatoes 40%, IMDb 7.3 from 276,111 voters. Nicholson and Freeman could read a grocery list and you'd tear up at the eggs. $175.4 million worldwide agrees.
4. 5
   Happy Gilmore (1996)5.4

   Happy Gilmore is a classic. The 31 Metacritic is the joke.

   Critics gave it a 31 on Metacritic. IMDb voters, 313,453 of them, gave it a 7.0. It only made $38.8 million domestic, then became the driving range's favorite movie.
5. 4
   The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)5.1

   Mario Galaxy is a theme park ride, and that's fine.

   Critics gave it 42% on Rotten Tomatoes. Families gave it an A minus and $1.01 billion worldwide. The plot is a level select screen. Kids don't care. Neither should you.
6. 3
   Red One (2024)4.6

   Red One is a dumb Christmas movie, and December needs those.

   Rotten Tomatoes 30%, Metacritic 34. A reported $200 to 250 million budget for a Santa kidnapping caper is nuts. Still, 162,597 IMDb voters gave it 6.2. Add cocoa.
7. 2
   Bad Boys II (2003)5.2

   Bad Boys II is too long, too loud, and gloriously both.

   Rotten Tomatoes said 23%. Audiences said A CinemaScore and $273.3 million worldwide. Michael Bay spent a reported $130 million on pure noise, and the crowd showed up with earplugs and joy.
8. 1
   The Ugly Truth (2009)3.8

   The Ugly Truth is a fun rom-com. Critics owe Heigl an apology.

   Critics: 14% on Rotten Tomatoes, 28 on Metacritic. Audiences: A minus CinemaScore and $205.6 million worldwide on a reported $38 million. Heigl and Butler bicker like pros. The script's lazy. Still works.

$1,487 says the first comment is someone defending The Ugly Truth while swearing they've never seen it.

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Current mood: ready to fight about it