Zombieland (2009)

Real talk: the zombies are the least interesting thing in Zombieland. They’re basically furniture with teeth. The movie actually runs on four strangers who refuse to tell each other their real names, and that’s the smartest joke in it. Jesse Eisenberg plays Columbus like a guy who read every safety manual ever printed and still panics. Woody Harrelson’s Tallahassee treats a missing snack cake like a personal betrayal, which is somehow the most relatable motivation in horror. Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin, as sisters who con everybody, steal the first half clean. The rules popping up on screen as giant text are a great gag until about the middle. Then the last act heads to an amusement park and turns into a loud, flashing light show that forgets to be funny. At 88 minutes it’s lean, maybe too lean for the friendship stuff to fully land. A 7.3 because it’s the rare zombie comedy that’s actually a comedy, with a weak finish. $983 says you check your back seat tonight and pretend you were looking for your sunglasses.

What works: Harrelson’s snack-obsessed Tallahassee, Stone and Breslin as two sisters who con everybody, and on-screen rules that turn survival tips into punchlines.

What doesn’t: The amusement park finale gets loud and repetitive, and at 88 minutes the romance and found-family stuff feels more sketched than earned.

Who it’s for: People who want horror with the scary parts dialed way down and the jokes turned way up.