The buddy comedy is far from dead, but with Key & Peele’s Keanu opening Friday and with Shane Black’s Russell Crowe/Ryan Gosling starring buddy film, The Nice Guys, coming out on May 20, it seems like we’re in the midst of a high moment for fans of the genre. And because we’re all about keeping that momentum going, this week we decided to quiz some of our writers on which actors they’d like to see paired up in a film. So, read those entries and then agree, disagree, or throw some of your choices at us in the comments.
Johnny Depp and Nick Offerman
The world needs a series of Bing Crosby/Bob Hope style “Road to” movies starring Jack Sparrow and Ron Swanson. –Jason Tabrys
Diane Lane and Lauren Cohan in The Marthas
Batman v Superman‘s detractors had a lot of fun at the expense of the film’s non-twist — that both Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent’s mothers were named “Martha.” It was richly deserved because Batman v Superman isn’t good, and bonding two comic book titans together over the simple, coincidental matter of nomenclature is silly. However, what if Martha Kent (Diane Lane) and Martha Wayne (Lauren Cohan) were friends before their sons battered the sh*t out of each other for the sake of a Justice League prequel? Instead of Batman v Superman, perhaps Zack Snyder should have made a more appropriate prequel-prequel, The Marthas. (Martha v Martha: Dawn of Dawn of Justice probably wouldn’t work.) Imagine the franchise possibilities for a buddy comedy featuring Lane’s farmer and Cohan’s Gotham elite. They’d go from hating each other’s guts to rebelling against the boys, complete with Lane’s best Roger Murtaugh impression. –Andrew Husband
Jack Black and Kurt Russell
I’m kind of amazed that Jack Black hasn’t done a buddy cop movie by this point already. Physical comedy is a must for any good buddy cop movie, and Black can run into a door with the best of them. I’m sure Kurt Russell has a buddy cop movie somewhere on his IMDb resume — considering it dates back to the early 1960s — but no recent ones come to mind. Every buddy cop comedy needs a jackass, obviously, Jack Black would fill this role, and a straight man who’s not so straight he can’t still throw out a well-placed zinger — Russell. As for the plot, Kurt Russell is two weeks away from retirement and living the sweet life of fishing everyday in Florida, but first he has to train his goofball replacement, Jack Black. Throw in a police corruption scandal involving the Korean mafia, a sexy news reporter, a climax in some ridiculous location like a saltwater taffy factory, and the script basically writes itself. Boom! Now pay me, Hollywood. – Joel Stice
Katt Williams and Gene Hackman
I don’t feel I need to explain further. –Vince Mancini
Jennifer Lawrence and Shia LaBeouf
It would be a buddy comedy where he plays her and she plays him. Think of it like Being John Malkovich meets Trading Places. The characters would be polar opposites of each other, a burned out former child star and the current ‘It Girl’ switch places and go on a platonic journey of self discovery. It’s in Shia’s wheelhouse because it’s the kind of art house stuff he’s done these last few years and Jennifer is in a weird place. She needs to work on something with no pretense like a buddy comedy, but make it meta like a Spike Jonze movie. I call it Against All Odds like the Phil Collins album. Imagine J-Law doing an impression of Shia trying to get her old body back while Shia basks in the splendor of being a star again. I smell an Oscar. –Jimmy Andreakos
So, who is your dynamic duo?
