Dramas, thrillers, romcoms? None of them beat this movie genre

I often wonder who would play me in a movie (ideally Poorna Jagannathan or Sindhu Vee). During casual hangs with my friends, I observe our funny yet insightful banter, listening to the conversational to’s and fro’s as we discuss current affairs, our personal lives and trending memes at a Gilmore Girls pace, and how it reveals our similarities and differences.

This is why I love buddy comedies. The two leads have a familiarity that comes with tenured friendships, and the context often provides a great backdrop for understanding if foundational relationships can evolve in the present.

Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion follows Michele, played by Lisa Kudrow (left), and Romy, played by Mira Sorvino.Credit: Touchstone Pictures

My all-time favourite has to be the 1997 cult classic, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, starring Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow. It’s all about embracing who you’ve become after high school. The 2007 film, Superbad, was a seminal buddy comedy in my early 20s but hasn’t aged so well given its misogynistic and homophobic overtones.

Buddy comedies have often been about men exploring their vulnerability and camaraderie as an antidote to machismo, whether it’s a pair of detectives solving a crime (22 Jump Street, Bad Boys, Men in Black, Rush Hour) or two besties on a mission (Wedding Crashers, Harold & Kumar, Dumb and Dumber). In the 2000s and 2010s, these films often led to franchise deals for their frequently thrown-together pairings (the Will Ferrell-Owen Wilson-Ben Stiller trinity), meaning if you’d seen one, you’d seen ’em all.

It was a rare treat, then, to head to the cinema recently, scoff my popcorn and lean into the genuinely laugh-out-loud antics of Keke Palmer and SZA in the new buddy comedy, One of Them Days.

Keke Palmer and SZA hustle for their rent money in One of Them Days.Credit: Anne Marie Fox

According to producer Issa Rae, the last buddy comedy led by black women was the 1997 cult film, B.A.P.S, starring Halle Berry, which follows a pair of friends raising money to open the first soul restaurant with a hairdresser in it. In a similar vein, One of Them Days follows Dreux (Palmer), a waitress, and Alyssa (SZA), an artist, as unlikely pals who find themselves on a caper to raise their missing rent money.

One of Them Days sits in a small, but growing catalogue of buddy comedies that focus on women. These female-led films might share similar contexts to their all-male counterparts – high school friendships (Booksmart), road trips (Plan B) – but focus more on emotional intimacy, empowerment and competitiveness. One of Them Days does well to play with the tensions between Alyssa’s free-spirited approach to life and Dreux’s drive to escape financial insecurity, while keeping things light.

Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg play polar-opposite cousins in A Real Pain.

The success of a buddy comedy relies heavily on such chemistry between its leads. Think Amy Poehler and Tina Fey in Sisters, and Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the Bad Boys franchise. In A Real Pain, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin, two cousins go on a Jewish tour of Poland to honour their late grandmother, and the film revels in the juxtaposition of Eisenberg’s reserved, conventional family man to Culkin’s chaotic, tormented energy.

The antithetical pairing between a strait-laced character with a wayward companion lends itself to fables about overcoming personal differences. Despite arriving at the reunion separately after a fight, Romy and Michele choose their friendship over caring about what people think of them. Even Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) in Superbad eventually discuss their fears about attending separate colleges and facing the future alone. All of these moments teach us to embrace change and grow as people.

McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) in Superbad.Credit: DF_02322

Memorable cameos are another appeal of the buddy comedy. In A Real Pain and One of Them Days, the leads encounter countless idiosyncratic characters along the way, enabling recognisable names – such as Maude Apatow, Janelle James, Will Sharpe and Jennifer Grey – to shine in smaller roles. In Superbad, Christopher Mintz-Plasse’s Fogell inspired a slew of merchandise with his aspirational fake ID persona, McLovin. Janeane Garofalo’s snarky, honest remarks as Heather Mooney in Romy and Michele were a catalyst for Sorvino and Kudrow’s characters’ self-acceptance.

We’re all in need of a laugh, and sometimes following the hilarious hijinks of a charismatic duo makes our everyday challenges feel more palatable. A sequel to Romy and Michele is in the works, and the upcoming Friendship starring Paul Rudd and Tim Robinson is a new take on the genre. One of Them Days cost just $14 million to produce and has generated more than $49 million so far at the US box office, proving that with the right mix of creative alchemy, perhaps there are laughs left in the buddy comedy yet.

And if Hollywood needs fresh ideas, I’ve got a cast of companions ready to go.

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