Even Half-Life would feel funny as a film, with the first-person perspective ripped away and, one suspects, a chatty Gordon Freeman.

FORBES: Connect

Given his past behaviour, there was a suspicion that he might fly into London, feel a bit funny and get straight back on the next plane home.

BBC: Michael Jackson: Still King of Pop?

The film is often very funny even if you feel lousy about laughing -- except that Baron Cohen hasn't put his own neck on the line like this.

CNN: SHARE THIS

Yes, you'll laugh a lot but never at the expense of believability, and when the characters stop trying to be funny and tell you what they feel, you'll feel it with them.

WSJ: Lost in Yonkers | Ah, Wilderness | Newsies | Rediscovering Neil Simon | Theater Review by Terry Teachout

The natural moments between them, which transcend the labored repentant-brother subplot, capture the thrill of finding a person who makes you feel like there is no one as smart, funny, or good-looking as the two of you.

NEWYORKER: My Summer of Love

Often enough, that movie stars Meryl Streep, and here she is again with "Hope Springs, " a funny, outwardly modest comedy that manages to feel utterly novel by focusing on the sexual and emotional needs of an older woman.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

"I think it's great, funny and a compliment to the Caribbean no worries feel happy way of life!"

CNN: Sexy, snarky Super Bowl ads

But as I recently noted in my response to a Charles Krauthammer column, if the Poles feel threatened by their regional security environment, they have a very funny way of showing it.

FORBES: Poland, Russia, and the Real Security Threats in Central Europe

"I feel bad for the people who don't at some point understand that there's something funny in even the worst things that can happen to you, " Ephron said.

CNN: Nora Ephron, prolific writer and filmmaker, dies at age 71