Dominic Corry: The five best Christmas comedies ever

The release this week of Office Christmas Party confirms that the Christmas entertainment season is well under way. Every year that entails at least a couple of comedies centered around the holiday - sometimes they become classics (Bad Santa, Love Actually), sometimes they don't (Bad Santa 2, The Night Before, Fred Claus, Four Christmases and so on).

Kate McKinnon as Mary Winetoss and T.J. Miller as Clay Vanstone in Office Christmas Party.

Here I am going to cite what I consider to be the five best Christmas comedies ever, based on both the consistent comedic joy of the viewing experience, and how well they embody something resembling the spirit of Christmas.

Trading Places (1983)

Still oddly relevant, this Dickens Meets Twain-esque comedy about a snooty stock trader (Dan Aykroyd) swapping places with a quick-talking scam-artist (Eddie Murphy) on the whim of his rich bosses (Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche) is a perfect vehicle for the uniquely silly style of comedy extolled by director John Landis (The Blues Brothers, An American Werewolf in London). Taking place at Christmas, one of the most lingering images of the film is the sight of a down-and-out Aykroyd passed-out drunk in a filthy santa costume. It's positively heart-warming.

Scrooged (1988)

This meta-adaptation of A Christmas Carol stands as the funniest screen version of Charles Dickens' classic tale thanks principally to Bill Murray's unrivalled ability to play hilariously mean. He stars as the ruthless head of a television network who undergoes a character reassessment when he is visited by three ghosts. The end credits sequence alone, in which Murray encourages the audience to sing along with 'Put A Little Love In Your Heart' is its own little Christmas miracle. Even if it didn't inspire the nine other people in the Pakuranga cinema to join in when I saw the movie.

Home Alone (1990)

Although it's both insufferably cute and disturbingly violent, there is something undeniably powerful at the core of Home Alone, which holds up to modern viewings remarkably well. Or maybe you just had to be the right age when you saw first saw it. Following a resourceful young sadist (Macaulay Culkin) who faces off against burglars (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern) after he is left behind when his large family go on Christmas vaction, the film taps into certain childhood fantasies with palpable joy. It also finds a solid road towards a stirring family reunion.

Go (1999)

Occasionally dismissed as something of a post-Pulp Fiction movie, this wry Los Angeles-set ode to the 'orphan's Christmas' has plenty of its own magic going on, and proved a launching point for one of contemporary cinema's most succesful screenwriters, John August. The multi-layered narrative features three interconnected stories, with the central thrust concerning supermarket checkout girl Ronna (Sarah Polley) and her escalating adventures in improvised drug dealing. Go is very deserving of a wider audience, and benefits from its Christmas setting in subtle, but very welcome ways. Plus the final line is totally kick-ass: "So, what are we doing for New Years?"

Elf (2003)

Although it was a hit upon its first release, Jon Favreau's Elf didn't necessarily initially project how much of a modern classic it would become - the film's continued life in the years since has rendered it a staple of the season, and continues to highlight how consistently funny it is. Will Ferrell solidified his comedic persona as Buddy the "Elf", a guileless force of nature who guzzles sugar and hurls snowballs. Both cynical and optimistic in a way many films unsuccessfully try to be, Elf is a true Christmas delight.