#sqirm

In The Heartbreak Kid and Real Life Charles Grodin helped pioneer “cringe comedy” which aimed to make people squirm while they laughed. A few other examples of the genre.

After Hours. D: Martin Scorcese (1985). Griffin Dunne goes on a date and finds himself with no way out of downtown Manhattan in this comedy about urban paranoia where he’s the only one who doesn’t get the joke. Cringiest moment: Rosanne Arquette’s laugh or Catherine O’Hara’s uncomprehending stare.

Swingers. D: Doug Liman (1996). The adventures of two actors and would-be hipsters who aren’t as cool as they think they are. Cringiest moment: Jon Favreau’s answering machine meltdown (Woman in the theater: “DUDE, HANG UP!)

Waiting for Guffman. D: Christopher Guest (1997). A town commissions a flamboyant director (Guest) to put on a musical for the town’s history (“Red White and Blaine”). Cringiest moment: If you ever saw a little theater show, the whole musical, but especially when the youngest actor quits and his roles are played by the middle-aged, dumpy and lisping Guest.

Little Miss Sunshine. D: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (2006). An 11 year old girl (Abigail Breslin) and her dysfunctional family take a road trip to California when she is qualified for a child beauty pageant in this story about failure in America. Cringiest moment: Breslin does a burlesque striptease to “Super Freak,” innocently exposing the subliminal sexuality of the other contestants.