The 5 Funniest Coming-of-Age Comedies

The coming-of-age story is as old the art of storytelling itself. There is something so familiar in seeing someone young go through an experience that shapes their life from then on. It has an almost universal appeal, the idea of a rite of passage. There are formal ones. For people who practice the Jewish faith, there are bar and bat mitzvahs. For those of the Catholic faith, there is the process of Confirmation. But rites of passage long predate these religions and will continue exist until the day the last of the humans walking this Earth take their finals breaths. There is something perhaps primal in our species.

In the contemporary era, many people—particularly Americans—find their comings-of-age in far less formal terms. Today, it tends to be up to each individual person to determine their own way to enter adulthood. This process too, of course, has its numberable flaws. Perhaps most notably, how can one know what event will best set in motion their transition to adulthood? How does one spurn their own growth without guidance? As a result of social, political and economic factors, some comings-of-age are delayed. Introspection is a luxury that favors the wealthy. But it is a beast that comes for us all, and it can get rather messy, but in this messiness, there is often an inherent comedy. Here are the five funniest coming-of-films of the modern era.

Check out our slideshow below! Do you agree with our list? Be sure to let us know your opinion in the comments!