Wedding Crashers

WEDDING CRASHERS (David Dobkin, 2005)

Divorce mediators John Beckwith and Jeremy Klein help couples end their marriages, but during the weekend they love to take in a wedding or two. In WEDDING CRASHERS Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn are the uninvited guests who tear up at the ceremony and tear it up at the reception in pursuit of bedding beautiful women susceptible to the romance in the air. John and Jeremy get more than they bargain for when they crash the wedding of the U.S. Treasury Secretary’s daughter. At an invite-only, post-reception party on the Cleary estate, Jeremy can’t get away from Isla Fisher as the Secretary’s sexually insatiable daughter Gloria while John has the purest intentions in trying to win the heart of Rachel McAdams as Claire, who is practically engaged to an über-competitive lawyer.

WEDDING CRASHERS thrives on the comic timing between Wilson’s laidback dude and Vaughn’s highly-strung wiseass. They carry on like a couple of lifelong pals who know how to push one another’s buttons. Vaughn is at his best the more wound up and exasperated he gets, and with the majority of the abuse being heaped on his character, the opportunities for laughs are plentiful. He spits out jokes like a riveter, sometimes so quickly that there’s a delayed reaction in realizing what he’s just said. Fisher is an excellent match for him. Her diminutive size makes an amusing contrast to Vaughn’s large frame. Fisher’s screwball performance is delightful in how she constantly surprises. McAdams has quietly assembled a string of good performances, although WEDDING CRASHERS doesn’t require much more of her than to be appealing. The supporting cast and cameos are also well chosen, including the reliable Christopher Walken and Dwight Yoakam. WEDDING CRASHERS is a brash, frequently hilarious film that may be overly long but satisfies our desires for a lot of comedy and a little bit of romance.

Grade: B

(Review first aired on the July 19, 2005 NOW PLAYING)