Directed by David Dobkin
Written by Steve Faber and Bob Fisher
Produced by Peter Abrams, Robert L. Levy and Andrew Panay
Music by Rolfe Kent
Cinematography by Julio Macat
Edited by Mark Livolsi

Cast
Owen Wilson (John Beckwith)
Vince Vaughn (Jeremy Kline)
Christopher Walken (Treasury Sec. William Cleary)
Rachel McAdams (Claire Cleary)
Isla Fisher (Gloria Cleary)
Jane Seymour (Kathleen Cleary)
Bradley Cooper (Sack Lodge)
Henry Gibson (Father O’Neil)
Keir O’Donnell (Todd Cleary)
Will Ferrell (Chaz)

For once, we have a mainstream ‘R’-rated comedy that doesn’t sell itself as an ‘R’-rated comedy. With the emphasis on playing it safe with comedies today, Wedding Crashers has the moxie to pour on sex and profanity in a film not marketed just for the ‘duh’ crowd. It wants Mom and Dad to like it too. It also helps that most of the movie is uproariously funny—certainly the best pure comedy of the year so far. And yes, my mom loved it.

Considering the recent growth of a fraternity of comedians who like to make guest appearances in each other’s films (Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, Will Ferrell, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson), Wedding Crashers thankfully doesn’t feel like an obscure in-joke between a bunch of drinking buddies. (See the horrendous Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, the bland Starsky and Hutch, and the so-so Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story for examples of this comedy ‘frat boy’ system gone wrong.)

The team-up here between the two stars works so well because they have such completely different approaches to humor. Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn play John Beckwith and Jeremy Kline, legal arbiters who have a time-consuming but

cherished social hobby: crashing weddings, having a drunken blast, then bedding the single women whose biological clocks and intoxicated states make them easy targets for one-night stands. Wilson takes on the sweet, funny average Joe role at the weddings, while Vaughn sticks to the fast-talking and hard-hitting “life of the party” technique; these two roles also define the differing appeal of the two actors and why they work together so smoothly. Wilson has an understated performance style that makes him feel like a real person, the sort of fella we might meet in the real world and think was just a cool, funny guy we would love to hang out with and maybe knock back a couple of brewskis at the local bar. Vaughn, on the other hand, is a born professional comedian, shooting out lines in rat-tat-tat-style like a 1940s Howard Hawks screwball comedy—only with a tons of profanity. He plays his comedy aggressive: “get out of the way, here comes the shtick!” The tag-teaming between Vaughn and Wilson is a giddy thrill to watch; not only do they make a great comedy ying-yang, but the drama between the two men when they start having falling-outs over their weird hobby feels completely convincing.

The idea of crashing someone else’s private event, especially one as important as a wedding, sounds crass, but in an hilarious early montage of Jeremy and John at work at different weddings we see what a blast it can be. And you can’t argue that, whatever their motives might be, the two men liven up the wedding parties and make sure that everybody has a great time. But…and even the youngest viewers in the audience will know this is coming…the Jeremy and John will soon have to face the “dark side” of their hobby. They take on the crashing of the wedding of the daughter of Treasury Secretary William Cleary (Christopher Walken), which Jeremy defines as “the Kentucky Derby” of wedding crashing. At the rich Washtington, D.C. event they meet the lovely younger daughters of William Cleary, Claire (Rachel McAdams) and Gloria (Isla Fisher), and against the sacred rules of wedding crashing, find themselves dragged out to a post-wedding family get-away at a summer house on the river. Do you think one (or both) of our wedding crashing pals might actually fall in love? And that sooner or later the dirty secret about why they were at the wedding in the first place will come out to threaten that true love?

Of course that’s what happens. Wedding Crashers, after all, aims to be the ‘R’-rated film for everyone, so the sweet romance is a requirement. These tender romance scenes mix in with looniness like Claire and Gloria’s homosexual brother Todd making advances on Jeremy, an extremely violent and funny ‘touch’ football game, and quail hunting accidents. But the film makes this medley work most of the time. Only in the last twenty minutes does the picture start to falter at the alter and get too syrupy and sticky, losing the focus on the belly-laughs.

Principal love interest Rachel McAdams has appeared in a few lowbrow comedies like Rob Schneider’s The Hot Chick, but she has never had an adult role like this before, and she sparkles on screen with her infectious wide smile and perky looks. She generates great chemistry with Wilson. Wilson acts like such a sweet and funny guy with her that audiences will genuinely want the two of them to get together. Vaughn, on the other hand, gets the brunt of the crazy and outlandish comedy, snared with what he calls “A Level 5 Clinger” in Gloria, who turns from demure virgin into a love-crazed dominatrix. Isabel Fisher’s hilarious performance as a romantic bulldog makes a nice counterbalance to McAdams’s sweetness.

Rounding out the cast—and getting third billing—is Christopher Walken, a superb actor who always seems on the verge of going ballistic and killing everyone in the film and the theater as well. Walken has less to do in the movie than you might expect, but a simple suspicious look from him is enough to freeze water and curdle milk, so he manages to do quite a lot with his role as the father figure around whom Wilson and Vaughn must maneuver very cautiously. Jane Seymour as Walken’s wife starts out as a promising character, but her initial attempt to seduce Owen Wilson never pans out. Her character just screams out: “DVD deleted scenes!”

Director David Dobkin previously worked with Owen Wilson on the enjoyable Shanghai Knights, and again shows he knows exactly how best to use his star. Of the new set of mainstream comedy directors to appear in the last five years, Dobkin shows the most promise, and I hope to see him make more movies with Owen Wilson in the future. At the very least, Dobkin knows comedy pacing and understands how to get his actors to really work with each other instead of grimacing and playing to the audience for their own enjoyment, something that Ben Stiller has particularly indulged in recently. Maybe Dobkin should take on a Ben Stiller project next and do a career make-over.