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John Beckwith and Jeremy Grey are committed bachelors who enjoy their womanising ways. They specialise in crashing weddings and picking up women for one night stands by taking advantage of their lower defences. Countless scores of women later, John is getting tired but the offer of "one last big job" tempts him back to crash the wedding of Treasury Secretary Cleary's daughter. Things go well until John falls for Claire Cleary while Jeremy finds himself trapped with the frighteningly clingy Gloria as the pair accept an invitation back to the weekend retreat of the Cleary family.

This did not appear strong enough to draw me into the cinema on its release but, on an trans-Atlantic flight it looked like being good enough to fill some time – which is actually a pretty fair summary of the film's strengths and weaknesses. I say this because it is funny enough to cover the problems that it has and thus will serve up as an enjoyable experience if you're relaxed enough to let this happen. The strengths lie in the lead two characters – they banter, they are lively and they are funny. Funny enough to cover up the fact that they are exploitative and sexual predators and funny enough to mean that the scenes where they are doing their thing are generally enjoyable. Of course it helps that Wilson and Vaughn are both doing their thing as usually and have great chemistry together – good news if you usually like them but, if you don't, then why bother? The weaknesses come in with the actual story because, every time someone has to fall in love with someone else, the laughs stop, the pace slows and the whole thing takes on a mushy air that doesn't gel that well with the banter scenes. Likewise the plot devices in the second hour tend to feel a little forced where they are just used to provide direction and create a proper ending etc. This doesn't mean it is terrible but it cannot be a good thing when you actively wish the plot would take a backseat in a film. The support cast share the comedy reasonably well; McAdams is cool and appealing, Fisher is a bit OTT but is funny, Seymour plays on her sexy image really well while Walken is reliable as ever as Christopher Walken.

Overall this is an enjoyable if patchy comedy. It trades on the usual delivery and chemistry between Wilson and Vaughn and the two do well to produce the film's best scenes when they are together. The need for a plot, romance and separation does hurt the film a little (because it is not as good as the aimless banter) but not a massive amount. Not a great comedy then but certainly good enough to please anyone who liked Anchorman, Dodgeball and other films of similar styles of humour.

An excellent comedy, Vince Vaughn is a gifted comedian. He kept "Old School" going, was the only light in a dismal "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", and had a terrific debut lead in "Swingers". I highly recommend people considering this movie, to watch the extras on the DVD; there is a karaoke scene at an Asian wedding which will have you rolling. It is a shame it was cut from the movie, but as the director's comments stated, "They just couldn't find a place where it would fit." I was very pleasantly surprised at the number of times I laughed out loud, a rarity for me while watching comedies. The lines were witty, the delivery was crisp, and the jokes were mostly new and fresh. Rachel McAdams was stunning, an excellent casting choice to play the object of Owen Wilson's desire. Despite the more or less rehashed plot (two guys lie about themselves to meet women, only to find that they now have a dilemma when they find 2 they really like), the film is nonetheless novel and original. There are a number of obviously stereotypical characters, (drunken grandmother, artistic introverted son, psychotic cheating boyfriend, immoral mother, powerful father), but they work in this film. Particularly the grandmother, who is prone to drunken scatological exclamations, had me laughing my head off. It was quite unexpected.

Although many of the situations could come off as contrived, they were secondary to the excellent repartee between Wilson and Vaughn. Their comic pairing worked to a T.

R.

The opening sequence with Dwight Yokum and Rebecca De Mornay is one of the funniest in the film. The rest doesn't live quite up to it. The movie suffers from an improbability problem. I know from working weddings like some they went to, it's not easy to sneak into a wedding, especially high profile weddings with bouncers and giant men standing at the doors looking at your invite! Besides that, I will say I enjoyed the film. It's not as funny as say, 40 Year Old Virgin, but there's some good stuff in there. Keir O'Donnell has some of the funniest moments in the film as the goth/artist/gay son of Walken. These were some of the laugh out loud moments of the film.

Owen Wilson is very likable in the film as the partier-coming-to-grips with his age and wanting more out of life. He more or less plays the straight man to Vince Vaughn's antics.

Vaughn speaks in lightening fast dialogue most of the movie. Funny, and good, but at times I was left scratching my head. He's a strong actor and makes strong choices in this movie.

The directing by Dobkin sometimes feels less than good. Desk scenes shot with 2 cameras make it look like the actors are improvising most of their lines and leaves these "buddies" looking a bit too disconnected.

Bottom Line: If you enjoy comedies, especially of this genre, see it. It is very formulatic and if you're smart, you'll know how it ends about 30 minutes into this overly long comedy. (over 2 hours) PS: Will Ferrell turns in a very odd performance as Chazz Reinhold the ultimate wedding crasher. You might feel a little dirty after watching this near out of place character.

John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy Grey (Vince Vaughn) are business partners and best friends. They have a unique scheme to crash weddings and bed unsuspecting young hot women. When they crash the wedding of the season, John falls completely for bridesmaid Claire Cleary (Rachel McAdams) breaking all the rules. Jeremy must submit to her sex-crazed sister Gloria Cleary (Isla Fisher) as his loyal wingman.

The concept is great. Some of the jokes work but some really don't. This movie rises with the guys' chemistry. Vaugh's got the manic rantings, and Wilson's got the boy next door charm. Together they form the perfect bromance. And that is the big takeaway from this movie.

John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy Grey (Vince Vaughn) are life-long friends who have made a hobby out of lying to get into wedding receptions, where they pick up vulnerable women with even more lies. Their plans to crash the upscale wedding of a high-profile politician (Christopher Walken) go awry when John falls in love with the politician's daughter (Rachel McAdams) and the two guys end up spending the weekend with her family…who just happen to be completely nuts!

Wedding Crashers is easily the funniest film of 2005. It's constantly hilarious and it's not completely immature. The premise is pretty creative and original. The film is not just filled with cheap jokes and toilet humor. There's actually a pretty mature love story to be found here as well. In all honestly, the script isn't that great but the film works really well because of the cast. The actors bring life into their characters and most of them give funny performances. Vince Vaughn is the true star of Wedding Crashers. His over the top performance is very funny. Some people may find him annoying though. Owen Wilson also gives a funny performance. He just wasn't as good as Vince but he holds his own. Together, Vaughn and Wilson have great chemistry and really make their scenes with one another really funny.

Rachel McAdams is one of the best young actresses working today. She appeared in three movies in 2005 and this one was the best. Her performance is pretty good and it's so easy to love this girl. Christopher Walken does his usual routine and he gives an okay performance. He isn't as funny as everyone else though. Isla Fisher is also another talented young actress. She comes out of no where and gives a very funny performance. Jane Seymour is underused which is too bad because she's pretty funny. Bradley Cooper was okay, nothing really special though. Not all of the film is perfect. I think the running time is too long. Long comedies rarely work out and while this one does, it could have still been edited. Also, the ending is kind of cheesy which is okay but a little unexpected. Will Ferrell makes a cameo and let's just say that it was not needed. It wasn't completely bad but he seemed to be trying way too hard. I really think that he's just an average comedian and nothing really special. One last thing, the film is pretty funny yet it doesn't have that great of a repeat value, at least for me. In the end, Wedding Crashers is worth checking out. Rating 8/10