Movie Review - Wedding Crashers

Mini-Review: This movie has no business being this funny. But it is.

Seriously, this movie has no business being this funny. I was thinking that at best it might be a chick flick about weddings that Vaughn and Wilson would manage to inject with a little flavor. Instead, it's the winner of the (just-now-created) Bad Santa Memorial Award for a Movie That You Had No Idea it Was Going to be So Damn Vulgar. (The title of the award will be shortened for future use). Seriously. In the first scene Vince Vaughn advises a couple in a divorce to go out and "get some strange ass". In the second scene he describes a game that - well, it just wouldn't sound as funny typed out. But it's so over the top that for a moment I got a little worried that Vaughn would go too far and overwhelm the entire movie.

In the end the movie turns into one of those happy-ending type stories, but it does at least manage to keep its own tint. I read a review that said the movie could have been one of the greatest comedies ever, but I don't think the writers ever intended it to be that. I think they aimed for a movie that had universal funny, and a bit of chick flick plot (so that it sells to all), and Vaughn and Owen Wilson (and the rest of the cast) manage to catch lightning in a bottle during the comedy portion of the show.

Speaking of the cast, well, it's pretty close to perfection. Vaughn and Wilson play aging 30s singles who crash weddings in order to have no-strings sex with women who are caught up in the romance of the wedding. Seriously, that's the opening premise of the movie. I know, I know, you could've thought of that. We all had that thought. Hopefully we'd have all cast these two, too, because they're perfect. Rachel McAdams is wonderfully girl-next-door as the "target" that Wilson eventually falls for to bring the crashing to a ... well, a crashing halt. Isla Fisher is quite frighteningly believable as her completely psycho sister who attatches herself to Vaughn-as-wingman, leading to plenty of mayhem there. And Christopher Walken is their father. I'm convinced that Walken has told his agent to only accept roles that meet the following two conditions: 1) He must be playing a funny character. 2) He must be allowed to dance. Fortunately the late-career Mr. Walken has proved himself to shine at both. He's spot on here cast as the menacing father who still keeps things funny.

On top of all that, Bradley Cooper has a quality turn as McAdams's jackass boyfriend, and Jane Seymour does a wonderful job as Walken's wife. Dwight Yoakam and Rebecca De Mornay (of all people) have a brief but amazing cameo scene. There's also another cameo, but I won't spoil that one (the wiser of you can do the math and add Vaughn plus Comedy to equal The Actor). And there's a guy named Ron Canada in the movie. That's the actor's name, not his character.

I referenced the plot once already, and it pretty much sticks to the happy ending formula, but the fun part is in the getting there, and the fact that there are multiple happy endings. I won't spoil the details - suffice it to say that I had very little to complain about in the end. I might have liked a little more funny at the end, but that might just be that once I had mentally compared it to Bad Santa, I had a hard time not expecting a similarly funny climax, and honestly there are few pure comedies that manage to put such a funny scene right at the end the way Bad Santa does. But so after that tangent... yeah, it's a quality movie.

And in case I haven't mentioned it, Vince Vaughn is: A) Tall, and B) Really, really good. I don't think I've seen a movie that he's in that I haven't enjoyed. And I'm not buying it that he can't play drama. He can. And he's good at it. But he's outstanding at comedies. To start another sentence with a preposition, well, really I just wanted to start another sentence with a preposition. But the Vince Vaughn is good. Heh.

I would have to strongly suspect that there are few people who wouldn't laugh at and enjoy this movie. If you would consider yourself a bit prudish, or object to vulgarity, you'll want to stay away. Everyone else should go have fun. This ranks in at a Trent and a half.

-- 8/8/05