Wedding Crashers (2005)

The double bill continues, and I do love a double bill.

Short: John (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy (Vince Vaughn) are divorce mediators who spend the summer crashing weddings in order to pick up chicks. Jeremy convinces John to crash the "Kentucky Derby" of weddings, that of one of the daughters of secertary of state Cleary (Christopher Walken), where John meets Claire (Rachel McAdams), and Jeremy meets Gloria (Isla Fisher).

Yeah, you all know what happens. Everyone knows what happens. This isn't the kind of movie that you see for the story, okay? And that's okay.

It's more than okay, in fact, to see it for the comedy. I know I did. I loved it. At certain points, I was hysterical and laughed 'til I nearly cried.

Pretty much every review I've seen praises this movie for being "refreshing." You know what? It is refreshing. It is refreshing that Steve Faber and Bob Fisher have written an adult comedy. People swear! Women are topless! Deal with it!

Or better yet, don't deal with it. Laugh instead. Laugh it up. The real secret to Faber and Fisher's formula is their ability to play to Vaughn and Wilson's vastly different strengths. Vaughn's hyper loquacious delivery and offensive language suit him, and it allows for Wilson to play the straight man to that insanity, to sit back and sweetly drawl his way through the picture. Oh, Owen Wilson. I think I might love you.

It works on a physical level as well. Neither Vaughn nor Wilson are spring chickens anymore: Vaughn's no longer a Swinger, with his thickening waste and deep eye circles. Wilson's face is starting to line as well, suggesting that if an adult comedy like this is possible, maybe more adult roles are out there as well.

Until then, the true humour comes from the fact that these two don't just crash weddings, but that they manage to make themselves the centre of attention on the dance floor, with ballon animals for the kiddies, even giving speeches.

Of course, Faber, Fisher, and director David Dobkin do hit a few false notes. A delightful Jane Seymour cannot make up for a horribly underused Walken, nor can a hilarious granny excuse a caricature posing as an "artistic" brother character.

Taken altogether, though, I'd do it all over again just for that sensational cameo. A-