The Wedding Crashers
Director: David Dobkin
(14A, 119 min)
Cast: Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Christopher Walken, Jane Seymour.
Wedding Crashers will make sure that you never look at weddings, funerals or even balloon animals the same again. Thanks to this movie, it's likely that every second wedding from now until eternity will feature security at levels only ever seen before in the days immediately following 9/11. Other than that side effect, Wedding Crashers is brilliant. Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn do such a fantastic job portraying two sleazy friends that crash weddings to meet women, you really do start believing the ridiculous scenario could happen at any wedding.
Another telltale sign that Wilson and Vaughn do their jobs to a tee is that even if you don't like the movie yourself, chances are you will leave the theatre with aching sides from laughing at all the people laughing around you. If you see this movie once in a packed theatre, plan to see it again, because the likelihood of hearing all the dialogue over the crowd's merriment is low, very low.
What's truly remarkable is that Crashers does not rely on gags for its laughs, as Wilson and Vaughn essentially manufacture nearly every giggle with (gasp!) acting, and acting alone. No one saw that coming. Usually after seeing a funny movie it is irresistible to relive the funny moments and lines you just witnessed, yet in Wedding Crashers, nothing stands out - the entire movie is a funny moment until the laughs start to slow near the end. This may be heartbreaking for those who get their kicks out of repeating a movie's memorable lines, but provides welcome relief to the loved ones of these people.
Wedding Crashers must be commended in another category as well, the often-overlooked issue of length. For maybe the first time in recent comedy history, this movie is just right, not so short you feel ripped off (as many recent comedies have been), or so long you get disinterested. At just under two hours, Wedding Crashers is longer than average, but doesn't necessarily overstay its welcome.
So, all's well that ends well, right? Not in this case. Unfortunately, Wedding Crashers takes the term 'Hollywood ending' to new extremes. As the movie gets closer and closer to the end, it starts to reflect a train wreck more and more - you know what's going to happen yet you can't take your eyes off the screen. However, this is excusable because Crashers keeps you laughing (almost) all the way to the honeymoon, and one of the most ridiculous and corny endings ever concocted.
