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Back Shelf Beauties
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The Wedding Crashers Old School, Animal House, Stripes and Caddyshack stand out as some of the greatest guy movies of all time, and they are about to get a new dancer at the party. With nudity, raunchy humor, and filthy language, The Wedding Crashers is my kind of movie, but it's so good and sneaky, it also becomes a very good date movie as well. Owen "The Butterscotch Stallion" Wilson and Vince Vaughn star as John and Jeremy - a pair of divorce mediators in Washington, DC who sneak into weddings looking to meet vulnerable and sexually willing women (Since I live in DC, I'll have to see if this really works. Good bye lonely nights, hello nights full of groping, desperation and self-loathing!). After doing this for several years, the two buddies are skilled predators who have the game down to a science with a series of rules, aliases and strategies to spend an evening with the woman of their choice (I took notes). To make the wedding season a little more interesting and challenging, Jeremy has proposed they try to crash the society wedding of the year. Before you know it, Jeremy and John are attending the wedding of Treasury Secretary William Cleary's (Christopher Walken) daughter, and John has fallen in love with one of Cleary's other daughters, Claire (Rachel McAdams). Can John win Claire's heart? Will John and Jeremy be able to keep their cover? Will Claire still want John if she finds out the truth? The Wedding Crashers is hilarious, while also showing a little heart. Director David Dobkin delivers a movie with a fast pace and laughs to get your energy up, which perfectly fits with his stars. Early on, he and editor Mark Livolsi show us an awesome sequence of scenes featuring John and Jeremy in action, working the crowds, charming the ladies and becoming the life of the party. The Wedding Crashers derives so much energy from this sequence that the audience can't help but get hooked, and showcases the movie's biggest assets - Vaughn and Wilson. Vaughn mesmerizes with his manic, fast-talking, love of life patter, but also excels as Jeremy is absolutely tortured physically, mentally and emotionally throughout the movie. While we all know him as the coolest guy in the room, Vaughn is at his best in this movie when playing the put upon, scared and flustered guy trying to get out of a bad situation. Meanwhile, Wilson gives John heart and soul as he starts to question the lifestyle and wonders if there is something more out there. He creates a likable, mischievous rogue you can root for as he tries to rehabilitate his life to win the woman of his dreams. Together, Vaughn and Wilson have fantastic chemistry. They play off each other like a veteran comedy team as John and Jeremy carry out their master plots, but also argue and bicker like an old married couple when the plan is going awry. More than in most movies, these two make you believe John and Jeremy have been long time friends who truly care for each other. Much the same can be said for Wilson's scenes with McAdams (quickly becoming one of my favorite female actresses BECAUSE OF HER TALENT, not just because I think she is a raven haired, mystical vision of lust personified). While the love story portion of the film could have been a downer and cliché, McAdams and Wilson make it interesting and shockingly transform The Wedding Crashers into a great date movie where our two tortured lovers are torn apart as we hope they will get together. However, the biggest surprise of the movie is Isla Fisher as Gloria Cleary - Claire's loopy, mentally unstable, but extremely attractive sister (it's always the crazy chicks that get your attention). Fisher shows no shame and no fear as she becomes the manifestation of Jeremy's and every one night stander's worst nightmare. She hilariously mixes cute and crazy to keep you on edge, but shows enough humanity to get any guy interested in her. Fisher makes what could have been a cartoonish character into a multi-faceted, complex, but fun woman. Writers Steve Faber and Bob Fisher create imaginative, funny aliases and backstories for the guys to use during their ruses, which make the movie achieve the highest levels a comedy can realize. The details make us aware of how crazy and smart John and Jeremy are all at the same time with playful, snappy dialogue to keep the pace moving, which also explains the desires and values system of each. Then, Faber and Fisher craft one of the year's most likable love stories. It's full of pain, exhilaration and longing as John tries to romance Claire, only to find huge obstacles along the way. While the main villain might be a bit over the top and obvious (they might as well show the guy stealing candy from a kid in a wheelchair to show us how evil he is), everyone else is enjoyable, fun and at the right level of wackiness. Even the musical score is perfect and helps establish the mood of every scene instead of trying to sell movie soundtrack CDs. The Wedding Crashers gets a little slow at the end, and Dobkin could have cut a scene or two to get the same effect and end the movie quicker, but the film is a tour de force for everyone involved and one of the funniest movies you will see all summer. 3 ½ Waffles (Out Of 4) Copyright 2005 - WaffleMovies.com
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