Wedding Crashers

Starring Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Christopher Walken, Rachel McAdams, Isla Fisher, Jane Seymour

Rated R

It’s Wedding Season!

            Most comedies these days are always watered-down, unfunny messes because studio chiefs want to make sure that the film gets a PG-13 rating. Why? Most of the box office ticket sales come from teenagers, many of whom can’t buy a ticket to an R-rated movie.

            “Wedding Crashers” is the sort of movie that doesn’t care how raunchy it is, how vulgar the language gets, or how steamy certain scenes are. I have to say, I couldn’t be more pleased. And as for those who thought that “Wedding Crashers” would suffer at the box office due to its R-rating? Well, an opening weekend of 33 million dollars should shut their mouths.

            Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn joyously portray two divorce attorneys, John and Jeremy, whose secret hobby is to crash weddings. An opening montage shows just how much fun they really have: endless beer, one-night-stands, fake emotion – it’s priceless.

            Enter Christopher Walken’s Secretary Cleary, a powerful Washington D.C. Congressman whose oldest daughter is tying the knot. Knowing that this will be a first-class wedding all the way, John and Jeremy have no choice except to crash it. At the reception, John immediately falls for Claire (Rachel McAdams), a sweet, good-natured young lady who also happens to be one of Senator Cleary’s daughters.

Jeremy, however, finds himself the target of Gloria (Isla Fisher), an annoying brat and Senator Cleary’s youngest daughter. At first glance, Gloria appears to be attractive and lively, but not much time passes before she shows her true colors, which are completely childlike.

Gloria wrangles the two crashers an invitation to the Cleary family lake house for the weekend. John, determined to spend more time with Claire, is all revved up to attend, but Jeremy is more than a little hesitant due to the almost frightening presence of Gloria. But once at the lake house, Vaughn and Wilson go nuts with their comic abilities, leaving the audience worn out from laughing.

Vaughn, the film world’s current leading comedian, and Wilson, always a welcome presence in any movie, make a team so likeable and funny that you almost forget how sleazy they really are. And Walken, McAdams, and Will Ferrell, appearing as a funeral crasher, all deliver the goods. In the spirit of “Old School,” “Wedding Crashers” is the funniest film I’ve seen since…well, “Old School.”

   
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