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Review by: Jack Foley | Rating:
Two
VINCE Vaughn and Owen Wilson will have you shrieking down the
aisle in fits of laughter if you accept their invitation to join
the hilarious Wedding Crashers, a deliciously shameless romp that’s
designed to make you blush.
The amiable duo play Washington-based divorce mediators, Jeremy
Klein and John Beckwith, who like to crash weddings in a bid to
pick up fit single women for a night of guilt-free sex.
The two get more than they bargained for, however, when they
attempt to cap one particularly memorable summer by crashing the
wedding of one of the daughters of popular Treasury Secretary,
William Cleary (Christopher Walken).
Beckwith (Wilson) falls for the charms of Cleary’s feisty
daughter, Claire (Rachel McAdams), while Klein (Vaughn) seduces
another of Cleary’s children, Gloria, only to find that
she develops an unhealthy infatuation for him.
When the pair accept an invitation to join the Clearys for an
extended family weekend at their palatial waterfront estate, the
scene is set for much mayhem as Beckwith attempts to lure Claire
away from her pompous, Ivy League boyfriend, Sack (Bradley Cooper),
and Klein bids to free himself from the sex-obsessed Gloria.
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While undoubtedly crass in places,
The Wedding Crashers is such outrageous fun that audiences should
be prepared to forgive the film some of its gaudier excesses.
Having previously squared up to each other in Zoolander
and Starsky and Hutch, Wilson
and Vaughn now get to partner each other here and slip into a
near-perfect comedy short-hand – contrasting the former’s
laidback charm with the latter’s rapid-fire wit and outlandish
charisma.
Vaughn steals most of the film’s biggest belly-laughs
as he is forced to bear the brunt of the film’s most embarrassing
episodes, but Wilson provides a typically endearing presence that
helps lend the film its heart – thereby ensuring that this
is a comedy that appeals to both sexes.
His relationship with McAdams is similarly well played and the
two seem to develop a natural chemistry that ensures the film
retains its romantic edge.
Yet rather like Hitch earlier this
year, the film is never allowed to become too sentimental, throwing
in plenty of slapstick humour to counter-balance the gooey stuff,
as well as a late cameo from another of this seemingly unstoppable
comedy ‘frat-pack’.
At two hours, Wedding Crashers does feel its length at times
and not every joke hits, but for those willing to divorce themselves
from any inhibitions, this jovial crowd-pleaser provides enough
laugh-out loud moments to ensure that you won’t want to
jilt this duo at the altar.
The fratpack analysed
- special feature
Vince Vaughn interview
Owen Wilson interview
Isla Fisher/David
Dobkin interview
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