Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn 'crash,' the movie doesn't

Rating: 9/10 (24 February 2008)

It's a recurring theme in movies: people break rules, but they do it to get things done in their own way and to get it done right. 'Wedding Crashers' is almost a parody of that recurring theme with John and Jeremy, two best friends who happen to be swingers, crash weddings in order to get at the many desirable single young women that attend them. To say that they get things done would be putting it lightly, because they do and do they ever!
The real interesting part begins when things don't go quite as planned at one wedding and John doesn't "seal the deal" before the end of the reception and might have real feelings for one of the girls. Jeremy sticks by him and they end up going to the weekend retreat of the family whose wedding they've "crashed." And that just happens to be the family of a high ranking political official. Thus there is a great conflict with John and Jeremy's hectic lifestyle and the strict law and order of Capitol Hill. And the cast makes it work wonderfully. John being confronted by the family's sexually repressed matriarch then being teased by Jeremy about it. Jeremy having a surprise visit at night from the family's eccentric son. It is all silly sex humor, but it is well done and, very importantly, not overdone. The humorous crux of the film does not lay on sex gags, but rather with our characters. No part of the film feels like they left it in just to have that joke at that moment.
The best part of the whole film is that it keeps this theme throughout. Even at the ending. Endings often seem rushed or contrived or unrealistically good and cheesy, here I found this ending to quite unlike that. I feared it might bring down the film by trying to be "all good and happy" and it is to a degree. However, there are several ups and downs that realistically set it up as such. Thus it is not contrived. Though it may seem a little rushed due to the fact that the second act of the film takes place during a few days, while the third act is much more stretched out with many leaps in time. But still, as 'Team America' told us, when you need to show that time has passed 'use a montage.' --- 9/10
Rated R for profanity and sexual content. Ages 13+