It has its moments

Rating: 6/10 (10 July 2006)

Wedding Crashers is a movie that has some fine parts but in the end those parts don't quite add up to form a satisfying whole. This is a film in which the whole is somehow less than the sum of its parts. The plot is straightforward and simple as can be, with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson playing two guys who crash weddings to pick up women. That's the entire plot and it seems that the writers figured they could just set up that premise and much hilarity would then ensue. Unfortunately only intermittent hilarity ensues. When it's good, Wedding Crashers is very good but the comic energy is never really sustained. There are far too many scenes where nothing, certainly nothing very funny, happens.
As Jeremy and John respectively Vaughn and Wilson are pretty much what you would expect them to be. Vaughn's the fast-talking yapper, Wilson much more relaxed. Each fills their respective role well. The movie takes off, or at least is meant to, when Wilson's John falls for Claire Cleary, the beautiful daughter of the Treasury Secretary, at Claire's sister's wedding. Meanwhile yet another Cleary sister, Gloria, clings to Vaughn's quite reluctant Jeremy. Our two crashers find themselves invited back to the Cleary family compound where John will continue to woo Claire, conveniently ignoring the fact she is about to be engaged to a raving lunatic, while Jeremy tries to wriggle free of the just a little bit crazy Gloria. Plenty of potential for comic gold it would seem but it never all comes together.
Part of the problem is that the object of John's affection, Claire as played by Rachel McAdams, is impossibly dull and almost completely devoid of any personality. Almost nothing funny happens when McAdams is on the screen. Undeniably attractive but utterly boring, it's hard to see why John would instantly fall for this woman he doesn't even know. There's nothing remarkable about her. Probably not McAdams' fault, I'm sure she has a personality but her character surely doesn't. By contrast Gloria, as played by Isla Fisher, absolutely oozes personality and the movie comes to life every time Fisher is on the screen. Fisher repeatedly steals scenes from that noted scene-stealer himself Vince Vaughn. Her all-too-brief appearances are the highlights of the film. Unfortunately we spend much more time with the rather dull by comparison Wilson/McAdams would-be romance. Also notable, and not in a good way, is Bradley Cooper playing Claire's ridiculously over-the-top evil fiancée Sack. He's so bad you cringe every time he's on the screen. Comedies are not generally meant to induce cringing. And Christopher Walken as Treasury Secretary Cleary, the head of this rather bizarre family, is woefully underused. It's obvious he could have added a great deal to the movie if given the opportunity but instead we are stuck with the boring Claire, the obnoxious Sack and a host of other characters who add next to nothing. With some terrific actors in the cast, a surprising standout performance from Fisher and some real moments of comic genius along the way you get the sense Wedding Cashers could have been something truly great. Instead it's just OK and will leave you wanting more and wondering what could have been.