Erratic movie, but somewhat funny

Rating: 4/10 (1 August 2005)

I just saw "Wedding Crashers" tonight, and was told by all that it would be hilarious from start to finish. And I do admit that there were some parts that were done especially well (See: Vince Vaughn's attempt to clear the air about his and Owen Wilson's background at the dinner table while his nympho girlfriend gives him an exciting under-the-table reminder about exactly why she's a nympho). Vaughn does do a good job of being the victim of events that you sometimes see coming, and other times not). For its handful of hilarious scenes, though, "Crashers" is filled with tons of setups for jokes that never actually deliver the punchlines. For example, Christopher Walken, as the U.S. Secretary of Treasury and the father of the two girls Vaughn and Wilson attempt to bed, has a potentially funny scene where he stares down Vaughn to remind of who wears the pants in the family, but that's the last we hear of it. The director could have at least inserted that joke several more times so it would have gotten a chuckle. I was also told ahead of time that the romantic scenes between Wilson and Rachel MacAdams weigh the film down. While they may be a bit too dramatic for a movie involving the Frat Pack, they're not nearly as laboring as the confusion you'll have trying to decide what type of character Wilson is. He hardly says anything funny in the film, and you'll spend the entire movie wondering if he's a genuinely nice, sweet guy or a sleaze ball who falls in love. Fellow Frat-packer Will Ferrell, who also makes an inevitable cameo in the film, probably would have been more suitable in the role of Vaughn, and then Vaughn could have taken Wilson's place. Oh well, that's just me I guess. If you want to laugh, you could see this movie, but by the end, you won't be sure you got your money's worth.