The Exuberance of Deception

Rating: 8/10 (6 August 2005)

That is the only way to describe the opening sequence of WEDDING CRASHERS, the newly minted first-time pairing of comedy tyros Vince Vaughan and Owen Wilson, as it attempts to clear its biggest hurdle: making palatable the unsavory premise of two overgrown fratboys with only one thing in mind--infiltrating weddings to eat, drink, be merry, and put the make ON "Mary"...and June and Lisa and Jennifer and any other bridesmaids unlucky or naive enough to fall into their clutches.
Thanks to the irresistible laid-back charms of Wilson and the hysterically sharp improv-riffing skills of Vaughan, that hurdle is pretty much cleared. It's a good thing, too, because without two likable leads, the entire movie would've fallen apart like a soufflé in an oven where somebody slammed the door before it had a chance to rise.
Vaughan and Wilson's marital mediators-turned-marital opportunists Jeremy Gray and John Beckwith, respectively, have honed their reception-razing skills to a science, guaranteeing them a never-ending supply of nosh and 'nookie' on a Dionysan scale. But then they get greedy about it, and the wedding cake truly hits the fan.
Toward the end of one long streak of successful crashes, (that opening montage), Jeremy decides that they should set their sites on the Crown Jewel of weddings: the impending nuptials of the eldest daughter of Secretary of the Treasury Cleary (Christopher Walken). Getting in will prove to be a whole lot easier than getting out for the two lotharios, as they met their matches in the indomitable Cleary sisters...as John falls head over heels for the beautiful Claire Cleary (Rachel McAdams) and Jeremy gets literally taken by the goofily predatory Gloria Cleary, (the sublime newcomer Isla Fisher.) The bulk of the comedy comes from the politically-incorrect and scatological humor that unfolds from increasingly uncomfortable situations, arising from the boys' deepening involvement with the not-so-normal Cleary family, including the obligatory potty-mouthed grandmother (Ellen Albertini Dow), the soused nymphomaniac spouse (Jane Seymour cast well against type) and the steroidally homicidal fiancée of Claire (Bradley Cooper).
Seekers of more 'refined' adult entertainment, consider yourself warned well in advance: if you weren't enamored by the charms of such comedies as "American Pie" or "There's Something About Mary," you won't find a lot here to tickle your fancy.
Having said that, let me add that for what it is, director David Dobkin has done an admirable job. As a matter of fact, Dobkin seems to be the only director who knows how to tap into Vaughan's manic energy and Wilson's surfer-dude vibe to maximum positive effect, (he directed Vaughan in the underrated black comedy CLAY PIGEONS, and Wilson in the SHANGHAI NOON/KNIGHTS franchise). Though it stretches on for the better part of two hours, it achieves its goal of leaving its target audience thoroughly entertained.
As has been mentioned before, however, when Dobkin and screenwriters Steve Faber and Bob Fisher make the choice to try and inject "meaningful dramatic weight" into the jokey proceedings, the whole thing nearly comes to a screeching halt. The faux pas is somewhat redeemed by the special guest appearance of a certain SNL alum, (but I won't spoil the surprise by telling you who it is.) That does jump-start things back to life, but the character the guest plays is so much skeevier than Our Heroes were at their worst behavior, that it threatens to take a detour into some extremely uncomfortable territory. (Which is saying something after jokes about masturbation, prodigious vomiting, bondage, posterior shotgun wounds and other delights.) Thankfully, before WEDDING CRASHERS can crash, it is well into the third act, which ends on an agreeable note, and a lot less predictably than I expected.
Hardly the bottom of the barrel in the annals of low comedy, (that prize would have to be awarded to the likes of FREDDY GOT FINGERED), WEDDING CRASHERS is great for a hysterically funny evening soon-to-be-forgotten with the half empty large soda and popcorn boxes.
What we will hope to see more of is the pairing of Vaughan and Wilson again, hopefully under the direction of Dobkin, with a much more "acceptable" comedic premise to more of the mass audience.
And let's not forget two of the brightest spots in this comedy: Isla Fisher, whose overcaffeinated gift for physical comedy matches Vaughan's scene-for-scene (and LITERALLY 'stroke-for-stroke') and the beautiful Rachel McAdams, whose star is rapidly rising (she will soon be seen as the damsel-in-distress-du-jour in Wes Craven's latest terror-opus, RED-EYE, opposite 28 DAYS LATER'S Cillian Murphy).