Watchable, if over-hyped

Rating: 6/10 (29 August 2005)

One of the most unnerving things about "Wedding Crashers" is that the two leads are just as sleazy and despicable as the film's villain, but we're suddenly supposed to sympathize with them because they've found girls they like. What these two need is comeuppance...but leave that to a darker comedy, I guess. So try to forget about that while you're watching it.
John (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy (Vince Vaughn) crash weddings to meet, seduce and dump girls. They've got it worked out to a system, which is humorous because it's believable. But John is having second thoughts about their irresponsible, even hurtful lifestyle. Then at a wedding they meet the Cleary sisters (Rachel McAdams and Isla Fisher) and fall for them. The two sisters are immediately accepting of them, and invite them out to their rich father's summer cottage.
The father is played by Christopher Walken, and it's probably the first time in this guy's career that he's been underused. Who the hell under-uses Christopher Walken? He's there to be overused! The strange thing is that it's clear the filmmakers know how to be funny...there are many funny moments, and Vince Vaughn is hilarious. But there are so many gaps between the really good jokes, and the writer gets lazy when he resorts to the phoned-in gay and T&A jokes. And lots of great comedic opportunities are missed, as when Walken walks in on Vaughn after he's been tied to the bed by Walken's horny daughter. This could've been the funniest scene in the movie, but instead, nothing happens.
Vince Vaughn is probably the movie's biggest success. He manages to do what Jack Lemmon did in "Some Like it Hot": to create a believable, funny character and also establish a personality for himself for movies to come. The performance is not as memorable as Lemmon's, because the movie isn't as memorable (not by a mile), but Lemmon's got an Oscar nod, and I do think Vaughn deserves some consideration.
The movie's lack of morals hurt it as well. John and Jeremy never feel even slightly sorry for their deeds, and hypocritically exploit the wrongs of Claire's silly evil fiancé Sack. Characters as dark as these are only really funny in movies with some sort of moral message or point, the message here seems to be "do what you want, worry only about yourself". But I guess it seems to be the general agreement these days that a movie with morals can't be funny.
The movie's sleazy, terribly uneven, and almost like a collection of missed opportunities, with a great performance from Vaughn and funny parts here and there.
6.5/10