The funniest film of the year!

Rating: 9/10 (15 September 2005)

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!
There was a period during the late 80's to early 90's when there was a very tangible dry spell for horror films. Then Scream exploded onto the scene and horror films have enjoyed a very healthy recrudescence for the last ten years. I feel the same can be said for comedies. While there certainly have been some very funny ones in the last ten years ( Something About Mary, American Pie, Zoolander ) for the most part, everything feels like it is has been recycled ad nausea. But then you get something refreshing and original like The Wedding Crashers and it restores your faith in Hollywood.
People say that there are eleven stories that Hollywood tells over and over again, in various forms of course with a few idiosyncrasies to give them an original feel. The Usual Suspects in the twelfth story and Wedding Crashers is the thirteenth. This is a romantic comedy for sure and it is rather silly in some areas, but if you want to just laugh out loud and have a lot of fun, then this is about as sure fire a hit that Hollywood has produced in quite sometime.
What makes the film so enjoyable is the writing of course, but to pull it off, you need the right cast. Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson and a surprisingly complete performance by Rachael McAdams make this film a treat and a hoot to experience.
I have to admit that part of my zeal for the film has to do with the fact that Vince Vaughn's character, Jeremy Grey, is an extension of his character Trent Walker from Swingers. Vaughn made a name for himself in the indie hit of 1996 as the motor mouthed, quick thinking, loyal best friend of Mike Peters. His performance as the eccentric playboy is what put him on the Hollywood radar and it was his performance in Swingers that got him a role in Jurassic Park II. Jeremy is Trent all grows up. It's what he would have become. I'm sure this was by design and it works to perfection. This is Vaughn's movie. Owen Wilson is very nice as well and he gets top billing and the bigger paycheck, but make no mistake about it, this is Vaughn's vehicle start to finish.
As funny as the film is and as sublime a performance as Vaughn gives, the other part of the film that works to perfection is the romance between Wilson and McAdams. There is a sweetness to it and that works because McAdams is so fresh and exciting to watch on screen. She has a definitive presence and when she is on screen you care about her. She was like that in The Notebook and also in Red Eye. She is one of the bright new stars of Hollywood and I look forward to anything else she does.
Wedding Crashers is about as laugh out loud funny as you are going to get and even though it might go on for about 10 minutes too long, those 10 minutes have the cameo that we were all waiting for and that justifies the length.
In the last few years, films like Zoolander, Meet The Parents, Old School, Anchorman, Starsky and Hutch and Dodgeball have pretty much been the funniest films of their respective years. Wedding Crashers adds to the Frat Pack's legacy and doe not disappoint.
9/10