Refreshing, Light-hearted Comedy

Rating: 9/10 (20 November 2007)

Wedding Crashers is a romantic comedy in which Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson play two bachelors who 'crash' weddings for fun. They research information about weddings, show up uninvited, and play characters such as the fun, unknown third cousins. Their purpose in all of this is to eat tasty, free food and drinks while picking up girls. The movie focuses on the crash of one particular wedding  that of Secretary Cleary's daughter. Vaughn hits it off with one of the bridesmaids, but then finds out that she is particularly clingy and wants to leave immediately. Wilson, however, falls for another bridesmaid and convinces Vaughn to attend the post-wedding family excursion to buy him more time with the girl. He later finds out that she has a boyfriend, but he pursues her non-the less. During the week with the family, Vaughn puts up with countless humorous difficulties and is forced to stay by Wilson. However, at the end of their week with the newlyweds' family, they discover Vaughn and Wilson's true identity and the girls no longer want anything to do with them. In the end they make it home in one piece, but Wilson becomes depressed because he failed to get the girl of his dreams.
The humor of this movie is what holds together the rather lengthy plot. Most comedies can only hold audiences for a shorter film length of maybe 90 minutes, but the natural chemistry between Vaughn and Wilson keeps the audience engaged for nearly two hours. At first I thought that the humor was somewhat immature and would only appeal to the minds of high school or college students, but the movie quickly became a family favorite around my house. The beginning of the movie is fast paced and features punch line after punch line as the viewer follows Vaughn and Wilson around countless weddings as their senses of humor allow them to be the hits of reception. They woo multiple women with false stories about events such as 'losing good men in war' which are always followed up by an emotional tear that snags every woman and brings a laugh from the audience.
While the pair spends a week with the family of the secretary, the real plot of the romance follows Wilson on his pursuit of the secretary's daughter. Wilson appears to be somewhat desperate, but the daughter, Claire, seems to fall for him. His fun loving nature gives her a well needed break from her stuffy boyfriend. Their budding relationship is appealing because of its innocence; Wilson pulls her in with walks on the beach and simple games and jokes that remind the audience of a high school sweetheart type of relationship.
While the story follows Wilson's romance, Vaughn holds together the humor of the story. He deals with countless intimate advances by multiple members of the family, creating awkward situations for Vaughn make him constantly beg Wilson to leave. This puts a sense of urgency on Wilson's courting of Claire. I love how this movie does a great job of incorporating the humor with an interesting yet simple plot. The end takes an interesting turn it's not for me to ruin, just highly recommend if you're in the mood for a refreshing, light-hearted comedy.