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New Line Cinema / A Tapestry Films production
MPAA rating: R / Running time — 119 minutes

QUOTE: Hysterical. It is the triumphant return of the R rating comedy (and Ben Stiller is not in it).

In real life Owen Wilson either (a) can’t get it up, or (b) likes to provide really, really long foreplay.*

While in Kathmandu, Nepal last month, we noticed a steady stream of tuxedoed gentlemen and sari-wearing women going up to the ballroom. Several members of our trekking group crashed the Danish ambassador’s farewell party and danced the night away. Having only brought a pair of well-worn hiking boots and Hot Chilly underwear as lingerie, I declined to wander upstairs to the ballroom and mingle with the upper-crust of political dignitaries. Unlike the rest of our trek through Tibet, the party – we were told – had an abundant supply of food, loud music and liquor.

Divorce mediators John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy Grey (Vince Vaughn) should actually hire themselves out as paid wedding guests. They are the life of the party! These two barely stay seated all night and chow down the wedding food with gusto. John and Jeremy are long-time buddies who crash weddings after perusing wedding announcements in the newspaper. Weddings, their theory goes, is fertile ground to have casual sex with drunk bridesmaids. With the appropriate attire and love for all kinds of weddings, these two crash Jewish, Italian, Irish, Chinese, and Hindu weddings. They dance with grandmothers, sing tributes, and make balloon animals for the kids. Apparently, they are following a set of rules laid down by the master of wedding crashing, the great Seth.

I can’t wait for the book!

The pinnacle of the wedding season is the marriage of the daughter of Treasury Secretary William Cleary (Christopher Walken) and his tramp wife Kathleen (Jane Seymour) in Washington, D.C. If they can get into this wedding, they have hit the jackpot.

Getting their story straight as to who they are related to and what they do for a living, John and Jeremy troll the church and settle on bridesmaids Claire (Rachel McAdams) and Gloria (Isla Fisher) Cleary. John is attracted to Claire, the only member of her family who is not crazy, though she does have a mean-spirited, creepy boyfriend, Sack (Bradley Cooper).Senator Cleary is wisely thrilled Claire is with Sack since he is also from a prominent political dynasty. When sex-mad Gloria falls instantly in love with Jeremy, they are induced into accepting an invitation to spend a glorious weekend at the Kennedy-style Cleary family compound.

Providing an arsenal of proper clothes for last-minute guests, the Cleary’s lifestyle is divinely elegant but odd: Kathleen flirts with John after announcing she is not in a monogamous marriage and Grandmother Cleary bluntly calls her grandson Todd (Keir O’Donnell) a homo at the dinner table. Apparently, this sets up the inevitable romantic triangle – like his sister Gloria, Todd takes a sudden liking to Jeremy.

An R comedy? Directed by David Dobkin and written by Steve Faber & Bob Fisher, Ben Stiller is not even a wedding guest. Vince Vaughn is brilliant. He has honed this peculiar personality to a fine art no one else can match. He is so blunt, so deliberately self-centered and rude, that he is absolutely engaging. You can’t take your eyes off him. (Vaughn’s small role in MR. AND MRS. SMITH was another highlight for him. But can he help Jennifer Aniston get a film career? I doubt the Vaughn-Aniston pairing will work.) And Wilson downplays his pursed-lips delivery and when required actually appears sincere. Try it: it’s not that easy to pull off acting sincere.

The only problem I had with WEDDING CRASHERS is the annoying co-star: The hair. Wilson’s hair had a handler; Vaughn’s sudden change of toupees; and Adams’s hair looks like she never bothered to have it washed before appearing on set. What man spends so much time on his hair as Owen Wilson does in WEDDING CRASHERS? Get a hair weave, please!

Wilson and Vaughn are the best new comedy team, destined quickly for another movie. Will there be the inevitable hissy fits and assistants counting their lines? Right now, WEDDING CRASHERS is genius pairing (with a special guest appearance by an actor playing Seth who rocks). Owen, there is always Jack Black if Vince becomes temperamental.

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Cast:
John Beckwith: Owen Wilson
Jeremy Klein: Vince Vaughn
Secretary Cleary: Christopher Walken
Claire Cleary: Rachel McAdams
Gloria Cleary: Isla Fisher
Kathleen Cleary: Jane Seymour
Grandma Cleary: Ellen Albertini Dow
Todd Cleary: Keir O’Donnell
Sack Lodge: Bradley Cooper

Credits:
Director: David Dobkin
Screenwriters: Steve Faber & Bob Fisher
Producers: Peter Abrams, Robert L. Levy, Andrew Panay
Executive producers: Guy Riedel
Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener, Cale Boyter
Director of photography: Julio Macat
Production designer: Barry Robison
Music: Rolfe Kent
Costumes: Denise Wingate
Editor: Mark Livolsi