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Vince Vaughn (left) and Owen Wilson co-star in Wedding Crashers.
In recent years, most of the so-called “sex romp” comedies have been pretty tame. The first American Pie could be considered a throwback to those good old 80s movies like Porky’s and Revenge of the Nerds, but each sequel got tamer and tamer in hopes of drawing in a wider audience.
That’s what I loved about Wedding Crashers. The humor is down and dirty, and never pulls a punch. From unwanted sexual gratification at a dinner table full of family members, to the casual flaunting of breasts during the film’s brilliant montage, this movie never forgets that it’s a goofy sex comedy.
Okay, so the story’s a bit unbelievable at times. And, yeah, the ending is a little too cute and pushes through the envelop of reality, but I laughed heartily at the beginning, middle and end. The last third of the film drags a bit more than it should, leading up to the easily predictable ending, but I still laughed. And to me, that’s more important than a perfectly formulated story. A comedy needs to be funny first.
Wedding Crashers centers around two friends, John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy Klein (Vince Vaughn). The two buddies help arbitrate bitter divorces, but in their spare time (heck, most of their time) crash weddings. Following a series of rules passed down to Jeremy, they expertly make up different names and occupations as they invade receptions in order to find vulnerable, emotional women to sleep with.
And it works. The duo crash all kinds of weddings, make themselves the star, and pick up beautiful women.
But as the most recent wedding season comes to a close, John grows tired of it all. He wants to meet a woman and settle down. And when Jeremy convinces him to crash one more wedding — the daughter of Secretary of the Treasury William Cleary (Christopher Walken) — he meets the woman of his dreams, Claire (Rachel McAdams), who happens to be another of the Secretary’s daughters.
In order to win her heart, Jeremy reluctantly accompanies John to continue their deception and get invited to the Secretary’s country home. While there, Jeremy is pursued and tormented by Cleary’s youngest daughter… as well as his son. But Claire’s fiancé grows suspicious of John and Jeremy, and when he discovers who they really are, all of John’s efforts may be unraveled.
Wedding Crashers features a rather long montage near the beginning that charts Wilson and Vaughn’s experiences crashing different weddings. I really thought this was beautifully edited. It moves smoothly, builds perfectly, and its final explosion of imagery as both men get their prizes, it’s a fast and dizzying display of breasts and sex.
But what I respected most about Wedding Crashers was the humor. It’s uncompromising, and that’s refreshing. The movie doesn’t try to water down the humor in order to make it accessible for the PG-13 crowd. It’s raunchy. It’s for “grown up”, or at least anyone who’s managed to stick around for more than 17 years. Either way, it’s nice to know Hollywood still remembers that adults like to go to the movies, too.
The weakest element of the film is the ending. It takes a little too long to get to the conclusion, even though it’s generally obvious in these films what’s going to happen. And the over-the-top ending is just a little too much. But it still retains a sense of humor, and I honestly think that’s the most important thing.
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