The Wedding Crashers: B+
by Patricia Draznin
DIVORCE MEDIATORS by day and wedding crashers by weekend, John and
Jeremy are the charming-est guys at the party—not that they were
invited, not that they even know the bride and groom. These guys
are on the take for bridesmaids and hors d’oeuvres. And as certain
as layer cake and “Here Comes the Bride,” they always score
both. Assigning themselves to an obscure outpost on the wedding party’s
family tree, they wow the hosts and guests with smooth conversation
and polished dance moves, while the bridesmaids observe and swoon.
Crashing provides a happy and fruitful hobby with no obvious consequences,
until they invade the prominent Cleary wedding. John is smitten with
sister-of-the-bride Claire Cleary, while Jeremy meets his match in Gloria,
Claire’s cute nymphomaniac sister.
Can Jeremy escape the clutches of Gloria the clinger? Is Claire
available, or is she spoken for by an irritating blueblood? Writers
Steve Faber and Bob Fisher navigate through some predictable plot
twists, but mostly they entertain us in spades by taking a crazy
idea and running all the way to the altar. True, they skimp on
story points such as how these two trespassers always manage to
seat themselves at reception tables in spite of the fact that seating
placements are assigned. Not that these omissions put a damper
on the movie—any more than the episodes of schmaltz—but
last time I checked it was my job to point this out.
Reminiscent of Something About Mary and Meet
the Parents, Wedding
Crashers delivers a whole lotta laughs through the highly synchronized
buddy team of John (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy (Vince Vaughn).The
sterling silver cast includes the consistent Christopher Walken—who
is a little underutilized here, Jane Seymour as his wife who stages
a “Mrs. Robinson” routine, and a cameo by Will Ferrell
as Chaz, the mentor/inventor of wedding-crashing who discovers
greener pastures than weddings. Owen Wilson embodies the wise,
sensitive, charismatic man proclaiming to attractive bridesmaids
that we only use 10 percent of our hearts. By the end of the film
he even got to me. And paired with the very tall and imposing Vaughn,
Wilson makes this film worth crashing, whether you’re invited
or not.
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