Released: 7/15/05

Viewed: 5:30pm 7/15/05

Starring: Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Christopher Walken, Rachel McAdams

Directed by: David Dobkin

People are freaking out over this movie. The comedy smash of the summer? I guess so, since the closest thing we've had to a comedy so far was Rebound. The movie is entertaining, but far from the comedy juggernaut critics are making it out to be. There were tons of hard earned laughs, but when they're surrounded by awkwardness, or the overwhelming feeling that they're just trying to hard, who cares?

Vaughn and Wilson are superb, although a little old for the rolls. Every aspect of the movie seemed to point towards the leads being late 20-somethings. As Vaughn charmingly improvises his way into a bridesmaid's bed, you can hear how many packs of cigarettes he smokes a day. The crows feat wrinkling around Wilson's eyes make you wonder if it's the on set of time, or a result of too much bas ass squinting on the set of Starsky and Hutch. They jokingly point out a couple of times in the movie, that they're not exactly spring chickens, but the actors playing the girls they woo have got to be 10 years younger. It's not a big deal but it's there.

Regardless, they are brilliant as fast talking charming low lives that live for the wedding season. Free food, free booze, and vulnerable willing beauties are at their disposal. It's every man's dream, really. As low lives the pair are endlessly entertaining. Doing whatever it takes to seal the deal, these seasoned pro's of the con game introduce us to tactics and strategies to manipulate the situation. Back stories, balloon animals, Oprah's book club. It's all hysterical and presented on screen in the montage to end all montages. Bravo.

But when the boys fall for their targets we're revealed to the softer sweeter side. And that's where the movie slows down. And I think it's because the con slows down. There's still a lot of fast talking charm but instead of outrageous lies about all the men that you lost in the French Foreign Legion, the boys clean up their act and make a play for the young beauties. It was necessary for the audience to get behind them. To get on their side. As big an ass as they made the rival boyfriend, if the hero's were still dirty rotten liars, we never would have backed them up in the end. But scaling them back took out a lot of their charm.

It was as if all of the sudden the genre changed from "balls to the walls comedy" to "romantic comedy". There's nothing wrong with that, but you could almost draw a line down the break. They do pepper the sweet side with intense over the top humor, but who among us hasn't gotten a hand job at the dinner table with your girlfriends entire family sitting around you. Sigh ? that old chestnut. I'm kidding. It's insane some of the stuff they toss in there, but when the characters motives and priorities have taken such a shift? you notice.

The movie meanders on and we see the characters struggle with love. It's an interesting story. Sweet but not overly romantic that it ostracizes it's target audience. It's paced all wrong in the third act though. Time flies by in huge chunks after the bulk of the movie took place in what seemed like a weekend (it's never specified). There's nothing wrong with a jump in time, but in the closing moments of a movie we need structure, not chaos.

Still the finally is believable, and funny. Although who would crash a wedding wearing a wedding dress?

There's still plenty of laughs. Tons in fact. There were more then a few times where I couldn't hear the dialogue because I, or the audience, were laughing uncontrollably. And while a lot of those laughs were right on target (seriously, whoever has that painting of Vaughn, is the man) there were more then a few times where the laughs felt forced. Do we really need the crazy old grandma that curses, and is kind of a homophobe? Did it need to be the lady from the Wedding Singer? Haven't we seen her out of her element before?

But I'm being too hard. The level of comedic quality here far outweighs the negative counterparts. Most of it comes right out of delivery. Vaughn and Wilson are so fast and whip smart. I wonder how much was scripted, and how much was captured by turning on the camera and letting them improvise. But this is nothing new. We all know that these guys are charming and witty. It was nice to see them deliver well, but they've both been better.

Walken is wasted. There was a nice little narrative they had going where he and Wilson were bonding. If they had followed through with that, it not only would have been a great theme for the movie, but also would have given Walken more to do. He's got a couple of sweet scenes with Rachel McAdams, but to have him as a background element is almost insulting. Have they seen any of the 50 movies he's done? Use what you got.

I enjoyed the objects of their affection. Not only McAdams and Isla Fisher who were both funny and easy on the eyes, but also the parade of brides maids that we're treated to in the beginning of the film. So cute that you start writing down their tips on how to crash a wedding and successfully seduce a bridesmaid. Sadly, it was dark and my notes were gibberish.

During all the previews this movie always felt generic. It always looked like the real guys up there. I felt like I was watching the resulting film of a failed reality series starring Vaughn and Wilson. Like, this is what they would be doing anyway. It never felt special. But there are enough laughs here for me to recommend it. 6 out of 10 This is not nearly as funny as recent efforts from similar creators. Anchorman, Dodgeball, and Starsky and Hutchwere all movies with better structure, laughs, and entertainment value. But there are some real laughs here not to be ignored.

DVD worthy?: I'm going back and forth. It's the sort of thing, where I'll say no now, having left the movie an hour ago, but when it comes out on DVD I'll remember how funny stuff was, and want to see it again. So I wouldn't be surprised if 5 months from now it's on my shelf.

If you liked this movie check out : Old School

Come on, Old School rocks. That movie is littered with awesomeness. Sure Crashers does have a great guest spot by Will Ferrell but he's certainly not Frank the Tank.

Trailer Hitch: The 40 Year Old Virgin

There was a lot to choose from but I choose The 40 Year old Virgin because it related pretty well to Wedding Crashers. I can see it being the same sort of humor. Same sort of movie. Lest formal perhaps. Plus it has Steve Carrell. He's seriuously one of the funniest guys out there, but I'm nervous how he'll be as the lead. He's great in ever supporting performance he does, but carrying a movie is a completely different monster. Good or bad, I'll be there. The man is too funny to ignore.