'Wedding' duo scores

Wilson and Vaughn offer a crash coarse in humor

By Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
Found here

In my youth, when my buddies and I were dreaming of easy conquests, it was rumored that the best place to pick up girls was at church revivals. A little fire and brimstone and they were rarin' to go - or at least that was the presumed psychology, courtesy of "Elmer Gantry."

The writers of David Dobkin's "Wedding Crashers" came up with a far more plausible formula for success. Fake your way into a wedding, become the life of the reception party, and cut one of the romantically over-stimulated bridesmaids out of the herd.

If this sounds sexist, that's just the point. The title characters are big-time cads who will learn the errors of their ways before we're through with them. In the meantime, "Wedding Crashers" is good, indecent fun starring two of the most amiable comedy actors around - Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn.

The film hits a lull near the end, and its jokes miss their targets about as often as they hit. But through most of it, there is a wonderful comic energy, boosted by a near-perfect selection of songs, and it even manages to show a little heart without bringing the jocular affair to an abrupt halt.

Wilson and Vaughn play divorce mediators John and Jeremy - life-long best friends and incorrigible skirt chasers who chart upcoming weddings and invite themselves in, using invented identities and family connections.

There, they eat, drink and - if all goes well - make Mary.

But when they are taken along to a post-wedding weekend at the coastal manse of one bride's father - U.S. Treasury Secretary William Cleary (Christopher Walken) - their escape routes are cut off.

Jeremy, who scored with the Secretary's pint-size, overeager and possibly virginal daughter Gloria (Isla Fisher) at the reception, now finds himself being dominated by her - literally, as in bound and gagged and ravaged in his bed.

Meanwhile, John is breaking Rule No. 1 of the crasher manual by falling in love with the third Cleary daughter, Claire (Rachel McAdams).

At the same time, the boys have to deal with Claire's jealous, violently competitive Ivy League boyfriend (Bradley Cooper), her seriously disturbed brother (Keir O'Donnell) and the secretary's under-serviced wife (Jane Seymour).

There are no subtleties to be lost here. The writers have thrown in nearly every clich�� of the genre. There's no farting dog, but there is a dotty grandmother (Ellen Albertini Dow) who swears like a pirate, and there's enough gratuitous nudity to burn out the freeze-frame feature on your DVD player.

Ultimately, the movie's success rests on the chemistry of its two stars. The same script with Rob Schneider and David Spade wouldn't have been worth the match you'd have to light to get rid of the odor it would leave behind.

But Vaughn, with his rapid-fire patter, and Wilson, with his nasal Texas drawl, form a perfect team.

I keep expecting to tire of Wilson - as I already have of Will Ferrell, who does an obnoxiously broad cameo here as a funeral crasher - but it hasn't happened yet. And though Vaughn's comedy is hit ("Dodgeball") and miss ("Be Cool"), he's solidly funny throughout "Wedding Crashers."

Among the supporting cast, the revelation is the Aussie Fisher, who combines lust and cheerfulness in a way that reminds us of Sarah Jessica Parker's break-out role in "L.A. Story."

The Canadian McAdams, who gained attention in last year's surprise hit "The Notebook," is fine as Claire, but we're still waiting to see if she can do anything really well besides flash her dimpled smile.

The silliness quotient of "Wedding Crashers" is very high, but energy and raunch may be just what the doctor ordered for Hollywood's summertime blues.

Posted by Christine at July 14, 2005 7:23 PM