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PETER TRAVERS
Rolling Stone
It's a mouthful of a title for a rowdy, ramshackle funfest that flies by on its spirited humor and surprising heart. Back in 2005, Vince Vaughn mounted a comedy tour through what left-and-right coasters condescendingly call the flyover states. His friend Ahmed Ahmed, a standup comic of Egyptian descent, had introduced him to the acts of three friends at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles. They are John Caparulo, Bret Ernst, and Sebastian Manisalco. Vaughn had the idea that he and his fab four would hop on a bus, do thirty backbreaking shows in thirty cities — no days off — and bring a little cheer to the folks (some victims of hurricanes in Louisiana and Texas) before Vaughn had to go back to work in the Hollywood laugh factory. OK, the laughs are hit and miss. But this movie, directed by Ari Sandel, gets funnier as it goes along. And there's a reason: we get to know each of the comics better and see how they draw their routines from their lives, sometimes under tragic circumstances. Megatalent Vaughn is also the ultimate good sport, daring a duet with Dwight Yoakum, taking major shit from his Swingers costar Jon Favreau, and enduring Justin Long, whose Vaughn impression is spot-on to the point of slander. The documentary was edited from 600 hours of footage and there's barely a slick minute in it. The laughs feel loose-limbed, off-the-cuff and defiantly un-Hollywood. What are you waiting for?
Vince Vaughn's take on sibling rivalry with his famous brother gives traction and a fresh look to a story about helping Santa during crunch time.
By Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times
Like poinsettias and fruitcakes, Christmas movies are more ubiquitous this time of year than they are actually eagerly anticipated, so it's hard to figure why David Dobkin would stoop to making one after "Wedding Crashers," or why Vince Vaughn would agree to star. Word is, people are worried about taking their children in case it turns out to be a raunchy kids' Christmas movie, but it seems to me that the biggest hurdle for "Fred Claus" will be transcending its promotional materials -- that poster of Vaughn on a tricycle wearing an expression of irrepressible delight makes one very badly want to repress it, even if one generally roots for Vince Vaughn, like I do. Anyone who's actually seen "Wedding Crashers" knows that the joke at the chewy center of Vaughn's comic persona is that he tends to play a sensitive, if oafish, humanist in the vein of Holden Caulfield or similar. The rest of the cast is spectacular, and "Fred Claus" turns out to be not bad for a Santa movie, which I suppose could be interpreted as either faint or excessive praise, depending on your view.
Fred Claus (Vaughn) is a Chicago repo man who, after failing to raise enough money to start a business, runs afoul of some Salvation Army Santas and gets thrown in jail. Unable to reach his girlfriend, Wanda Blinkowski (Rachel Weisz), who thinks he stood her up, Fred calls his younger brother, Santa (Paul Giamatti), who is incapable of saying no.
Santa, meanwhile, is experiencing his own troubles. The increase in children's greediness worldwide has made it hard for him to keep up with holiday toy demand, and the corporate behemoth that now calls the shots at the North Pole has sent an efficiency expert (Kevin Spacey) to determine whether the operation should be shut down. Seeing opportunity, Santa promises Fred the money he needs if he will come help out during crunch time.
"Fred Claus" is a comedy about sibling rivalry that could have been as broad and crass as these things tend to be when handled badly, but Vaughn and Dobkin have explored this territory together before, and they cleverly peg the rivalry to a wounded sibling love. Mother Claus (Kathy Bates) preferred Nicholas to Fred from the day he was born. Even as an adult, Fred hasn't gotten over his resentment toward his brother, and Christmas only exacerbates it.
In "Wedding Crashers," Vaughn's rather hapless, misunderstood and depressive character played off the sunny equanimity of Owen Wilson. Here, his other is Giamatti, a human polestar of intensity playing a middle-aged guy with the weight of the world on his shoulders. The intensity of their relationship, with its incalculable baggage, grounds a fluffy and familiar conceit -- dude steps in for Santa -- in something much more interesting. As in many of his comedies, you get the feeling that Vaughn contributed extensively to his dialogue, especially his rambling, nervous monologues that are as funny as they are pathetic. Giamatti is exhausted and beleaguered as the guy everyone asks too much of, and he makes a pretty credible Santa for the globalized age.
Fred's trip to the North Pole begins with a terrifying sleigh ride courtesy of Willie (John Michael Higgins), Santa's main elf. When Fred arrives in the bustling polar city, which looks like the Grove at Christmastime, Santa puts him in charge of the Naughty/Nice list. This causes problems for Fred, whose feelings of abandonment were routinely mistaken for naughtiness. After attending a "Siblings Anonymous" meeting where he meets Frank Stallone, Roger Clinton and Stephen Baldwin (as themselves), and seeing firsthand what his brother has to contend with, Fred begins to be able to move on.
It seems fitting that the Scrooge of Christmas Present would stalk around dangling the gift of pink slips. Spacey is excellently scary as the slick, be-suited efficiency expert who threatens Santa with "streamlining, consolidating and outsourcing." And Giamatti is convincing as the saintly do-gooder who's too busy to notice how his saintly do-goodness might have affected his less-gifted older brother. The sweetest thing about "Fred Claus" is that the message about filial love feels genuine. I wouldn't have expected that watching Giamatti tell Vaughn, "You're the best big brother anyone could ask for," would make me choke up, but it did.
Found here
Posted by Alexandyr Kent at 11:23 AM - Louisiana Movies
Thanks, Meg, for finding this great review!
NEW ORLEANS -- It's hard to identify anyone in Hollywood with a cooler image than Vince Vaughn. Last night at the New Orleans Film Festival, he showed he has genuine heart, too.
Vaughn and his producing partner in crime, Peter "You'll shoot your eye out" Billingsley, hurried into Canal Place Cinemas to promote their new concert documentary, "Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Tour: 30 Cities in 30 Days - Hollywood to the Heartland." The documentary is long on both title and laughs. It also provides a refreshingly honest and humble examination of the insecurities comedians face in taking their acts to new audiences and new heights.
Vaughn plays the tour's emcee, introducing his stable of talent to auditoriums from California to Texas to Ohio to Illinois. Joining him and Billingsley are comedians John Caparulo, Ahmed Ahmed, Bret Ernst and Sebastian Maniscalco and actors Keir O'Connell (the "gay guy"from "Wedding Crashers"), Jon Favreau and the ever-funny Justin Long.
All except Favreau make the unwise but amusing decision to travel the country on a tour bus, bunks stacked on top of each other, beer bottles and junk strewn everywhere, and all travelers sharing a single toilet.
"You started to feel like you were being Federal Expressed from the next show to the next show," Vince told the audience Friday night during a post-screening Q&A.
In the documentary, highlights from their stage acts are almost all funny, and often gut-bustingly so. The bits are often foul-mouthed and crude, but also endearingly self-effacing.
After the screening, an audience member asked Vaughn why the featured comedy wasn't political, implying the film might have edited out any controversy.
Vince responded by saying a lot of the featured comedy "straddled the line" between political and personal, and that his intent in making the film was, by and large, personal. "Laughing should always bring us together," he said. "So much comedy now is so dividing and acidic."
He drew an analogy to everyone's memory of that kid who was teased in grade school and made to cry. "That never felt good, seeing those tears."
What's most rewarding about this film is that the abundant laughs are secondary to the compelling portraits of the comedians. Cameras stick close to them them backstage before and after sets. You see them getting angry at hecklers, their own fumbled words, botched tellings of jokes and what they perceive as near "suicidal" breakdowns in craft.
You see Ahmed Ahmed, an Egyptian, talk about how the stage and post-911 xenophobia has basically forced him to tell jokes about being Arab and too frequently suspected as a terrorist. You don't really know if he's telling the truth, but you can sense he's not lying when he confesses that comedians are all messes and joke about their insecurities to take ownership over them.
You also see Sebastian Maniscalco, who's been asked to come out on tour by Vaughn as a break from waiting tables in Hollywood. The film resists turning this cliche into schmaltz by keeping the camera on him just before they take the stage for night 30 in Chicago. The comedians gather around in a circle, and Maniscalco gradually breaks down into a blubbering baby. He wants to stay on the road for ever. He's grateful to Vaughn for the big break, and Vaughn, showing a gentle, brotherly, nurturing side, just holds Miniscalco's shoulder while he gets choked up and they all get teary-eyed.
Undoubtedly meaningful to many in the New Orleans audience was the tour's time frame. As the tour was pushing into Texas, Hurricane Rita was surging up the Gulf. They were forced to move the tour away from evacuation zones, and Vaughn and the gang decided to donate proceeds from many of their concerts to hurricane relief.
It was a small gesture, providing evacuees with money, and in many cases, a free night of entertainment. But the gesture was shown to be heartfelt as the comedians at first begrudging headed to a campsite filled with evacuees and ultimately came away learning how fortunate they were to be able to tour the country in the luxuries of a dirty tour bus.
On Friday, Vaughn was also asked if he would change anything about the comedy tour if he were to do it again. Besides scheduling a night off every once in a while, "Nothing. That's the thing about making documentaries. It is what it is."
That willingness to let it be might be Vaughn's key to maintaining a grip on a genuine cool celebrity image. He might, in truth, not be an image. Vince Vaughn just might be who he is. Funny. Charismatic. And warm if we allow him to be.
Zane reviews Vince Vaughn's WILD WEST COMEDY SHOW!
Found here
Hey folks, Harry here with the first review we've got in of Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show which played in Toronto on its second day. Seems, at least to our guy on the scene there, that Vince has quite a funny flick on his hands. Here - check it out...
Just got back from seeing this and I will preface this with: Humour is subjective and hyperbole on the internet in regards to comedy tends to backfire... but... this movie is hilarious and everyone needs to see it and it is by far the funniest movie (that I have seen) this year (sorry Thank You For Smoking). Sure, it's essentially stand-up in docu form so it has an unfair advantage over traditional films, but I never expected it to be this funny, and even more surprising was it being so well made.For the uninitiated (like myself before entering the theatre), the film follows 4 stand up comedians on a Vince Vaughn-produced comedy tour across America, with the premise being 30 shows in 30 nights, taped last year at around this time. The comedians are Ahmed Ahmed, Bret Ernst, John Caparulo, and Sebastian Maniscalo. Also featured on the tour are Peter Billingsley (Mikey from A Christmas Story, a producer of the film and a good friend of Vaughn), Justin Long (Dodgeball cheerleader and Accepted star), Keir O'Donnel (gay son in Wedding Crashers), and Jon Favreau to open it up.
The film was basically half stand-up and half behind-the-scenes (which doesn't mean the jokes stop when they are off the stage) and the stand up was generally observational comedy with some personal stories and race-related jokes in between. I didn't have an official time on it, it was longer than I expected but it flowed really well.
I won't give away any jokes, partially because they come across better on screen with actual delivery, and partially because I don't want to ruin it, but there were at least half a dozen moments in the film that I was hysterically laughing and trying to catch my breath, and countless moments that got me chuckling, grinning, giggling, clapping, stomping my feet, and all that good stuff. John Caparulo in particular was tremendous. On the look of him and the sound of him, I expected Larry The Cable Guy, but the dude killed it and I thought was the best of the 4.
Aside from the comics, what really stood out was the editing and whatnot. I found it really well crafted and paced and smartly made. It seems by the post QnA with Vaughn & co. that it was very much a flying by the seat of their pants kinda thing and that it turned out this good is a testiment to those involved. It starts off very Vaughn-heavy, but by mid-way through the film he hands it off to the four and they run with it and Vince basically just makes a cameo appearance through the rest of the film. I had no idea who any of these guys were, but by the end of the film it felt like they were family.
There's a point, and for me it was when they visited the campground that housed people who lost their homes in Katrina, that it really settled in as a movie and an experience and that's a really great feeling to have. And around that point they started to get into the backgrounds and families of the comics, and I think that is so smart because they earned it that way. If they did this in the beginning, I don't know if I would have cared that much, but after seeing them and getting to know them, when stories like the one about Brets brother comes up, you really feel it.
And not to say they play up the sentimentality, but there are certain feel-good moments and by the end, at least I found, it was like saying goodbye to friends... as cliched as that sounds. But the family-stuff and the stuff in regards to making it and struggling, makes it more personal, and in that way it really surprised me and I think made for a better experience. It was also really weird to see a crowd react to a movie the same way they'd react as if it were live stand up.
I don't know if there is a wide-release on this, but if you enjoy stand up, I whole heartedly recommend this.
-- Put A Cork In It Zane --
I've seen 'The Break-Up' twice now and absolutely loved it. You're probably thinking, of course she loved it. She has a Vince Vaughn website and 'The Break-Up' is Vince Vaughn's baby. He came up with the story and produced and starred in it. Hello?!? What's not to love?
Yes, all of the above is true, but there is so much more to my appreciation of the film than just the Vince Vaughn Factor. Don't go into this movie expecting to see the high comedy of Wedding Crashers. But don't expect a cutesy-phony romantic comedy, either. 'The Break-Up' is an original, true-to-life story of the falling-apart of a relationship and the things real people feel, say and do during this painful process. But that doesn't mean this movie is a downer. The bittersweet reality of this unconventional story is peppered with lots of great belly-laugh moments.
Vince and Jennifer are wonderful in their roles and the supporting cast is outstanding, with the most memorable performances by Jon Favreau and Vincent D'Onofrio.
If you haven't seen 'The Break-Up' yet, you're missing out on what may be one of the most truthful anti-romantic stories ever told.
Wedding Crashers
Uncorked Edition
Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams
Unrated, 128 mins.,
2005 (New Line)
Recent Release
The one fair criticism leveled at this deliriously ribald summer comedy is that it just didn't know when to quit—that overlong montage to the Isley Brothers' "Shout," a protracted third act—so an "uncorked" edition that passes the two-hour mark might be too much of a good thing. The seven new scenes have a pretty high batting average, though, and the best (Vaughn running into a former conquest at a wedding; Vaughn having an unwelocme assignation with Grandma; Vaughn discussing self-pleasure with the right reverend Henry Gibson) add to Wedding Crashers' ramshackle good vibe. Note that all of those moments involve Vince Vaughn rather than Owen Wilson; note that this is not a coincidence.
EXTRAS The regular R-rated theatrical cut is here, as well as four deleted scenes with commentary, a soundtrack listing that links to selected scenes in the film, and 24 on-screen pages of "Rules of Wedding Crashing." ("The unmarried female rabbi—is she fair game? Of course she is.") Of the two commentary tracks, the one with Vaughn and Wilson is amusing, smug, and disposable. Director David Dobkin, by contrast, turns out to be a regular Chatty Cathy, and his insights are alternately spot-on (he calls the film "a coming-of-age story for 35-year-old men") and sweetly pompous ("I love complex tonalities in a movie").
B+—Ty Burr Entertainment Weekly
Bigger
From the 8/26/05 issue of Entertainment Weekly
The Most Valuable Players of Summer
#6 Age 35 Position Divorce mediator Jeremy Grey in Wedding Crashers; hitman Eddie in Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Season Highlights Now he really is money. Vaughn was hilarious chasing "babies" and waxing eloquent in 1996's low-grossing Swingers. but after a run of serious-role duds–including his onanistic interpretation of mama's-boy pyscho killer Norman Bates in that Psycho remake–he couldn't land comedies. Old School in 2003 and Dodgeball in 2004 finally made him not just a lovable motormouth but a bankable one, and this summer he topped himself, coming on like some nattering Barry Levinson character after a double espresso. Whether bellowing pissed-off patter at an unseen mom as Brad Pitt's assassin-agency pal in Mr. & Mrs. Smith or gleefully demonstrating how to "motorboat" a woman's breast to Owen Wilson in Wedding Crashers, Vaughn's unstoppable air of hedonistic brio makes him the buddy you want to hang with after the movie's over.
By ALLEN LUNDE and MICHELLE MacEACHERN - The Buzz
Found here
"Wedding Crashers" stars Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson as two single guys who crash weddings to meet girls and end up getting a little more than they can handle.
MICHELLE: I can't remember the last time I laughed out loud so many times at a movie. It's hilarious. But leave your kids at home. And if I (as a woman with no kids) can make that pronouncement, you know it's truly inappropriate.
ALLEN: OK, I'm going to go a little nuts here. I'm going to say something I reserve only for very special movies. I'm a little nervous about this, but I'm going to go for it anyway. This movie is "Animal House" funny.
MICHELLE: The Wilson and Vaughn relationship is like a marriage itself. I don't know if everyone can relate, but I have one friend I've been close to since kindergarten. She's talked me into situations I'd never have been in without her. Their relationship is like that.
ALLEN: The film was written by a couple of buddies who used to save money in college by crashing lobbyist events with forged IDs. They were doing it for the free food. The characters in the movie are looking for women who may be feeling a bit morally casual because of the wedding environment. This, in my opinion, is a much more enlightened course of action than simply scamming for food.
MICHELLE: Ah, the deep, meaningful one-night relationship. Anyway, they've gotten into this wedding crashing thing, and it's what they do together, instead of going to bars. They change their last name to match whatever kind of wedding they're going to -- they're Epsteins at a Jewish wedding, guys who describe a friend as a "mensch." At the Irish one, they say their name is Ryan and they're there to get drunk. And it's funny how the Greek wedding blends into the Indian wedding which blurs with the Italian one -- it's all a big gathering where everyone is there to eat, drink and be merry.
ALLEN: But you get the idea it doesn't really matter what the film is about as long as you have Vaughn and Wilson delivering the lines. You could go crazy trying to figure out which lines were written for them and which lines they made up on the spot. They are so natural together. But they have lots of scenes in which they get to shine on their own. Vaughn gets the best of this because Wilson's character is a bit more serious about his pursuit of the treasury secretary's daughter.
MICHELLE: Christopher Walken plays the powerful and creepy government official that hosts their prize-winning crash. He's obviously supposed to be a Kennedy. And of course, his family is just cracked. Walken rarely gets the credit for brilliance he deserves. Watch "The Prophecy" and get back to me. (People, if it's a horror film and I like it, you know it's good.)
ALLEN: He's a treasure. He actually plays things a bit subdued here. That's the sign of a great actor. He doesn't have to play to what we expect of him. He plays the character he was given and does a great job of it Š and oh yeah Š Jane Seymour gets naked. I think I'm going to watch those "Dr. Quinn" reruns now.
MICHELLE: You know I saw her interviewed about the flick, and basically, she said she's having trouble getting acting jobs, like essentially every actress in her age group. It's pathetic. If you watch movies, it's like there are no women between 25 and 65. And how shocking it is when they actually have sex appeal. In one great scene, Seymour's character scares the heck out of Wilson's character because she's so aggressively sexual. If he wasn't in love with her daughter, you know this movie could have gone a totally different way. Into porn.
ALLEN: Despite not going that way the film manages to be both hilarious and terribly inappropriate. Now that's a great American tradition.
Michelle MacEachern and Allen Lunde aren't professional movie reviewers; they're just a married couple who like to go to the movies.
And in case you weren't convinced:
Richard Roeper: "See It" (with a video review)
Dudes Toasting the Newlyweds (and Their Bodacious Guests)
'Wedding Crashers' a hit
'Wedding Crashers' A Rude, Crude Classic
Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson capture and ride the '80s comedy vibe
'Wedding Crashers' is one great bash
Vaughn, Wilson are hits at weddings
Comic duo make it work on big screen
Vince Vaughn: A Guy's Guy
Wedding Crashers & More
Unruly, wild 'Wedding Crashers' is a hoot in a good, silly way
Who knew this pairing would work? He did
A 'Wedding' to Remember
There's something about 'Wedding Crashers'
Rather ADHD Review: Wedding Crashers
'Wedding Crashers' A Hilarious Reception
'Wedding Crashers' Is Flat Out Funny
'Wedding Crashers' Is Flat Out Funny
Break out the bubbly and lace up your dancing shoes.
Rowdy romance drives old-school 'Wedding Crashers'
Hey, let's get some free cake, free booze and bridesmaids
Witty, wacky 'Wedding' is one worth crashing
'Wedding Crashers' Is a Blast
Roger Ebert's review (he didn't like it, but I never trusted his opinion anyway)
Guy-themed 'Wedding Crashers' is stupid, profane - and funny
'Wedding Crashers' better when it sticks to being funny
The life of the party:
'Wedding Crashers' has unruly fun -- and real heart
Crafty singles - `Wedding Crashers' invites lots of laughs
Headgame 9: Ballsy Wedding Crashers
Unruly, wild 'Wedding Crashers' is a hoot in a good, silly way
"Wedding Crashers": Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn request the honor of your presence at their really funny comedy
Crashers delivers well-balanced comedy
filmcritic.com Movie Review: Wedding Crashers
'Wedding Crashers' A Hilarious Reception
Lessons learned aside, 'Wedding Crashers' is fresh and funny
Wilson, Vaughn 'Crashing' Theaters
'Wedding Crashers' a marriage of fast and funny
Better Than Dodgeball
Ireland Online Review
Found here
Don���t say 'I do' to Wedding Crashers
Wedding Crashers
Director: David Bobkin (errr, Bobkin??)
Cast: Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams
A lightweight romantic comedy in which two annoying characters - played by Wilson and Vaughn - gate-crash weddings in search of sexy females ... with the usual romantic complications.
Put simply, this film is so lightweight it hardly exists and the womanising central characters are the sort of shallow fellows every right-thinking female would run screaming from.
Star Rating: 2/5
I'm just a bit overwhelmed with all of the excellent reviews of 'Wedding Crashers' that are pouring in. There are way too many to post here. If you can find a bad review, send it my way and we'll all poopoo the critic that just doesn't get it.
Congratulations to everyone involved. This movie is going to be a huge hit. Oh, and go see it, because it opens today!
Reviewed by Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
Found here
To call them breasts is to miss the point, and to call them tits is just...wrong. So I'll go with boobs to describe the naked anatomy on display, however briefly, in Wedding Crashers, an unabashedly jiggly, bawdy, it's-all-good comedy about a couple of guys who love getting laid. Bare boobs, flashed in good fun in an R-rated comedy without concern for children or politicians or morals police! Ha, not only have the terrorists not won, but the rights of an adult audience to laugh at good jokes about erections have been secured for another summer.
Truly, it feels like a long hard time since moviegoers have tasted a piece of this pie, in which guys leer, girls giggle, and no one gets hurt or produces a firearm; it's been such a dry spell, in fact, that the retro, hetero, '70s-style raunch of Wedding Crashers feels new again, modernized by the neo-retro-hetero duo of Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson as champion skirt-chasers. In the scenario written by Steve Faber and Bob Fisher, directed by Shanghai Knights' David Dobkin with relaxed understanding that on-screen chemistry is what happens between dialogue cues, best friends Jeremy (Vaughn) and John (Wilson) love the swordsman's life so much that the two have made a specialized after-hours career of wangling their way into strangers' weddings, the better to pick up chicks susceptible to the romance in the air and the champagne in their glasses.
The prologue of this funny, ungirdled romp ��� a buddy picture about buddies who actually know what women want (and worldly women who know what they want too) ��� is a montage of past nuptials. Here the boys relive a few of the triumphs at which they successfully united and conquered. A Jewish celebration, followed by Italian and Chinese and Irish wingdings ��� John and Jeremy know that the way to score in any culture is to look like it's the last thing on their minds, devoting themselves instead to entertaining the children, schmoozing with the oldies, and showing their vulnerable side to the ladies. Swingin', hors-d'oeuvres-stuffing, garrulous Vaughn makes expert use of his off-the-cuff, chow-it-down, guy-to-guy solidity and his ability to get the whole room dancing (he's the first one up for a good hora), while John's foolproof moves include twirling chastely with little flower girls (Wilson a vision of frosted hair and smarmily sincere gestures) in a way sure to be noticed by nearby compassionate bridesmaids.
The two meet their matches, as they must; every horndog has his day. Crashing the haute Washington, D.C., festivities for a daughter of the U.S. secretary of the treasury (Christopher Walken, the go-to man to play crackpot fathers when Robert De Niro is busy), John falls for one of the bride's two sisters (Rachel McAdams) while Jeremy is waylaid by the other (Isla Fisher). And the movie becomes a comedy of mixed intentions, culminating in a goofy cameo appearance by a comedian famous for his old-school impersonations, as the long-in-the-tooth swinger who taught Jeremy and John all the intricacies of wedding crashing in the first place.
What the boys learn, of course, is that for mature men, the mating game's more fun with a partner one cares about the next day. What we learn is that the pairing of Vaughn and Wilson is a success to do a matchmaker proud.
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.
Found this on Ain't it Cool News:
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a look at the Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson comedy WEDDING CRASHERS. From this review and the previous we've gotten, this film seems to be a little long, but filled with some quality laughs. However, if the below reviewer is right in saying that Christopher Walken is vastly underused in this film, then I may have to throw the glove to the ground and go after the filmmakers. Wasting Walken is a crime, so I hope I disagree with the below statements... at least when it comes to Walken since he calls the rest of the film hilarious. Anyway, enjoy the review!
Hey Harry, This is my first e mail but I thought i'd give a try to the review side of film. I've recently been able to see Wedding Crashers and this is what I have to say about it.Being a fan of Old School and other silly humor films of the past decade, this film was amazingly hilarious. And there are two words to explain the quality, Vince Vaughn. I went into this film with slightly lower expectations and wrote it off as an aimless comedy coming from corporate Hollywood, granted that's exactly what it is, but it had me laughing for 90 mins out of the two hours it screened.
Owen Wilson: his character, at times cheesey has an insatiable ability to have the women in the film, and in real life, cling to his every word. His gift of gab and his expertise of Crashing Weddings gets him in the door and then home with a brides maid. Time and time again it works, until finally he meets "the one" (aka Rachel McAdams). Their relationship establishes through a very cheesy line, but even the cheese in this film is aware of it's self and uses that to it's advantage. In his quest to finally settle down and grow up he tries to win the love of Rachel McAdams (who's engaged) over the course of a holiday weekend.
Vince Vaughn: I can't say ernough about this performance. After this movie, I'd watch this guy read a phonebook and i'd still laugh. He's the fast talking, graceful dancing, slightly paranoid, uber player. However, all these traits that he's so well aware of backfires attracting a sociopath lover who is the sister of the woman Owen is in love with. His ordeals are primarily thinking of ways to get the girl to understand it's just "not going to work".
Christopher Walken: Unfortuantely, this is the weakness of the film. Chris Walken is horribly underused in thie film. It seems the part, which usually screams CHRIS WALKEN, could have been played by any standard actor. A tragedy of wasted brilliance.
Overall, this film is exactly what a comedy should be, funny. It makes you laugh, sometimes cheap laughs and at other times complex laughs. The arrival of cameos (like they'd make an Owen Wilson movie and not have a cameo) will make those who are familiar with these actors shrill with glee. And the good news is, I wasn't the only one laughing. The entire theater would errupt with laughter and all generally had the same opinions of it. It's funny.
If i make it could you call me BeeGee? I can't think of anything better and keep my identity hidden. it's my lack of creativity. Hope this helps.
"Granted, Pitt and Jolie pack enough heat to make almost every scene they're ever in at least moderately compelling. Vince Vaughn pitches in as John's misogynist pal, Eddie. He's the best thing going in the movie, and he peps things up whenever he enters. Often it's so much silly fun to watch them shoot, dodge and sass that you nearly forget you've traded away two hours of your life for something so pointless. Flashbacks to "Ocean's Twelve" are inevitable."
Phil Villarreal - Arizona Daily Star
Found here.
This is great:
"Vince Vaughn has also perfected his Vince Vaughn-ishness as Pitt's associate, though he has freshened up his schtick with a pretty funny loser angle this time."
-Travis Lowry, Brock Press (Brock University)
Read the review
From a review Found here. Yes, it's only the Daily Evergreen, but that doesn't make it any less true!
"This is the same problem I ran into with the Vince Vaughn character. I have been a huge fan of Vaughn since ���Swingers,��� but here he is, utterly wasted in a film that would have benefited from his increased presence.
"If you���ve seen the preview, you have seen half of Vaughn���s scenes. More Vaughn in the early going could have been exactly what the film needed."
"Only Vince Vaughn registers hilariously as John's boss."
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone - Found Here
"Vince Vaughn is a hoot as Pitt's "yada-yada-yada"-ing boss."
"Vince Vaughn gets better at manic shtick with his every movie."
Gene Seymour, Newsday.com - Found Here
"Thankfully, any slack is more than taken up by the comedic talents of Vince Vaughn. As John's buddy and fellow hit man, he brings a workaday attitude to his job, answering John's greeting with, 'same old, same old; people need killin'. He also lives with his mom, a tired conceit that only Vaughn could make amusing. The guy is either a master assassin with a perfectly opaque cover or a schlub whose high school guidance counsellor sent him down the worst possible path. Either way, it's funny."
"Supporting actors are thriving in recent films: Paul Giamatti ran rings around Russell Crowe in Cinderella Man; in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the A-list stars are the eye candy, but Vaughn kills."
Chris Knight, National Post - Found Here
"Jolie is the funnier of the two, but Vince Vaughn -- playing Eddie, a friend of Pitt's character -- garners most of the laughs in the movie without even being in many scenes."
Tim WIlkins, Daily Pennsyvanian - Found Here
"Pitt and Jolie are both good-with-moments-of-greatness, acting very professional and having fun with the bone-dry humor of their roles. But it is, as usual, Vince Vaughn who steals the show as a compatriot of Pitt's (don't waste too much energy trying to figure out if he's John's boss, who's "good" and who's "bad," or much of anything else�Ķ the meta-information is never really unveiled and doesn't stand up to much scrutiny). Vaughn is mainly just playing Vaughn, but his interplay with Pitt and with his perpetually off-screen mother is priceless. It's worth the price of admission on its own."
Christopher Null, FilmCritic.com - Found Here
"John works for Eddie (Vince Vaughn), a slovenly male chauvinist who oversees the assignments (and lives with his mother, who is also his receptionist). Vaughn is hilarious���imagine his Swingers character ten years later. Liman, who also directed the 1996 cult hit, may have had just that in mind."
Sarah Chauncey, Reel.com - Found Here
"His partner is played by Vince Vaughn, who provides some of the biggest laughs."
Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle - Found Here
"Doug Liman ("The Bourne Identity") directs, bringing his old '"Swingers" pal Vince Vaughn along to steal the show."
MyrtleBeachOnline.com - Found Here
"Vince Vaughn, also provides more than his share of amusement in a handful of scenes as John's mama's boy partner in crime."
Bob Strauss, Daily News, Los Angeles - Found Here
"With the notable exception of Vince Vaughn, frazzled and funny in a supporting role as Pitt's mother-dominated boss, Brad and Angelina are the whole show here. They bring out the best in each other."
The rest of the review can be found here.
Here's an excerpt from a review of Mr and Mrs. Smith:
"For the most part, the movie belongs to Pitt and Jolie. Vince Vaughn and Kerry Washington play their respective best friends/cohorts, but they don't have a lot of screen time. Vaughn makes the best of his. This may be the actor's most entertaining performance in a long time. He has his share of funny moments, but Liman wisely keeps him in check. Washington doesn't fare as well. Unlike Vaughn, she doesn't have a single memorable scene."
The rest of the review can be found here.
Amidst the lukewarm reviews for Be Cool, there are lots of cool things being said about VinceĶ
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The misses have less to do with the talents of Vaughn (a riot, a glorious goofball) Entertainment Weekly
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Top dogs are Vaughn, never better at physical comedy than here... Yahoo! News-Reviews-Reuters
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In ÄúBe Cool,Äù the sequel to the 1995 comedy ÄúGet Shorty,Äù Vince VaughnÄôs eyes come alive for the first time. Ever since Vaughn appeared in ÄúSwingers,Äù in 1996, he has been a slightly mysterious presence. In that movie, he was furiously self-mocking as Trent Walker, the fast-talking make-out artist who never gets a girl, but there was something unnerving about him: his eyes seemed a little remote, almost as if he were watching himself perform from someplace far away. After ÄúSwingers,Äù he played a variety of cynics, movers, and louses, sometimes seriously, sometimes for laughs. He quickly became the most untrustworthy man in movies since the fish-eyed young Bill Murray, twenty years earlier. Directors drew on his emotional reticence, but I wondered how long he could continue to withhold so much of himself. Was he warding off the intrusive tyranny of the camera? Impossible to say, but, in any case, VaughnÄôs not protecting himself anymore. In ÄúBe Cool,Äù he is gloriously animated as Raji, an insecure Los Angeles music-business manager. Rap is where the money is, and Raji, dressed in glowing reds, is so eager to flatter his clients that he canÄôt stop thumping his chest and jackknifing his body and delivering himself of such locutions as ÄúStop hating, start participating. CÄômon, twinkle, twinkle, baby.Äù Dancing around a car in Santa Monica, Vaughn takes off into flights of rapturous absurdity. He seems incredibly happy to be playing this hyperanimated fool. The New Yorker
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Vince Vaughn, hereby clinches - again - the title of champion annoying jackass in current American movies. No one plays a loudmouth jerk better than Vince Vaughn. He's priceless here, as a self-styled mack daddy music biz middler who calls himself Andre and whose clothes and palaver are pure ghetto, even though his real name is Ray Lowenthal. Buffalo News
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Only two performances break free of the movie's tightly controlled universe. Vince Vaughn's Raji, resplendent in pimp chic and with the darting eyes and hysterical giggle of the truly insane, is a character born to be reprised. But the film's biggest surprise is none other than The Rock (somebody stop me; I can't believe I'm actually writing this), playing hilariously against type in the role of Raji's gay bodyguard. This guy has a serious future on Broadway. Las Vegas Mercury
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Uma Thurman co-stars and Vince Vaughn stands out in the large ensemble. Courier Post Online
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Travolta and Thurman, leaning primarily on their auras, let the other, younger folks have their fun. And they do. The Rock glows with antic energy as he toys with his macho image while Cedric makes the most of his chance to be sinister for a change. But it's Vaughn who runs amok the most - and in so doing, almost runs away with the movie in his character's polyester pocket. NY Newsday
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That's okay by me because while the story is muddled, there are several scenes dropped in that are laugh-out-loud funny. Vince Vaughn is hilariousĶ Rotten Tomatoes
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So what is cool about Be Cool? Vince Vaughn is hilarious as a record executive with gangsta pretensions. The Providence Phoenix
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Vaughn would be twice as funny with half the screen time, though he has moments of inspired silliness. Charlotte Observer
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Among the few delights of "Be Cool"' is Vaughn's trying-to-be-black Raji. MercuryNews.com
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BE COOL. John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn, Harvey Keitel and the Rock in F. Gary Gray's sequel to "Get Shorty" about a leg-breaking thug's adventures in Hollywood. "There's nothing remotely cool about it. But what's hopelessly uncool about it is also what makes it a lot of fun. You're in no danger of finding it, at any point, to be a good movie. But with so many people - especially the Rock and Vince Vaughn - having such a good time in it, it eventually becomes quite contagious. If you exit the theater without at least the glimmer of a smile on your face, you may need a silliness check-up. The best guess is that you're a quart low." (Jeff Simon) Buffalo News
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Vince Vaughn as the white "gansta" record producer named Raji, with a sartorial preference for pimp hats and oversized track-suits, steals the movie. His all-urban-slang-and-no-action poser is hilarious. Chartattack
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The comedic standout was the duo of Vaughn and the Rock. They light up the screen: nearly every piece of their dialogue was gut-bustingly funny. St. Petersburg Times, Xpress
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The Rock and Vince Vaughn basically steal this film with their over the top, take no prisoners performance.
When Vaughn puts on his Vanilla Ice show it's hysterical, the audience I saw this with was laughing out loud every time these two came on screen. EclipseMagazine.com
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Vaughn and the Rock score major points for their willingness to make fools of themselves. The white suburbanite who pretends to be a gangsta rapper has been attempted dozens of times and is seldom funny (Jamie Kennedy in "Malibu's Most Wanted" is an exception), yet after Vaughn's performance, this modern stereotype can be retired with honor. Fat chance, I know, but Vaughn reveals a desperation behind Raji's need to replace his identity and is hilarious for it. Northwest Herald
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Vince Vaughn plays a hilarious music promoter who is brilliant as a wannabe pimp-daddy. The Tufts Daily
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Among those in the cast that particularly shine, Vince Vaughn and The Rock lead the pack. Vaughn is hysterical as a white guy who thinks he's from the 'hood... The Trades
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Vince Vaughn and The Rock should get their own spin-off sequel with their characters -- very funny... Times Standard Online
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Vince Vaughn is endlessly entertaining as a sniveling talent agent who is convinced he is black, complete with pimp jacket and awful street-slang accent. Brock Press
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And some praise from his peersĶ
Q: How tough was it to keep a straight face around Vince Vaughn?
CHRISTINA: [Laughs] Very tough. Vince Vaughn, the character he plays, is hilarious. He stays in character on and off the camera! In the movie, heÄôs yelling at me all the time. In the middle of lunch, all of a sudden, heÄôs like, ÄúLinda! Linda!Äù And for anyone who doesnÄôt know heÄôs in character, theyÄôre looking at him like, ÄúYo, whatÄôs up?Äù The first time he did it to me, I was like ÄúDo I stay in character? WeÄôre not at camera!Äù So I started to get into it because I thought it would help him out. It was good to watch him so maybe later on, when I do a character like that, I will just stay in character and do that and focus on the character. But that guy was hilarious. F. Gary Gray, the director, he couldnÄôt help himself but laugh so we had to do a couple of takes over and over again. Interview with Christina Milian for Cinema Confidential News
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Benjamin said he had the equivalent of an on-set acting course by simply observing.
"I had all these vets around, and so I'm watching them. I'm quiet, real quiet, and just watching everyone."
"For a scene where (Vince Vaughn's character) gets beaten by Dabu and his crew, Vince has to be beat up and out of breath. So two minutes before we do the scene, he's in the corner actually beating himself up. He's getting into it. He's not punching himself, but he's (breathing), and I'm looking at him and I'm like, `OK, that's how you do it.' You shouldn't have to wait until `action' to get to it because then you have to put it on. If you're in it, you're in it. So I learned to get into character and have your thoughts before it's time to go."
And now that he's going, it's totally "Cool." Interview with Andre Benjamin for Boston Herald.com
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The Rock added that it was great to work with Vaughn on the film, as they knew each other and had been looking for something to do together. "You don't quite know, especially with two crazy characters like this, with Elliott, and he's a bad ass during the day and a gay man at night - not a gay man at night, but in his private time he likes to put on the blue outfit, the cowboy outfit, with the red boots - and Vince Vaughn, who is one of the few actors in Hollywood who is taller than I am - he's all of six five, and looking up at him, he's this Jewish character, dressing like a pimp, walking black, talking black, and so funny. And [director] Gary had given us a lot of leeway in the scenes to improvise and ad lib, and just go for it. We prepared for so long and Gary was great with everything, and there was one particular scene where I finally had enough of him using derogatory terms, calling me names, so I stopped the car, and we started running around the car. I think pretty much all that was ad libbed. And it was great for me, because I just had to sell tin my face. I had no idea what Vince was going to say from 'twinkle twinkle little star to stop hating, you gotta stop participating' - Vince was great." Comingsoon.net
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Meanwhile, Vaughn earns KeitelÄôs praise for both his preparation and commitment to his role. ÄúVince is a wonderful young actor who knows his work; he did a beautiful job on this film.Äù Harvey Keitel interview, Filmstew.com
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Q: With a cast like this, I could imagine that there were several antics on set...
THE ROCK: ItÄôs funny. I have to give it up for F. Gary Gray, who had his hands full as you can imagine with all these personalities and A-list actors Äì as far as off-screen antics, it was more like playing around, especially with me, Vince Vaughn, John Travolta, whoÄôs a very funny guy too. Vince is great. HeÄôs one of those cats who just go on and on and on about anything and it will always be funny.Äù Interview with The Rock for Cinema Confidential
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John Travolta insists Vince Vaughn is one of the funniest people he's ever met.
"Vince hits my funnybone like no one else," says Travolta, who first teamed up with Vaughn for the tense thriller Domestic Disturbance.
The two are co-stars in Be Cool, which opens next Friday.
"Vince has humour in his soul. He's like Robin Williams in that when you get him started, there's no stopping him."
"He can look at me and I start laughing."
Travolta says Vaughn had him reduced to tears several times during the filming of Domestic Disturbance.
"It was me who couldn't contain myself, but Vince got blamed for our laughing fits. I didn't confess up until the last day of shooting." Edmunton Sun
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And finally, a few words from Vince about preparing for his role as RajiĶ
Audiences are certain to be intrigued by Vaughn's nearly continual banter -- talking "more black" than nearly all the African Americans in the film -- or in any recent movie, for that matter. The actor explained he approached the lingo just as he would prepare to deliver any accent or foreign dialect in a film.
"I knew I could mess up a little, since Raji was such a goofball, such an idiot," he said. "Messing up was what he's all about, for God's sake!
"But seriously, I prepared by watching a lot of the old 'Sanford and Son' shows -- plus a bunch of 'Good Times' episodes. The reason I did it like that, I wanted to watch someone who was both black and comedic. After attuning my ear to the kind of delivery of a Redd Foxx or Jimmy Walker, I then listened to contemporary stuff. I was afraid if I only listened to contemporary conversations, I'd only pick up phrases and not immerse myself as a total character into the language." Chicago Sun-Times
Check out this review of the soon-to-be-released Dodgeball DVD. I love what they say about the commentary-extra by Director Rawson Marshall Thurber, Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller:
All three get together in the same room and talk about the movie in a track almost as entertaining as the film itself. It's no surprise that Stiller would crack people up and Vaughn is known himself for his wit but Thurber holds his own as well. By the way, does anyone know if that's Vince Vaughn's real voice or does he just need to hock a loogie and clear his throat?
(As much as I find Vince to be perfect in every way, I think that's pretty damn funny.)
I can't wait to get my DVD.
