Review of Wedding Crashers (2005) by Kevin P — 12 Jun 2018

Strengths: Often, the most important thing about a comedy is to be funny. Wedding Crashers succeeds there, with several moments that are either flat out hilarious or subtlety classic lines. Owen Wilson (John Beckwith) is the lead and probably gives the best performance of his career. His banter with Vince Vaughn (Jeremy Grey) has never been better and he handles the growth of the character very well. His chemistry with Rachel McAdams (Claire Cleary) is fantastic. This is also one of my favorite McAdams performances, as she looks like shs'e just having a blast. Isla Fisher (Gloria Cleary) broke out with this film thanks to how hilariously she played the crazed girl. It led to a handful of funny scenes with Vaughn. The smaller characters all delivered the goods as well. Bradley Cooper (Sack Lodge) worked well as the violent douche, Christopher Walken (William Cleary) was his usual great self, Jane Seymour (Katheleen Cleary) played the cougar to perfection, and Keir O'Donnell (Todd Cleary) had some great moments as the hyper-sensitive gay son of the family. All this without mentioning the over the top grandma (Ellen Albertini Dow) or the hilarious cameo by Will Ferrell (Chazz Reinhold). The script is solid, the characters grow over time and it features some very funny moments.

Weaknesses: Near the end, the movie can feel like it drags on a bit. While the introduction of Chaz is funny, it adds an extra few minutes to the movie that feel somewhat unnecessary. The way that John notices his big revelation at the funeral comes across as phony and kind of forced. If you've seen movies involving Wilson and Vaughn before, then a lot of things will feel all too familiar. Several beats seem redone and a lot of the jokes are nothing new.

Overall: I'd say this is one of my favorite romantic comedies of the 2000s. Lots of funny moments, good chemistry between the romantic leads, a hilarious cameo, and it helped launch the careers of people like Cooper and Fisher.