DAVID DOBKIN

Bil’s rating (out of 5):   B. 

USA, 2005.  New Line Cinema, Tapestry Films.  Screenplay by Steve Faber, Bob Fisher.  Cinematography by Julio Macat.  Produced by Peter Abrams, Robert L. Levy, Andrew Panay.  Music by Rolfe Kent.  Production Design by Barry Robison.  Costume Design by Denise Wingate.  Film Editing by Mark Livolsi.  

This is the kind of movie that stupid people watch and say things like ‘I just wanted something fun to help me forget my troubles’.  If forgetting your troubles requires indulging in lame-ass eighties-style titty jokes, gay stereotypes, guys calling each other ‘pussy’ and turning Jane Seymour into an object of humorous derision (though let’s point out that she looks hot), this is the movie for you. To be fair, indulging in this kind of excess would provide some kind of levity if it were actually really funny, but the truth is, Wedding Crashers is only mildly humorous and far too long for its own good. Perfectly cast Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson play overgrown schoolboys who look forward to wedding season just so they can show up to events unannounced and make off with all the gorgeous, single, anxious bridesmaids that are ripe for the plucking. They really step in it when they attend the nuptials of the daughter of a Washington politician (Christopher Walken looking bored with impersonating himself) and hook up with the bride’s sisters. Vaughn picks the redheaded nymphomaniac sister, while Wilson gives the glad eye to the smart, sarcastic Rachel McAdams and falls head over heels in love. Trouble is, she’s already seeing someone (Bradley Cooper), and he’s a pathetic, cliched, two-dimensional villain stereotype straight out of a really bad Teen Wolf sequel. Watching it all play out is predictable, which isn’t all that surprising or really a fault in this kind of movie, but why it has to take so long (the last third drags like a motherfucker) is a baffling puzzle.