Wedding Crashers
dir. Dobkin
Opens Fri July 15
Various Theaters

I'm not sure how often actors get ripped on cocaine while filming a movie, but it's my suspicion this was the case when Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, and the hilarious Bradley Cooper (Wet Hot American Summer) were filming Wedding Crashers. All four look like shit (Vaughn wins the prize for shittiest looking; Cooper has a broken blood vessel in his eye), and they all seem to be flying off on speed rants every time they talk. (Granted, Wilson seems the least addled, giving one of his usual charming, spacey performances.)

I'm not complaining, though--this bizzaro, jacked-up, off-the-cuff quality is what makes Wedding Crashers so hilarious. The film's plot doesn't fill all its holes, but the gist is that Wilson and Vaughn (playing best friends John and Jeremy, respectively) live in D.C. and get their rocks off by crashing weddings and nailing bridesmaids. The two have their schtick down to a science, going so far as to dance with flower girls, make toasts, and shed tears. Then along comes the "Kentucky Derby" of weddings: When the Secretary of the Treasury, Cleary (Christopher Walken) hosts a wedding for his daughter, our two rambunctious boys can't resist the ultimate crash.

And a crash it is, since John and Jeremy get tangled into a completely fucked-up weekend with the Cleary family after John falls for one of the unmarried daughters. Meanwhile, Jeremy nails another Cleary girl, which lands him in all sorts of demented trouble. Vaughn is awesome, spewing out comedic rants, and Wilson's adorable as the laid back sidekick.

But much like a cocaine bender, Wedding Crashers goes on too long and spends unnecessary time exploring boring topics (in this case, Wilson's love interest). That said, the good times make up for the bad--the rush of watching this gaggle of lunatics crack jokes and act ridiculous is definitely worth the teeth grinding and toe tapping you'll experience during the last half hour.