Die Hochzeits-Crasher

The Frat-Pack, are surely the hardest working collective in Hollywood. Hardly a month goes by without a movie featuring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jack Black, Will Ferrell, or those Wilson boys Luke and Owen being released.

When Starsky and Hutch paired Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller it was good, when Dodgeball put Vince Vaughn with Ben Stiller it was better, but "Wedding Crashers" could well be the finest Frat-Pack pairing to date.

Although Wilson and Vaughn have appeared in four movies together so far, this is the first where they've both taken star billing. In "Wedding Crashers", John Beckwith (Wilson) and Jeremy Klein (Vaughn), are a pair of divorce mediators whose passion in life is sneaking into weddings to take advantage of the free food.. and of course score with girls.

They have a strict 'crashers rulebook', which dictates the etiquette of the pick-up, such as 'never use your real name'. It also suggests, by behaving raucously, loudly and generally being the life-and-soul, people will think you're so obnoxious, you can't not have been invited.

The pair eventually find themselves at odds with each other when John meets and falls for a bridesmaid at the Washington society wedding of the year.

Although "Wedding Crashers" is at times formulaic, the comic performances raise this movie above par and in lesser hands the main characters could have descended into Rom-Com cliché. The fast-talking machine-gun delivery of Vaughn is the perfect accompaniment to Wilson's laconic style. Their single-guy banter's often painfully accurate, as is the acknowledgement they're both a little too old to be acting so carelessly. There are also some great comic set-pieces too, notably the divorce meeting, the weddings montage, the cringe-worthy football game and the hunting trip.

The supporting cast are also an asset, Christopher Walken expertly walks the tightrope of being both broodingly intimidating and likable, while Rachel McAdams' 'Claire' has a charming vulnerability and an easy-to-fall-in love with quality. Former "Home and Away" pin-up Isla Fisher however, is less convincing.

I admit "Wedding Crashers" is far from perfect, at time situations seem too contrived, the nudity is laughably gratuitous, and Claire's evil fiancée Sack (Bradley Cooper) is an almost too heavy-handed device to make Wilson look good.

But if you can look past all that, and simply accept it for what it is, you're left with a very funny film. 8/10

Movie lives through Vaughn and Wilson. Both show an easy performance and want the audience to just simply have a good time.

The Story is nothing spectacular. If you liked "Meet the Fockers", you're gonna like this one as well.

Its the actors, who make the difference. Vaughn is hilarious and proofs, that he's much better in comedies than in "serious" movies. Wilson plays himself (as in every one of his movies) and scores a good 2nd place.

Walken is just Walken and thats worth half the ticket. The girls are gorgeous. Especially Rachel McAdams knocked me out. Holy Cow! The Crashers are good fun. Not an new invention of the genre, but especially because of the actors, this movie rocks!

John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy Grey (Vince Vaughn) are business partners and best friends. They have a unique scheme to crash weddings and bed unsuspecting young hot women. When they crash the wedding of the season, John falls completely for bridesmaid Claire Cleary (Rachel McAdams) breaking all the rules. Jeremy must submit to her sex-crazed sister Gloria Cleary (Isla Fisher) as his loyal wingman.

The concept is great. Some of the jokes work but some really don't. This movie rises with the guys' chemistry. Vaugh's got the manic rantings, and Wilson's got the boy next door charm. Together they form the perfect bromance. And that is the big takeaway from this movie.

There's a lot of questionable scenes in this film (watch it for yourself and you'll find out), but this might be one of my favorite comedies I've watched yet. Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn have perfect chemistry, and the film takes a small idea and turns it into a 2-hour film (a good one, at that).

John Beckwith and Jeremy Grey are committed bachelors who enjoy their womanising ways. They specialise in crashing weddings and picking up women for one night stands by taking advantage of their lower defences. Countless scores of women later, John is getting tired but the offer of "one last big job" tempts him back to crash the wedding of Treasury Secretary Cleary's daughter. Things go well until John falls for Claire Cleary while Jeremy finds himself trapped with the frighteningly clingy Gloria as the pair accept an invitation back to the weekend retreat of the Cleary family.

This did not appear strong enough to draw me into the cinema on its release but, on an trans-Atlantic flight it looked like being good enough to fill some time – which is actually a pretty fair summary of the film's strengths and weaknesses. I say this because it is funny enough to cover the problems that it has and thus will serve up as an enjoyable experience if you're relaxed enough to let this happen. The strengths lie in the lead two characters – they banter, they are lively and they are funny. Funny enough to cover up the fact that they are exploitative and sexual predators and funny enough to mean that the scenes where they are doing their thing are generally enjoyable. Of course it helps that Wilson and Vaughn are both doing their thing as usually and have great chemistry together – good news if you usually like them but, if you don't, then why bother? The weaknesses come in with the actual story because, every time someone has to fall in love with someone else, the laughs stop, the pace slows and the whole thing takes on a mushy air that doesn't gel that well with the banter scenes. Likewise the plot devices in the second hour tend to feel a little forced where they are just used to provide direction and create a proper ending etc. This doesn't mean it is terrible but it cannot be a good thing when you actively wish the plot would take a backseat in a film. The support cast share the comedy reasonably well; McAdams is cool and appealing, Fisher is a bit OTT but is funny, Seymour plays on her sexy image really well while Walken is reliable as ever as Christopher Walken.

Overall this is an enjoyable if patchy comedy. It trades on the usual delivery and chemistry between Wilson and Vaughn and the two do well to produce the film's best scenes when they are together. The need for a plot, romance and separation does hurt the film a little (because it is not as good as the aimless banter) but not a massive amount. Not a great comedy then but certainly good enough to please anyone who liked Anchorman, Dodgeball and other films of similar styles of humour.