WEDDING CRASHERSDavid Dobkin, USA 2005
7.5
a highly enjoyable flick that was badly marketed as two thirty-somethings (Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson) who, haha, crash weddings. hilarity ensued. the first 15 minutes of the film are as funny as this premise -- but the rest of the film, although incredibly funny, is more mature than what we were led to believe. Owen Wilson, whom i like but couldn't think i could watch him carry an entire movie, actually succeeds in doing so - and makes it both painless and effortless. you know how characters are sometimes written as "charming" but only manage to come off boring? the performances are usually too stiff for us to enjoy, but Wilson and Vaughn, known for their carefree supporting roles, actually pull these characters off for the entire movie. there are no dry spots, and when they're not goofing around, they flawlessly back up their characters with feelings. plus, they had me laughing with them, and following along with their stories, instead of having me watch them and only finding it 'cute'. Rachel McAdams also leaves a huge noticeable mark on the film (my 2nd film with her in 3 days!!! i'd totally forgotten she was in this). once again she's breathtakingly free and makes the most cliched storylines feel fresh. you can see what's going on inside her. and that's acting. there's a purity in there that simply shines through. things get a little cliched towards the end of the film (but really, how else would you have ended it?), the goth brother is too caricatured (and how old is the actor playing him???) to be believable (or tolerable, for that matter), especially since everyone else is funny but still credible, and Bradley Cooper just cannot pull off a tough guy. but aside from that, this was a really cool surprise for me. definitely worth checking out for the care that went into it, especially from Owen and Vince. David Dobkin did a remarkable job.
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