The R rating for nudity has become extremely rare in mainstream Hollywood movies these days. Most big films, no matter how violent, are automatically stamped with a PG-13 rating, because that allows the target audience unrestricted access. Even crude comedies keep to PG-13 if they avoid certain words said too often.
So it’s slightly startling to see nudity in “Wedding Crashers,” a new comedy vehicle for Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. And the nudity is completely gratuitous, too, almost as though it had been added at the last minute when somebody realized that the raunchy material would merit an R rating anyway.
So it sticks out like a sore thumb. Or whatever.
Wilson and Vaughn play John and Jeremy, two aging playboys in D.C. whose springtime hobby is to crash wedding receptions and pick up women. Their holy grail this year is the wedding of a Treasury secretary’s daughter.
The father is played by Christopher Walken, which sounds like a funnier idea than it turns out to be. At the reception, our boys lock in on two bridesmaids, who also happen to be the secretary’s daughters. John sets his eyes on Claire (Rachel McAdams), a smart, sensible type, and Jeremy hooks up with Gloria (scene-stealer Isla Fisher), a super-freak.
The reception and its aftermath (the guys get invited to join the family for a weekend at the estate) occupies the middle of the picture. We have to take it on faith that the previously superficial John suddenly finds himself taking a woman seriously, but the rest is pretty funny.
It’s not funny because of inspired writing. Nor is it the credit of director David Dobkin, who did the clunky “Shanghai Knights” (the Owen Wilson-Jackie Chan sequel). He basically allows Vaughn and Wilson to act up mightily in scenes that must have been a nightmare to edit together.
When “Wedding Crashers” works, it’s because Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson bring their own comic instincts to the fore. Wilson’s dry style works well against Vaughn’s hyperventilating improvisations. They contrast physically, too: Wilson blond and compact, Vaughn dark, bug-eyed and circus-tall.
Since his hilarious turn in “Swingers,” Vaughn has become something of a movie crasher, popping up to deliver his wacky patter even in small roles (as in “Mr. &Mrs. Smith,” for instance). He’s gloriously funny at times in this thing, whether making balloon animals for kids or trying to extricate himself from the abruptly sinister attention of his new liaison.
The reigning king of movie comedy (Will Ferrell) does a cameo role late in “Wedding Crashers,” and the movie also has a part for Jane Seymour (as Walken’s wife), who tries her best to trash her china-teacup image.
A standout is Rachel McAdams, who last year played a high-school monster in “Mean Girls” and the romantic lead in “The Notebook.” While being suitably playful for her role, she’s much better, and more emotionally honest, than the film deserves.
“Wedding Crashers” tries to get sentimental and serious in its final third, a terrible decision that drags the movie down. I’d like to see Wilson and Vaughn team up with a better director someday – if there’s anybody who can corral them.
Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn star in “Wedding Crashers.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
