Hide your bridesmaids.
Divorce mediators John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy Grey (Vince Vaughn) are business partners and life-long friends who share one truly unique springtime hobby... crashing weddings!
The charismatic and charming duo always have clever back-stories for inquisitive guests and inevitably become the hit of every reception, where they strictly adhere to their proven Rules of Wedding Crashing to meet and pick up women aroused by the very thought of marriage. After infiltrating the Washington DC "event of the year", John and Jeremy quickly set their sights on bridesmaids Claire (Rachel McAdams) and Gloria (Isla Fisher) Cleary.
With the lavish reception in full swing, Jeremy works his game plan to perfection in seducing Gloria, but John's flirtatious banter with Claire is unexpectedly impeded by her pompous, Ivy League boyfriend Sack (Bradley Cooper). Having uncharacteristically fallen hard and fast for Claire, John convinces a resistant Jeremy to bend the crashing rules and accept an invitation to an extended weekend party at the Cleary family compound. Once at the palatial waterfront estate, John and Jeremy endure a multitude of comical mishaps at the hands of the hysterically dysfunctional members of the Cleary family, but also learn a few unexpected lessons about love and relationships.
Special Agent Matti
The wedding crashers is as close to a guy romantic comedy as I've ever seen but it should always be kept in mind that any film with just one wedding is a chick flick; The wedding crashers has a dozen weddings.
The underlying premise is that even the most rampant, testosterone-fuelled thug can be brought to heel by the right woman and this premise is at the heart of all those girls who fall for the wrong guy ("But I can change him!"). By "wrong guy" I mean The Bastard™: he's out for a root, no matter how many bridesmaids he leaves deflowered in his wake (see also Casanova, The libertine). Yet the right woman can tame this wild beast and, oh, how the mighty fall. In fact, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. And they fall hook, line and sinker, leaving them stunned, like a mullet on the beach. [Enough with the metaphors - Director of Intelligence.]
Along the way, said hero also manages to save the heroine from marrying the really wrong guy. This is another re-telling of the knight-maiden-dragon love triangle. Who said Hollywood couldn't make an original movie?
In the end, The wedding crashers is the kind of film a dude can take his girlfriend to, if only to dream about all the tricks he never got around to when he was single. He should be warned, however, that there are weddings galore so he'd better have a nifty excuse to avoid the "C" word ["Commitment" - Director of Intelligence].
MA 15+ (Strong sex scene, frequent sexual references, coarse language)
119 minutes (1:59 hours)
Film: 11 August 2005