Wedding Crashers is a 2005 romantic comedy film, directed by David Dobkin. The film stars Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, with Christopher Walken, Rachel McAdams, Isla Fisher, Jane Seymour, Will Ferrell and Bradley Cooper. The film debuted in North American theaters on July 15, 2005,[2] and the DVD version was released on January 3, 2006, including an unrated version.[3]
Plot
Bachelors and lifelong best friends, John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy Grey (Vince Vaughn) are partners at law (divorce mediators) in Washington D.C. The friends frequently "crash" wedding parties to meet women, working from a set of rules taught to them by a past "crasher," Chazz. The duo always have cover stories for inquisitive guests and inevitably become the hit of every reception, to charm their way into bed with ladies at the wedding for a one night stand.
After a sequence of successful crashes, Jeremy spots the wedding of the daughter of the Secretary of the Treasury William Cleary and his wife, Kathleen (Christopher Walken, Jane Seymour). After infiltrating the lavish event as brothers, John and Jeremy set their sights on two bridesmaids, also daughters of Secretary Cleary: Claire (Rachel McAdams) and Gloria Cleary (Isla Fisher). While Jeremy manages to make it on the beach with "stage-five clinger" and supposed virgin Gloria, John works on Claire. While talking afterwards, John is blocked by Claire's hotheaded and controlling (and borderline emotionally abusive) Ivy League graduate boyfriend Zach (Bradley Cooper) who, as the film progresses, isn't such a loyal boyfriend when he brags of his sexual conquests to his buddies behind Claire's back and seems to only want to marry Claire so he can advance his future political career by marrying into the family of powerful political figure. John convinces a resistant Jeremy to break the rules and accept an invitation to an extended weekend party at the Cleary family compound.
Jeremy and John are convinced into playing touch football where Jeremy is hurt by Claire's obnoxious boyfriend. Gloria puts Band-Aids on Jeremy, hoping to have sex with him. However, Jeremy turns her down with a philosophical love speech. Jeremy is shown to not really like Gloria all that much, at least not initially. At dinner later that day with Jeremy's assistance, John proceeds to spike Zach's wine with eye-drops which makes him sick, letting John have some alone time with Claire. John goes to his room to change his shoes, but while he is bent down, Kathleen takes her top off and makes John fondle her breast. At the dinner table, Gloria gives Jeremy a hand-job under the dinner table. That night, Gloria ties up Jeremy while he sleeps and then has her way with him. Jeremy is then visited by the girl's brother Todd later that night, thinking the two had "had a moment" earlier at the dinner table to which his advances are quickly rebuffed by a terrified Jeremy. The next morning, Jeremy asks John to leave the island with him but John convinces him otherwise. The family takes a boat ride in the afternoon, which ends in a hunting trip in which Zach shoots Jeremy in the buttocks. John and Claire leave on a bike ride in which they connect deeply. In the meantime, Gloria reveals to relieved Jeremy that she was not a virgin. She merely told him so, as she "thought that's what guys liked to hear." During a drunken, one-sided conversation with the family priest, Jeremy realizes that not only is he genuinely attracted to Gloria, but her apparent mental instability is part of the reason. John and Claire return from their bike ride, after which Zach "proposes" to Claire by announcing their engagement, leaving Claire at a loss for words. John talks to Claire afterwards, as she is apparently discomforted by the announcement. John tries to comfort her but ends up telling her his true feelings for her. They are interrupted by Jeremy running out of the house being chased by the grandmother with a gun. Zach comes out and tells the family who the "brothers" really are, as he had them privately investigated. John reveals their true identities, upsetting and hurting the entire Cleary family, particularly Claire. John and Jeremy are forced to leave the island.
John and Jeremy return to their normal lives; however, John is distraught, as he was never given the chance to reconcile with Claire, even though he attempted to contact her multiple times. During one such attempt, John pretends to be a waiter at Claire and Zach's engagement party. However, he is caught and beaten-up by Zach (with help from his friends). He returns home to find Jeremy, who was supposed to have attended the event with John, locked in a passionate moment with Gloria. This results in a rift between John and Jeremy, as they no longer see eye-to-eye on the idea of marriage. John crashes several more weddings by himself, but behaves erratically. Meanwhile, Jeremy continues his relationship with Gloria, culminating in an accepted marriage proposal. Jeremy attempts to reconcile with John, asking him to be his best man, but John cannot bear to think about the marriage and asks Jeremy to leave.
John meets their mentor Chazz (Will Ferrell) to reaffirm Jeremy's apparent stupidity in getting engaged. During the visit, he discovers that Chazz has moved onto "funeral crashing," as he believes that grief is the best aphrodisiac. John joins Chazz on an outing, but is taken aback by the amount of love and sorrow shown by the widow of the deceased. He reconsiders his stance on love and marriage and rushes to Jeremy's wedding. He joins them mid-ceremony as the best man, but disrupts it by attempting to speak to Claire while standing at the altar. After dramatic dialog with the entire wedding assembly watching, Claire finally reveals that she, too, has feelings for John. Zach is dumbfounded by the situation, and turns to Secretary Cleary for help. However, Secretary Cleary fully supports his daughter's decision to reject Zach. Defeated and clearly angry, Zach begins demanding Claire to return to the altar, all the while his true nature being shown in front of the entire wedding, before attacking John; however, Jeremy intervenes and knocks Zach to the ground with a solid punch. The film ends with Jeremy getting married to Gloria, John uniting with Claire, and the two couples driving away joking about crashing a wedding all together.
Cast and characters
Cameos
Production
The film was written by Steve Faber and Bob Fisher and was produced through New Line Cinema, with filming taking place on location in Washington, D.C. and Eastern Shore of Virginia and Maryland's Eastern Shore.[4]
Box office
It was released in North America on July 15, 2005 and became an immediate hit, grossing $33 million in its first weekend. Fairly well received by critics, the film had extremely long legs, grossing over $209 million. The astounding level of success was not expected by the studio, considering its modest budget ($40 million) and competition with heavily advertised blockbusters during the summer season.
Popularity
On April 24, 2006, Wedding Crashers topped the nominations for the year's MTV Movie Awards with five including Best Movie. It won Best Movie, On-Screen Team (Vaughn and Wilson), and Breakthrough Performance (Isla Fisher). The financial and award success of the film has been credited along with The 40-Year-Old Virgin for reviving the popularity of adult-aimed R-rated comedies.
Reception
The film as of July 2009, has a 74% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which summarized critics' reviews : "The film is both raunchy and sweet, and features top-notch comic performances from Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson." 169 reviews were counted while 126 were fresh and 43 were rotten. The critics rated it 73% and the users rated it 83%.[5]
Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times wrote a favourable review and said "underneath the diarrhea gags, the long lens at close range of Vaughn's pants and the handcuffs, it's really just a love story about a couple of buddies who live happily ever after. And it couldn't have happened to a nicer, more charming couple".[6] Manohla Dargis of the New York Times said "It's crude, yes, but also funny; too bad these lost boys can't stay lost, Like clockwork, the film soon mutates from a guy-oriented sex comedy into a wish-fulfillment chick flick".[7]
DVD release
The DVD was released in the U.S. on January 3, 2006. It is available in an unrated version ("Uncorked Edition") and in an R-rated version. It features 9 new minutes integrated into the film and DVD-rom bonuses. Also included are two audio commentaries (one by the stars, one by the director), four deleted scenes, two featurettes, a "Rules of Wedding Crashing" text gallery, trailers and Budweiser Wedding Crashers commercials, a track listing for the official soundtrack on New Line Records, a music video by The Sights and a jump-to-a-song sample feature.[8]
TV version
The creators of the Wedding Crashers movie made a reality-TV version, called The Real Wedding Crashers. It was subsequently canceled.[9]
Trivia
Bradley Cooper was mentioned in the August 2006 issue of GQ as one of "The Top Twelve Movie Dicks". His character from Wedding Crashers placed Number Two behind William Zabka's character from The Karate Kid, whom he would later play in an SNL sketch in 2009.
The version of "Shout" by the Isley Brothers played in the film is the original version, edited to fit the film. However, the version found on the soundtrack is a different version from the one played in the film.
Senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain had a brief cameo in the film towards the beginning, where he and Democratic strategist and CNN contributor James Carville are seen congratulating the secretary and his wife on their daughter's wedding.
References
External links
