A pair of committed womanizers sneak into weddings to take advantage of the romantic tinge in the air.

AMG

Two guys find out the hard way that sneaking into the wrong party can cause serious problems in this comedy. Jeremy Klein (Vince Vaughn) and John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) are a pair of longtime friends who work for a law firm, helping contentious couples mediate their divorces. Their job has given them a cynical attitude about marriage, and as a hobby each weekend the two make a point of crashing weddings reception, where they load up on free food and booze and try their luck at seducing the bridesmaids. When William Cleary (Christopher Walken), the nation's Secretary of the Treasury and a possible candidate for the Presidency, announces his daughter is to wed, the nuptials are billed as the social event of the year, and Jeremy and John decide they must attend the reception. However, John makes the mistake of falling head over heels for Claire (Rachel McAdams), the bride's sister, while Jeremy attracts the attentions of a woman he'd prefer not to be involved with, and soon their romantic peccadilloes get them in very hot water. — Mark Deming


AMG Review:

Having worked with both Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in other movies, director David Dobkin clearly understood how to combine their comedic skills in The Wedding Crashers. Wilson's laid-back openness meshes perfectly with Vaughn's remarkable ability to be simultaneously totally selfish and incredibly loyal. The film opens with a rather long montage that shows how the pair act at the various expensive weddings they crash, and this sequence does nothing more than reveal behavior. There is no plot at this point for the audience to be taken in by. Dobkin feels such confidence in his performers and in his material that he takes his time while never sacrificing quality funny moments. The audience understands both of these guys so well by the time the plot kicks in that Dobkin can mix big set pieces (like a family dinner with outrageous behavior happening both above and below the table) with more intimate scenes between the characters. There are storylines that dead-end, most specifically and alarmingly the casual disappearance of Jane Seymour from the film after her big scene, but the sharp editing, confident pace, solid story structure, and winning performances by the leads (as well as Isla Fisher and Rachel McAdams) make The Wedding Crashers one of the most enjoyable Hollywood comedies of the 2005 summer season. — Perry Seibert