The loosely affilliated comedy team of Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, and of course the ever-busy Ben Stiller, have become something of a mainstay of recent Hollywood comedies. With Wedding Crashers, Vaughn and Wilson have ditched the comicbook surrealism of previous successful outings like Zoolander, Anchorman, and Starsky & Hutch for a more straight ahead romantic comedy approach. Not neccesarily the greatest of ideas.

Vaughn and Wilson play Jeremy Grey and John Beckwith, two acerbic Washington D.C.-based marriage counsellors who get their kicks from arriving uninvited at weddings and proceeding to work their magic on as many of the bridesmaids as possible. They decide to set their sights on the wedding of the year, that of daughter of Secretary of the Treasury William Cleary (Christopher Walken), only to find themselves invited to the Cleary's plush Maryland mansion. Hilarity ensues (or at least it should).

Although the film does boast some genuinely funny moments, such as the opening montage of Ferrell and Wilson crashing Jewish, Italian and Irish weddings, and then attempting to pass themselves off as Jewish, Italian or Irish, much of the plot seems to be either clichéd or just a missed opportunity. The idea of working class boys lost in a super-rich WASPish world is too similar to 2000's Meet the Parents, and while Christopher Walken does give it his all as the threathening father of the bride, Robert De Niro did do it better. The gay jokes surrounding Todd Cleary (newcomer Keir O'Donnell) and his infatuation with Vince Vaughn have been told many times before, and seem a bit worn out now. More could have been made of Vaughn's intense (and possibly pathological) relationship with Gloria Cleary (Isla Fisher).

There are some nice subtle jibes at the power-obsessed Cleary family, who seem to be modelled on the Kennedys, and Will Ferrel's apperance as Chaz, the original Wedding Crasher and mentor of Vince Vaughn, certainly enlivens the final section of the film. Ferrell's advice on how to score at funerals is excellent ("Grief is the best aphrodisiac man, look it up"), although it all does seem to be too little too late.

This movie is certainly not the worst thing playing at the cinema, but if this is going to be the best comedy of the summer, you might be better off getting your bellyaches at the nearest wedding reception.

Rated 15A (see IFCO website for details)
Wedding Crashers is released on 15th July 2005.
Wedding Crashers – Official website