The Wedding Crashers

Owen Wilson in a scene from 'The Wedding Crashers'.

(Herald rating: ****)

It has seemed for a while there's been a game of musical chairs going on among the Hollywood Frat Pack - those funny guys who seem to orbit around Ben Stiller.
The Wedding Crashers leads Vaughn and Wilson were supporting player and star in the moderately amusing Starsky and Hutch. But their pairing as bachelor buddies gives this amusingly crass romantic comedy its reason for being. When Wilson's stoner drawl and Vaughn's motormouth get away on them, it kicks up into a higher comedic gear than any of the previous Frat Pack outings.

Wilson and Vaughn are divorce mediators who spend their weekends crashing weddings where, after the free feast and booze, they use all that romance to bed any gals they can get.

Of course, these commitment-phobes meet their match at the nuptials of the eldest daughter of Treasury Secretary William Cleary, played with madcap charm by Christopher Walken.

Their characters are drawn to Cleary's other daughters. For Wilson it's love at first sight with Claire (McAdams), who is otherwise engaged, while Vaughn's quickie out back with Gloria (Fisher) makes her think it's the start of something serious.

They end up in the Cleary mansion for the weekend, coping with a jealous fiance, a nympho matriarch (Seymour), an obnoxious grandmother, and their slowly unravelling cover story.

It goes on far too long to sustain the comedy or the story and the ending feels like a contractual obligation for any movie with wedding in the title. But when Vaughn and Wilson are going at it like an old married couple, The Wedding Crashers is a comedy match made in heaven.

CAST: Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Isla Fisher, Christopher Walken, Jane Seymour
DIRECTOR: David Dobkin
RATING: M (sex, offensive language)
RUNNING TIME: 119 mins
SCREENING: Village, Hoyts, Berkeley cinemas from Thursday