Die Hochzeits-Crasher (2005)

Die Hochzeits-Crasher: Directed by David Dobkin. With Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Christopher Walken, Rachel McAdams. John Beckwith and Jeremy Grey, a pair of committed womanizers who sneak into weddings to take advantage of the romantic tinge in the air, find themselves at odds with one another when John meets and falls for Claire Cleary.

“John Beckwith and Jeremy Grey are committed bachelors who enjoy their womanising ways. They specialise in crashing weddings and picking up women for one night stands by taking advantage of their lower defences. Countless scores of women later, John is getting tired but the offer of u0026quot;one last big jobu0026quot; tempts him back to crash the wedding of Treasury Secretary Clearyu0026#39;s daughter. Things go well until John falls for Claire Cleary while Jeremy finds himself trapped with the frighteningly clingy Gloria as the pair accept an invitation back to the weekend retreat of the Cleary family.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis did not appear strong enough to draw me into the cinema on its release but, on an trans-Atlantic flight it looked like being good enough to fill some time – which is actually a pretty fair summary of the filmu0026#39;s strengths and weaknesses. I say this because it is funny enough to cover the problems that it has and thus will serve up as an enjoyable experience if youu0026#39;re relaxed enough to let this happen. The strengths lie in the lead two characters – they banter, they are lively and they are funny. Funny enough to cover up the fact that they are exploitative and sexual predators and funny enough to mean that the scenes where they are doing their thing are generally enjoyable. Of course it helps that Wilson and Vaughn are both doing their thing as usually and have great chemistry together – good news if you usually like them but, if you donu0026#39;t, then why bother? The weaknesses come in with the actual story because, every time someone has to fall in love with someone else, the laughs stop, the pace slows and the whole thing takes on a mushy air that doesnu0026#39;t gel that well with the banter scenes. Likewise the plot devices in the second hour tend to feel a little forced where they are just used to provide direction and create a proper ending etc. This doesnu0026#39;t mean it is terrible but it cannot be a good thing when you actively wish the plot would take a backseat in a film. The support cast share the comedy reasonably well; McAdams is cool and appealing, Fisher is a bit OTT but is funny, Seymour plays on her sexy image really well while Walken is reliable as ever as Christopher Walken.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOverall this is an enjoyable if patchy comedy. It trades on the usual delivery and chemistry between Wilson and Vaughn and the two do well to produce the filmu0026#39;s best scenes when they are together. The need for a plot, romance and separation does hurt the film a little (because it is not as good as the aimless banter) but not a massive amount. Not a great comedy then but certainly good enough to please anyone who liked Anchorman, Dodgeball and other films of similar styles of humour.”