Wedding Crashers: Uncorked Edition

Not only did Wedding Crashers completely defy box-office expectations to become the biggest comedy of 2005, it was one of the highest grossing films overall last year, pulling in King Kong numbers. The attention this film received was deserved though, as Wedding Crashers contains several hysterical moments, usually thanks to Vince Vaughn's fast-talking observations and insults. Jeremy Grey (Vaughn) and John Beckworth (Owen Wilson) make it an annual tradition to pose as distant relatives in order to scam their way into weddings for the sake of free food, booze and a chance to bed a bridesmaid, which they always do. The thrill of conquering a ceremony leads them to the biggest crash of their lives, as the two best friends con their way into the nuptials of Treasury Secretary William Cleary's (Christopher Walken) daughter. Luckily for John and Jeremy, the Secretary has two more hot daughters: the breath-taking and down-to-earth Claire (Rachel McAdams) and the borderline psychotic Gloria (Isla Fisher). After Jeremy inadvertently becomes Gloria's soul mate, the two party crashers are invited to the family home, thus giving John ample time to try and win Claire's heart and prevent her from marrying her moronic boyfriend. This is where the film reaches its peak, as Jeremy becomes increasingly more irritated (leading to fantastic outbursts from Vaughn) and we genuinely fall for John and Claire's budding romance, though it's a no-brainer, as the script calls for the always questionable mismatched couple to somehow disband for our hero. Of course, Jeremy and John are involved in a dangerous game of deception gone into overtime, so everything blows up in John's face when Claire realises she's fallen in love with a lie. This is where the movie begins to really drag and runs 20 minutes too long, as John tries to win back Claire's heart. Even though there's a Will Ferrell cameo there's really no reason for the majority of the last quarter of the movie, making this "uncorked" edition with an extra eight minutes unnecessary. The additional scenes are forgettable, though it's somewhat amusing to see the towering Vince Vaughn carry a frail Grandma Cleary to bed. The DVD contains some deleted scenes that you can also pass on, though you might want to watch John and Jeremy's karaoke rendition of "99 Luft Balloons" at an Asian wedding. The two "behind the scenes" featurettes aren't anything special either, as one takes a look at the intense preparation required to pull off several weddings, while the second focuses on the rules of wedding crashing, which don't really exist anyway and are best left to Vaughn and Wilson to make up on the spot during the film. The commentary with Wilson and Vaughn is a lot more subdued than one might expect, but entertaining nonetheless, as Vaughn credits Jon Favreau for the "just the tip" line and the two wander off topic with childhood memories and the football games they watched earlier that day. Wedding Crashers is a great comedy even though it overstays its welcome, and in the age of constantly revamping DVD editions there will surely be more quality extras surfacing in years to come. (Alliance Atlantis)