Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
I’m pleased to see that R-rated comedies are making a bit of a comeback. I was just watching that extended cut DVD release of STRIPES the other day and mourning the fact that no one makes comedies like that these days. Between this film and THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, though, maybe that’s starting to change. So did Potsie like what he saw? Check it out...
Hey Harry. Potsie, as you have so kindly nicknamed me, here with a look at the upcoming Vince Vaughn Owen Wilson comedy WEDDING CRASHERS. Some spoilers follow.
Ben Stiller has done countless movies with Owen Wilson (ZOOLANDER; also starring Will Ferrell). Ben Stiller did a couple with Vince Vaughn (DODGEBALL and STARSKY and HUTCH; also starring Owen Wilson with a cameo from Will Ferrell.) And Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn teamed up with Owen’s brother Luke for OLD SCHOOL (sadly we only get a cameo from Snoop Dogg). Then Ben Stiller and Jack Black teamed up for ENVY. Vince Vaughn was in Will Ferrell’s ANCHORMAN (with cameos from Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Luke Wilson). It was only a matter of time before Wilson and Vaughn would team up so they could give one of their friends a cameo. It’s not Ben Stiller, but you’re really close.
Wedding Crashers isn’t so much a bad movie as it is a missed opportunity. The story is simple enough. Two divorce attorneys, afraid of commitment, crash wedding after wedding to get laid by taking advantage of the love struck guests and bridesmaid. Eventually Wilson falls for a bridesmaid (played by the up-and-coming Rachel McAdams) and takes crashing weddings to the next level by spending the weekend with her family. Nobody knows Vaughn’s and Wilson’s true reason for being at the wedding, and to make matters worse they are staying at the home of a former senator (played by a sorely underused Christopher Walken). This is a funny enough premise and even more promising is the film’s R RATING. Not that I wanted this to be a gross out comedy, which it really isn’t. But it never really feels that the director took advantage of the R. It’s more like a PG-13 with the occasional “fuck” thrown in and a few boobs for good measure.
The first problem I noticed was the film’s logic. Both Walken’s daughters fall for the goofy duo, but when asked how they are related to the family, they introduce themselves as Uncle Ned’s kids? Wait a second… if Walken’s family believes they are family as well, doesn’t that lead any of them to believe what’s going on here is incest? Forget the fact that Owen Wilson is 36 and Rachel McAdams looks like she is 18. Throughout almost the entire film Vaughn’s character is suppose to be the boyfriend of Walken’s daughter and at the same time he introduces himself as a cousin. If this was supposed to be a joke, it certainly didn’t come off as one. It felt like there may have been a scene missing that explains this. But I went on trying to ignore it as the film progressed.
Next is Christopher Walken. Now, when you have Walken in your movie, it becomes just a little bit better, simply by having him show up on screen. Or wasn’t that the plan? In WEDDING CRASHERS anyone could have played his part. The part was written for any old actor, but when you get Christopher Walken, you should rewrite the part FOR CHRISTOPHER WALKEN! Give the man a few lines worth reading or some off kilter personality trait. We just sit there waiting for him to demand more cowbell, but he just plays it straight. For the first time in a long time, the much loved Christopher Walken seems to be asleep at the wheel.
And I am hoping this is removed from the final cut, but things really get bad when Will Ferrell steps in for an extended cameo. For no reason whatsoever, we get Ferrell as a man who crashes funerals. His part isn’t really funny at all. We are simply supposed to laugh at the fact that he is in the movie! Will Ferrell is on the screen! Is this as good as it gets? Can’t these guys think of something funny to do to fill the time besides put their friends in their movies? Let Will Ferrell make his own movies. And the same for the rest of you. Jack Black, Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson. Stay in your own movies. The cameo thing has gotten old already. WEDDING CRASHERS relies on Ferrell when it runs out of material. Never a good sign. Hopefully the studio will throw out these scenes and a number of others to shorten the two hour running time. A shorter WEDDING CRASHERS will make for a much more satisfying mindless romp.
All in all, was the movie funny? Sometimes, but not often enough. Was there anything we haven’t already seen in the dozen or so other movies these guys have done before? Not at all. Fans of OLD SCHOOL will gain some interest in checking out CRASHERS, but I think New Line is making a mistake releasing this flick the same day as CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (a movie I predict will do HUGE business, as it appeals to all ages). If Burton’s PLANET OF THE APES can open with 70 million, CHARLIE has the potential top perform box office miracles. Too bad for WEDDING CRASHERS which feels more like this year’s DODGEBALL. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? It all depends on how many recycled jokes you can handle in one sitting.
Ouch!
I’m still curious, but I have to say... familiarity can be the death of comedy, and there certainly has been a very small group of guys who have dominated the scene lately. Will the audience at large feel the way Potsie felt? We’ll see next month...
"Moriarty" out.
