Wedding Crashers

Wedding Crashers
Wedding Crashers Poster
Directed by	David Dobkin
Written by	Steve Faber Bob Fisher
Produced by	Peter Abrams, Robert L. Levy, Andrew Panay (producers), Guy Riedel, Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener, Cale Boyer (executive producers)
Starring	Owen Wilson Vince Vaughn Christopher Walken Rachel McAdams Isla Fisher Jane Seymour Keir O'Donnell
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Release dates	July 15, 2005 (USA)
Running time	119 min.
Language	English
Budget	$40,000,000

Wedding Crashers is a 2005 comedy film, directed by David Dobkin. The film stars Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, with Christopher Walken, Rachel McAdams, Isla Fisher, Jane Seymour and Bradley Cooper. The film debuted in North American theaters on July 15, 2005 and the DVD version was released on January 3 2006.

Production

The film was written by Steve Faber and Bob Fisher and was produced through New Line Cinema, with filming taking place on location in Washington, D.C. and Maryland's Eastern Shore. It was released in the United States on July 15, 2005 and became an immediate hit, grossing $33 million in its first weekend. It was also fairly well received by critics, who admired the natural chemistry between Wilson and Vaughn, comparing them in some instances to Paul Newman and Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (the comparisons might have been inspired by the very similar carefree bike-riding scenes found in both movies). The film also had extremely long legs, grossing over $209 million. This is quite a feat, considering most movies that made around $33 million in their opening weekend only managed about $100 million in 2005. The astounding level of success was not expected by the studio considering its modest budget ($40 million) and competition with heavily advertised blockbusters during the summer season. The film has also been credited along with The 40-Year-Old Virgin to have popularized adult-aimed R-rated comedies again. On April 24, 2006 this hit comedy topped the nominations for the year's MTV Movie Awards with five including Best Movie. It won Best Movie, On-Screen Team (Vaughn and Wilson), and Breakthrough Performance (Isla Fisher).

Plot

Wilson and Vaughn play two men, who are best friends as well as co-workers in matrimonial law, who "crash" (attend as uninvited guests) wedding parties to meet women. Vaughn was taught the rules and methods of wedding crashing by the creator of the practice Chaz Reinhold (Will Ferrell). Their freewheeling fun ends when Wilson's character falls in love with a bridesmaid (Rachel McAdams), the daughter of the U.S. Treasury Secretary (Christopher Walken). The film is also another entry in the frat pack series of movies that feature some combination of Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson, and Owen Wilson.

Cast

• Owen Wilson as John Beckwith - One half of the inseparable wedding crasher duo. John is a bachelor attorney riding high on his success with Jeremy, but unlike his friend, seems to be developing a conscience when taking advantage of the women.
• Vince Vaughn as Jeremy Grey - The other half of the wedding crasher duo, and the one who does all the leg work. He is a wisecracking party animal, and remains a loyal friend to John, even sticking it out over one tumultuous weekend with psychotic Gloria. In fact he even ends up marrying Gloria.
• Rachel McAdams as Claire Cleary - The daughter of the Secretary of the Treasury. A sweet girl and full time environmental activist. Claire doesn't fall easily for cliché and even laughs at it.
• Bradley Cooper as Zach "Sack" Lodge - Claire's testosterone-fueled boyfriend who clearly assaults people but is always dismissed as "harmless". Threatened by John and Jeremy, he's also cheating on Claire and treats her with little to no respect.
• Isla Fisher as Gloria Cleary - Claire's mentally unstable, nymphomaniac sister who claims that she lost her virginity to Jeremy. He calls her "a stage five clinger".
• Christopher Walken as Treasury Secretary William Cleary - A sailing fan and the wise, loving father of his daughters and a generally affable man. He is considered a frontrunner for the U.S. Presidency. Can see through a facade.
• Jane Seymour as Kathleen Cleary - The alcoholic sexual lionness wife of William and mother of Christina, Claire, Gloria, and Todd.
• Keir O'Donnell as Todd Cleary - The closeted, emo/Goth son of William and Kathleen. He's a talented but angry artist who is either bisexual or homosexual. He was also convinced Jeremy "had a moment" with him at the dinner table, and aggressively attempts to seduce him.
• Will Ferrell as Chazz Reinhold - The sage who passed on the wedding crashing rules to his protege Jeremy 1993. He happily lives with his mother who, according to John, tried to poison Chazz's oatmeal. Chazz has most recently moved on from crashing weddings, and now predominantly crashes funerals ("But I'll throw in a wedding every now and then.")
• Henry Gibson as the priest officiating at several weddings.

Cameos

• John McCain as himself (cameo)
• James Carville as himself (cameo)

At the Italian wedding, the guy who is sitting next to Owen Wilson and laughs at the "jabroni" joke is Wilson's uncle.

Production

A real wedding planner was hired to ensure that the weddings in the movie looked real.

When Rachel McAdams learned that her role as Claire required her to sail, she took a class. This paid off, as she was able to help the crew race for land when thunderstorms ensued during the shoot.

Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn improvised the famous "Lock it up!" banter, along with much of the dialog.

DVD release

January 3, 2006 marked the DVD release for the U.S. It is available in an unrated version ("Uncorked Edition") and in an R-rated version.

Trivia

• Following complaints from the United States Congress, the producers of the film yanked from the movie's official web site a printable Purple Heart advertised as a gimmick to pick up women and get free drinks. [1]
• The Treasury secretary's (Christopher Walken) house once belonged to Ted Kennedy.
• In the scene where Christopher Walken and Rachel McAdams are dancing at her and Sac's engagement party, Walken repeatedly said the word "fart" to keep Rachel smiling after dancing had become repetitive. [2]
• Christopher Walken's sailboat the Woodwind is an actual sailboat on the Chesapeake Bay. It runs on daily trips by a family in Annapolis, Maryland.
• Bradley Cooper was mentioned in the August 2006 issue of GQ as one of "The Top Twelve Movie Dicks". His character from Wedding Crashers placed Number Two behind William Zabka's character from The Karate Kid.
• Dwight Yoakam has a cameo as Mr. Kroger in the beginning of the movie, Vince had appeared in one of his music videos entitled These Arms. His music would also be heard in The Break Up.
• Keir O'Donnell would later appear in The Break Up as one of the men Brooke (Jennifer Aniston) dates to make Vince Vaughn's character (Gary) jealous, though it does not faze him.

External links

• Wedding Crashers, official site
• Wedding Crashers at IMDb
• Wedding Crashers at Rotten Tomatoes
• Wedding Crashers at Box Office Mojo
• Wedding Crashers soundtrack questions, answers and other music information.
• Trailer Crashers (Crash the Wedding Crashers trailer by placing a picture of yourself over the actors' faces.)
• Wedding Crashers on MovieFiller.com
• Vince Vaughan interview for Wedding Crashers