A 'Wedding' worth attending

Montages by nature can be bad news in modern American cinema. Not so in the case of "Wedding Crashers," which grabs a majority of its audience by the balls from the get-go and doesn't let loose for 10 minutes. Set to the tune of the Isley Brothers' "Shout" (eliciting fond memories of "Animal House") and chockablock with boobs and boozy portrayals, the sequence is an infectious kick-start to what's an overlong though oftentimes hilarious comedy.\nOwen Wilson and Vince Vaughn star as John Beckwith and Jeremy Klein, a pair of Washington D.C.-based college pals who have since become divorce mediators. In spite of their vocation, this dynamic duo has a profound love for weddings ... or rather for the desperate dames in attendance that can be bedded during or after them. Hence, the two spend their weekends crashing weddings as the film's title suggests. \nThese wolves in sheep's clothing know no bounds in procuring poonani -- dancing with flower girls and old women, making kids balloon animals, fake crying, etc. Such tactics eventually place the terrible twosome at the wedding of Treasury Secretary William Cleary's (Christopher Walken) eldest daughter. There they meet Claire (a cute, accessible and altogether likable Rachel McAdams) and Gloria (Aussie import Isla Fisher, who's primo eye candy in addition to being a comedic dynamo) -- Cleary's younger daughters. John falls for Claire immediately; Gloria obsesses over Jeremy. This obsession scores the "schlubby studs" an invite to the Cleary's Kennedy-esque seaside retreat where they encounter other members and friends of the family. The clan is dysfunctional to say the least: there's Kathleen "Kitty Kat" Cleary (Jane Seymour, still hot at 54 and playing way against Dr. Quinn-type), the horny alcoholic matriarch; Todd (Keir O'Donnell), the gay painter son; Grandma Mary (Ellen Albertini Dow of "The Wedding Singer"), an acid-tongued homophobe and Sack (Bradley Cooper, "Wet Hot American Summer"), Claire's blowhard boyfriend.\nDirector David Dobkin reteams with stars Wilson and Vaughn; he directed the former in 2003's "Shanghai Knights" and the latter in his 1998 debut "Clay Pigeons" -- neither of which I particularly cared for. "Wedding Crashers," while imperfect (at 119 minutes it's too long for a movie of this sort, almost wastes Walken and buys into chick-flick clichés a little too wholeheartedly), is a vast improvement over Dobkin's previous efforts. Much of this is attributable to Wilson and especially Vaughn, whose performance stands alongside his best, i.e. "Swingers," "Made" and "Old School." Though this is their third movie together (the other two being "Zoolander" and "Starsky and Hutch"), it's the first in which they're given apt time to properly interact. Wilson's lackadaisical stoner shtick and Vaughn's rapid-fire recitations combine for combustible comedic chemistry. That they're teaming up again for the upcoming comedy "Outsourced" is an indication of more good things to come.