David Dobkin's latest film "Wedding Crashers" may be to romantic comedy what "My Dinner with Andre" was to dining out. Both movies stand as tributes to the transcendent effect on ordinary events of articulate people saying really loopy things.

John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy Grey (Vince Vaughn) are divorce mediators by day who crash weddings in their free time. For these two slacker con artists life is good. Both their profession and hobby seem to represent a happy convergence of talent and opportunity. They share a knack for a kind of gonzo patter that leaves the listener slightly baffled but compliant.

In the opening sequence John and Jeremy are negotiating the final hurdle of a tricky divorce: who gets the frequent flyer miles. They break the stalemate by launching into a meandering discourse the relationship of frequent flyer miles to sex - or rather the lack of it. By the time they pause for a breath the husband is more than willing to give up the miles if the mediators would "just stop talking".

Once on the wedding circuit these two are in their element. They make up identities, make new friends and make-out with girls. They invade one of the most important moments in the lives of strangers and become the life of the party. Everyone seems happier for having met them though no one really knows who they are. And Jeremy and John are more than happy to keep it that way. This is an environment that rewards spin and that's what they do best.

What makes this work so well as comedy is the chemistry seems to percolate on every level. Both Wilson and Vaughn have an exceptional feel for the dialogue. When they launch into their goofy verbal riffs they are just hysterical. These two may be con artists but they aren't cynical, they're enthusiasts. They get caught up in the preposterous fictions they are spinning in a way that brings charming dyslexia to the story.

Wilson and Vaughn also click as a comedy team. There are lots of great moments in "Wedding Crashers" but the very best involve conversations between the two of them. They have a bickering affection for each other that warms up the movie.

Of course all good things must come to an end. At the biggest wedding of the season they meet their match. John falls for one of the bride's maids (Rachel McAdams) and her sister (Isla Fisher) falls for Jeremy. Suddenly they are in relationships that are becoming too complicated to manage with a few charming lies. John and Jeremy find themselves having to talk a little faster to stay ahead of the situation - here is where the movie should take off.

But instead, this is the one place the movie stumbles. Dobkin has a great touch with buddy-movie chemistry but seems at a loss at how to integrate the romantic element. The primary romance between John (Wilson) and Claire (McAdams) is played a little too straight and the comic momentum deflates without much to replace it. McAdams in particular is left hanging. She proved she has the chops for comedy in "Mean Girls" but in this movie she isn't allowed to join in the fun. As a result she doesn't really grab her share of the movie. In the key romantic exchange between her and Wilson, it's a side conversation between Wilson and Vaughn that gets the laughs and steals the scene.

Isla Fisher fares better playing Gloria, Claire's impulsive and borderline psycho sister pursuing the hapless Jeremy. She brings a wackiness that energizes her scenes with Vaughn.

While the second half of the movie doesn't quite sustain the comic momentum of the beginning, it still has plenty of laughs. And in the end, Wilson and Vaughn prove themselves to be one of the great comedy teams of the year.

Bruce Bulloch reviews movies at the Admiral regularly and can be reached at wseditor@robinsonnews.com