White Chicks (2004) Movie Review

The Wayans brothers are desperately trying to get back on track after losing their Scary Movie franchise with a disappointing sequel and having no involvement at all with the third entry. Unfortunately, their new film, White Chicks, is a flat comedy of mistaken identities while poking fun of race and gender.

The whole concept of having two FBI agent brothers, Kevin (Shawn Wayans) and Marcus (Marlon Wayans), going undercover to stop a kidnapping ring as Paris and Nikki Hilton look-alikes is amusing all in itself. However, the joke runs out of gas quickly and the inconsistencies with wardrobe and more than anything the makeup on the two Wayans brothers seems more like a on-going skit from In Living Color, rather than a comedy out in the middle of summer.

White Chicks is a type of film that asks its audience to have a suspension of disbelief, which is understandable in terms of the Wayans brothers’ nature. However, the script, which is credited to a total of six writers builds up so much of a kidnapping plot that it is hard to falter the film when the holes that are left with no focus or resolution.

After screwing up a huge sting operation, FBI partners/brothers Marcus and Kevin are given one last assignment to protect two spoiled rich white sisters named Brittany (Maitland Ward) and Tiffany Wilson (Anne Dudek), whom are believed to be a next in line for a wanted kidnapper. As the two agents escort the Wilson sisters to the Hamptons for a glamorous weekend, a car accident leaves the girls in an intolerable state due to one’s cut to the forehead and the other’s busted lip. Not wanting to lose their job, Marcus and Kevin bring in latex experts to apply them with face masks and blond wigs, as well as bright blue contacts (though never touched on in the film). Leaving the snobbish sisters in a hotel, the two young black agents head to the Hamptons as the white Brittany and Tiffany. After meeting their similar friends and nemesis sisters, the two agents are constantly tested not blow their cover by any means necessary.

Besides a few typical bodily function gags, White Chicks does not offer up too many laughs. The first and last half-hour of the film are painfully boring, which is pretty embarrassing for a comedy. The Wayans brothers scored big with the first Scary Movie and seemed to be masters of their craft during their run of In Living Color, but White Chicks just does not work. It wants to aggressively touch on race and gender in a comedic and light-hearted way, but it never comes effectively close. White Chicks is something one would expect from the Wayans brothers, including their re-occurring theme of horrible editing and even taking few spoofs at other films (including Blazing Saddles and Carrie). The oldest brother Keenan Ivory Wayans directed the film from a script that all three brothers took a hand at.

On top of not being that funny and the minefield of attempted plot points, the biggest problem with the film is the believability of the Wayans as the two white chicks themselves. Looking like robotic aliens with terrible latex, unbrushed curves, and nearly a foot taller than the actual white chicks, every other person in the film sees these two FBI agents as the real Brittany and Tiffany without any question. The Wayans’ created white chicks have absolutely no resemblance at all to the two actresses playing the brainless twin sisters. Perhaps the Wayans should have thought about enlisting the services of makeup master Rick Baker to work on this film.

The performances in the film are what one would expect. Marlon Wayans is actually more patient, but still becomes obnoxious on occasion as Marcus. As Kevin, Shawn Wayans is still a step behind his brother, even though he does stretch his abilities with some romantic moments in the film. All of the spoiled socialites in the film, which include Jamie King, are suitable in their roles. Lastly, Terry Crews, who is usually cast as the muscle in a film delivers a humorous performance as a popular basketball player that has a interest in Marcus’ Tiffany.

A better comedy of this nature that nobody saw because it had no lead stars was the 1991 film True Identity, which had a struggling black comedian donning makeup as a Italian hitman to save his life from the Mafia. The suitable raunchiness of the Wayans brothers’ antics are tone down a bit for White Chicks, even though the moments of toilet humor are the best in the film. The whole concept of having two black FBI agents going undercover as two white chicks that are molded after the Hilton sisters seemed to be something workable. However, the film just misses and is pretty flaky, even if you dismiss the struggling script.