"That's a nice-a donut."

Tuesday, May 17, 2005


White Chicks

The Wayans (Shawn and Marlon and directed by Keenen Ivory) have done some solid work before in such films as Don't Be a Menace to South Central, Scary Movie, The Ladykillers, and Requiem for a Dream (no, I'm not kidding), unfortunately White Chicks is not among them. It is a rather lame - and surprisingly quite tame - comedy about a couple of young FBI agents who are assigned to protect a couple young slutty, rich White girls (sort of like Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie) from being abducted. They get in a silly accident and, fearing that they will lose their jobs, they convince the chicks that they should stay in their hotel and not go to the Hamptons as planned. Without the girl's knowledge, the agents arrange to go undercover as the girls - literally, with the faces, the hair, the mammary glands, and even the skin color.

Much of the comedy in this outrageous farce is of the more juvenile style that we have seen in numerous teen films over the years. There is bathroom humor galore. There is also the requisite enemy (the mean girl), as well as bonding with the girl's friends, and a shopping montage. Oh yeah... there is also that pesky backstory of the kidnapping plot. If you can answer the riddle of how these guys made it into the FBI, then you can probably also cure cancer and find the solution to eternal world peace.

I suppose the main appeal of the movie is that a couple of Black dudes aren't just playing women. No, they are playing White chicks! How daring of them! A smarter film would have had more fun playing with stereotypes of the races and perhaps even been a nice satire on race relations in general. As it is, there aren't even many gibes at White women; one of the few was a dig at the interchangeable Top-40 style music that many listen to. The kicker was that a big, Black football player (played by Terry Crews) likes that kind of music - further, he has a thing for White women in general. How original!

In the end, White Chicks is good for a mindless laugh or two, but it's pretty forgettable and not something to be seen over and over again. If you are looking for something in the men-being-women genre then you are better off going for the classics: Some Like it Hot, Tootsie, or even Mrs. Doubtfire.

The Verdict: C-.

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