Back Shelf Beauties
by Willie Waffle
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White
Chicks
Anyone who has ridden public transportation knows the shock of seeing a dude
dressed like a lady (just happened to me last week, and it wasn't pretty).
The two dudes dressed like ladies in this movie are the ugliest I have seen,
but they're funny sometimes.
Shawn and Marlon Wayans star as Kevin and Marcus - two overzealous FBI agents
in hot water. After screwing up a case they weren't supposed to be working,
Kevin and Marcus are facing the wrath of their chief (Frankie Faison), who
is ready to fire them, but he gives the two agents a chance for redemption.
Someone has been kidnapping the trust fund babies of the rich and famous
who party the summer away in The Hamptons, and The Wilson Sisters (Anne Dudek
and Maitland Ward) are the latest targets. Kevin and Marcus are told to pick
the two heiresses up at the airport and take them to their hotel, which seems
like an easy task, but they screw it up. Now, Marcus and Kevin must go undercover
pretending to be these white chicks to hide their incompetence from the chief
and solve the kidnapping case they aren't supposed to be working.
Can Kevin and Marcus catch the kidnappers?
We have seen plenty of movies where men have to dress up like women and find
themselves in all sorts of hilarious predicaments. All of the jokes are pretty
much the same, so White Chicks tries
to differentiate itself by becoming the raunchiest. Sometimes it works, sometimes
it doesn't.
While it provides all of the typical men-dressed-as-women jokes you expect,
White Chicks also has a fun sub-plot
that skewers the cult of celebrity for celebrity's sake. Some people call
them Celebutants, the rest of us call them spoiled rotten brats with millions
of dollars they didn't earn (Paris and Nicole Hilton, Nicole Richie), but
The Wayans Brothers and company (6 total writers for this?) keep
White Chicks from falling into total
predictability by setting up a celebutant feud between The Wilson Sisters
and The Vandergelts (Jaime King and Brittany Daniel), which results in the
movie's best laughs. They face the types of dilemmas only rich people have
to tackle as both sets of sisters try to be the trendiest girls who make
the gossip and society pages, but Marcus and Kevin upset the feud with their
street sense and ability to fight tougher than 18-year old spoiled, rich
girls can. It's a new angle on this age-old movie idea, and it works. The
rest of the movie is a rapid fire montage of expected, cliché plots
such as the crossdressing men learning a new appreciation for women, a superstar
male athlete (Terry Crews, funnier than he should be with this material)
chasing after the sisters for some lovin', and one of the guys falling for
his dream woman while she thinks he is a she, but Shawn and Marlon Wayans
keep you interested even when the jokes fall short.
The Wayans are likeable comedic actors, and that goes a long way. Director,
and big brother, Keenen Ivory Wayans does a great job allowing them to drive
the film and its comedy, which is a smart decision that makes up for a minor
league cast and passable script. Even with the worst of jokes, and there
are plenty, Shawn and Marlon can get a little bit of a chuckle from you simply
from their energy and performance. They have to strain through most of the
movie, but everyone who sees the film will laugh at something they have done.
White Chicks is a slapstick, silly, sometimes
crude comedy with some jokes that leave you laughing, and others that fall
very short of the mark.
2 Waffles (Out Of
4)
Copyright 2004 - WaffleMovies.com
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