By Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance WriterTHERE ARE three ways to look at White Chicks starring Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans: silly, sillier, and even sillier.
White Chicks is a remix of the plot lines from Mrs. Doubtfire, Miss Congeniality and Bad Boys but without the wit and originality of any of those three.
The two Wayans brothers play two FBI agents, Kevin Copeland (Shawn) and Marcus Copeland (Marlon). In an attempt to save their jobs the two get the task of babysitting two bratty heiresses, who both seem to be vying for the dumb blonde award. Though the babysitting job should have been a simple assignment, Kevin and Marcus end up trying to impersonate these two 'white chicks'.
EXPECTATIONS
Any one who goes to watch this movie should lower their expectations. It's good for a few laughs, which wallow in the ludicrous, but nothing more. On average White Chicks has all the silliness that one has come to expect from Shawn and Marlon Wayans. However, it falls well below the Wayans' standard, which has often produced off-the-wall but smart comedy. White Chicks was conceived in the shallow end of the comedy pool.
The trouble with White Chicks is that it works on the perception that two black men dressed up as white women must be funny. As such, it pulls on a series of old gags, from the tried and true man dressed as woman comedy genre and throws them all at you, with a liberal dosage of body humour. Indeed, in today's era of metrosexuality and flamboyant drag queens, one should have to work much harder to make men dressed as women funny.
Tough calves protruding from below a miniskirt or the occasional g-string joke are simply not enough anymore. In addition to a weak plot, is a very weak idea of what women are like. If one even bothered to take the movie seriously, which would be a complete waste of time, it would be rather offensive.
SPOOFS
The eldest of the Wayans, Keenan Ivory Wayans, directs and scripts the story which was in part conceived by Shawn and Marlon. The family has a knack for spoofs, but this flick barely cuts it, there is nothing here that is likely to induce side-splitting laughter or have you wasting valuable company time as you explain to your co-worker how funny it was. Even the few funny moments are easily forgettable.
To top it off, neither Marcus nor Kevin have believable faces, they look like they are wearing masks. Rather than women, they look like scary Barbie dolls come to life and so one cannot imagine why anyone would believe their attempt to impersonate two women.
The Wayans have done better. The Wayans can do better. White Chicks is just an example of them scraping the bottom of the barrel. However, from the trailer you should have been able to tell that. So if you went to watch it and did not enjoy it, you deserved it; and if you do enjoy it, you deserve that too.
