White Chicks (*theatrical cut)
2004
Cast: Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Jaime King, Frankie Faison, Lochlyn Munro, John Heard
Genre: Comedy
Worldwide Box Office Gross: over $113 million
Plot: Two disgraced FBI agents go way undercover in an effort to protect hotel heiresses, the Wilson sisters, from a kidnapping plot
'Not A Chick Flick, But A Drag Comedy Where Laughs Aren't Aplenty'
Mrs Doubtfire meets Big Momma's House in Whiteface in this undercover crime caper comedy that doubles up as a drag film.
After two FBI agents accidentally foil what they thought was a drug bust, brothers Marcus and Kevin are forcibly assigned to protect the Wilson sisters, a pair of air-headed socialites who are the target of kidnappers. When it fails, our heroes cover it up by posing as them in disguise and with that things become a tad more interesting, as well as get out of hand with plot twists and pratfalls, courtesy of the Wayans brothers themselves.
The slapstick is a hit- and- miss affair, with some of it landing and others, had a Deja- vu feel to it, whereas the heroes' white face disguises don't look realistic, convincing nor believable in the sense that, in real life, anyone won't be easily fooled into thinking they are White people. The make-up itself is supposed to be the draw of this film and serves as a plot device -, but because the make-up artist or whoever was responsible for it didn't do a good job with it, it nearly manages to overthrow the entire movie.
But hey, this is a comedy where it is played out for fun and so there wasn't any intention of White Chicks being edgy or smart. It exists to entertain and make people laugh, - yet which in itself, it doesn't do enough in and do it well. For the most part, the performances are not bad; it's just unfortunate the comedy and humour weren't strong enough to bring out the best in the Wayans' brothers comedic talents.
Given the general wackiness of the Wayans bros. style of comedy, I expected this to be as consistently humourous as Mrs Doubtfire in the ''men dressed as women'' scheme of things, but it just didn't go as far as that offering. The detective plot, which was also featured in the similarly Big Momma's House, doesn't hold up well, - though I must admit it did engage me a little if no more here than the Martin Lawrence movie.
Whilst it isn't horrifically bad as others have deemed it, although I predicted White Chicks to be way funnier as I thought it would be, in the end, it just wasn't to be and had it had a bit more going for it, this would have been one of my guilty pleasure flicks. It is a silly, dumb, low-brow comedy that appeals to fans of Mrs Doubtfire, Big Momma's House, Ace Ventura and some of Adam Sandler's comedies, & whilst there is no denying the cheap laughs are indeed there, the quantity and quality of the slapstick on display in White Chicks is slightly mediocre.
Final Verdict:
Comedy movies, especially low-brow comedies with silly humour and which are dumbed down require a suspension of disbelief, in order to get into them, but it is also whether we find them funny or not, and funny, humour and comedy are all subjective. There appears to be an uncut version of this film, and I'm presuming it is funnier and better than what I just saw, just for this review.
This being said, White Chicks is no way better than Mrs Doubtfire when it comes to modern-day drag comedies, but after years of writing this one, off, out of the two, I'd choose this film over Big Momma's House.
Overall:
2004
Cast: Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Jaime King, Frankie Faison, Lochlyn Munro, John Heard
Genre: Comedy
Worldwide Box Office Gross: over $113 million
Plot: Two disgraced FBI agents go way undercover in an effort to protect hotel heiresses, the Wilson sisters, from a kidnapping plot
'Not A Chick Flick, But A Drag Comedy Where Laughs Aren't Aplenty'
Mrs Doubtfire meets Big Momma's House in Whiteface in this undercover crime caper comedy that doubles up as a drag film.
After two FBI agents accidentally foil what they thought was a drug bust, brothers Marcus and Kevin are forcibly assigned to protect the Wilson sisters, a pair of air-headed socialites who are the target of kidnappers. When it fails, our heroes cover it up by posing as them in disguise and with that things become a tad more interesting, as well as get out of hand with plot twists and pratfalls, courtesy of the Wayans brothers themselves.
The slapstick is a hit- and- miss affair, with some of it landing and others, had a Deja- vu feel to it, whereas the heroes' white face disguises don't look realistic, convincing nor believable in the sense that, in real life, anyone won't be easily fooled into thinking they are White people. The make-up itself is supposed to be the draw of this film and serves as a plot device -, but because the make-up artist or whoever was responsible for it didn't do a good job with it, it nearly manages to overthrow the entire movie.
But hey, this is a comedy where it is played out for fun and so there wasn't any intention of White Chicks being edgy or smart. It exists to entertain and make people laugh, - yet which in itself, it doesn't do enough in and do it well. For the most part, the performances are not bad; it's just unfortunate the comedy and humour weren't strong enough to bring out the best in the Wayans' brothers comedic talents.
Given the general wackiness of the Wayans bros. style of comedy, I expected this to be as consistently humourous as Mrs Doubtfire in the ''men dressed as women'' scheme of things, but it just didn't go as far as that offering. The detective plot, which was also featured in the similarly Big Momma's House, doesn't hold up well, - though I must admit it did engage me a little if no more here than the Martin Lawrence movie.
Whilst it isn't horrifically bad as others have deemed it, although I predicted White Chicks to be way funnier as I thought it would be, in the end, it just wasn't to be and had it had a bit more going for it, this would have been one of my guilty pleasure flicks. It is a silly, dumb, low-brow comedy that appeals to fans of Mrs Doubtfire, Big Momma's House, Ace Ventura and some of Adam Sandler's comedies, & whilst there is no denying the cheap laughs are indeed there, the quantity and quality of the slapstick on display in White Chicks is slightly mediocre.
Final Verdict:
Comedy movies, especially low-brow comedies with silly humour and which are dumbed down require a suspension of disbelief, in order to get into them, but it is also whether we find them funny or not, and funny, humour and comedy are all subjective. There appears to be an uncut version of this film, and I'm presuming it is funnier and better than what I just saw, just for this review.
This being said, White Chicks is no way better than Mrs Doubtfire when it comes to modern-day drag comedies, but after years of writing this one, off, out of the two, I'd choose this film over Big Momma's House.
Overall:
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