White Chicks

White Chicks
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans
Produced by
Screenplay by
  • Xavier Cook
  • Andy McElfresh
  • Michael Anthony Snowden
  • Keenen Ivory Wayans
  • Marlon Wayans
  • Shawn Wayans
Story by
  • Keenen Ivory Wayans
  • Marlon Wayans
  • Shawn Wayans
Starring
Music by Teddy Castellucci
Cinematography Steven Bernstein
Edited by
Production
company
Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing[2]
Release date
  • June 23, 2004 (2004-06-23)
Running time
 109 minutes[3]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $37 million[4]
Box office $113.1 million[4]

White Chicks is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, who wrote and produced alongside his brothers Shawn and Marlon Wayans. Distributed by Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures, Shawn and Marlon Wayans portray two African American male FBI agents who disguise themselves as two white women. The film was released in the United States on June 23, 2004. It has a 15% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and grossed $113.1 million worldwide against a budget of $37 million.

Plot

The plot begins in a convenience store where two FBI agent brothers who are posing as Cuban clerks, Kevin and Marcus Copeland (Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans), try to capture members of an organization that sells drugs inside ice cream boxes. Unfortunately, the first arrival turns out to be a genuine ice cream delivery, and the actual drug dealers manage to get away. The situation is worsened by the fact that Kevin and Marcus have decided to resolve this bust by themselves.

The FBI supervisor, Elliott Gordon (Frankie Faison), gives the two agents a last chance to remain in the FBI by giving them the duty of chauffeuring the mega-rich billionaire cruise line heiresses Brittany and Tiffany Wilson (Maitland Ward and Anne Dudek), who are arriving in town for Labor Day Weekend in the Hamptons, from a kidnapping plot (known as the socialite kidnappings). When the Wilson sisters get minor facial cuts in a car accident, Kevin scares them into staying in the hotel all weekend. Kevin and Marcus then disguise themselves as the Wilson sisters with heavy prosthetic makeup and clothing in order to save their jobs.

At the Royal Hampton hotel, Kevin and Marcus, now disguised as Brittany and Tiffany meet the Sisters' three best friends, Karen (Busy Philipps), Tori (Jessica Cauffiel), and Lisa (Jennifer Carpenter), and their rivals the Vandergeld sisters, Megan (Brittany Daniel) and Heather (Jaime King). They also encounter Karen's love interest, Heath, a broke and jobless actor who is also Heather's boyfriend. Kevin shows an interest in the news reporter Denise Porter (Rochelle Aytes) who is in the Hamptons to report on the Labor Day Weekend events. Marcus' wife Gina (Faune Chambers), whose relationship is already rocky, gets suspicious when she hears a woman's voice in the background during a phone conversation with Marcus. The woman (a sales assistant) is actually just trying to help Marcus get dressed in some very tight clothes. But Gina misinterprets them and assumes that Marcus is having an affair.

Meanwhile, pro basketball player Latrell Spencer (Terry Crews) takes an interest in Marcus, thinking that he is Tiffany and white. A date with Marcus/Tiffany is then auctioned off to Latrell during a charity dinner, much to Marcus's fear and Heather's jealousy. The next morning, at the beach, Kevin learns of Denise's desire to be wooed by a wealthy man as opposed to the men she usually sees and uses Latrell/Marcus's date to steal Latrell's car and house keys to take Denise on a date whilst pretending to be Latrell. When Kevin and Denise arrive at the house, they encounter Latrell's cleaner who he throws out and Kevin later gets attacked by Latrell's Rottweiler until he manages to trap the dog in a coat closet. As Kevin and Denise get close, he manages to gain some information relevant to the case of Ted Burton (the suspect they're after). Meanwhile, Marcus makes many attempts to repulse Latrell on their date while brushing off his many advances such as eating uncontrollably and messy, chewing off a hangnail on his big toe and farting. His attempts fail to do anything but amuse and further endear "Tiffany" to Latrell. Elsewhere, FBI agents Gomez and Harper investigate Marcus and Kevin's hotel room due to suspicion. In their search, they find the Wilson Sisters masks and panties and conclude that they are Marcus and Kevin in disguise.

At a nightclub, Latrell attempts to roofie Marcus in hopes of having sex only to be tricked into taking it himself and ends up in bed with Heath's best friend, Russ (Steven Grayhm). Marcus and Kevin beat Heather and Megan in a dance-off hoping to help Karen win Heath only to have Heather kiss him. Karen runs into the bathroom, and whilst vomiting and drunk, slips to Marcus and Kevin that Warren Vandergeld (John Heard) is really penniless, and has only recently paid Karen's father back for loans he has lent him. The next day, the real Brittany and Tiffany see their faces in a magazine due to the dance off in the nightclub, and they realize that two people are impersonating them. Gina and her friend, Shaunice (Drew Sidora), see Kevin as Brittany while visiting Marcus and believes that Marcus is "cheating" on her and leaves him in disbelief and hurt. The real Wilson sisters go to the hotel where agents Gomez and Harper undress them and pull at their faces and their hair, thinking they are Marcus and Kevin, only to find out that they're the real Wilson sisters and get suspended from their jobs. This leads to the chief finding out that Marcus and Kevin have been impersonating Brittany and Tiffany. Because of this, the chief fires the both of them. Later on, Kevin and Marcus then realize that Mr. Vandergeld has been behind the kidnappings, using the ransom money to keep his family in their luxurious lifestyle. Their attempts to notify their chief fall on deaf ears and so they pursue the case themselves.

At the fashion show, Kevin and Marcus replace the Vandergeld sisters on the catwalk which angers them and attempt to humiliate the Wilson sisters. Marcus stands up for Karen after she tells Heath she's tired of waiting for him and he callously brushes her off. After the Vandergeld sisters are foiled by the trio and humiliated off the catwalk, Marcus and Kevin are exposed by the real Wilson sisters, at which point Warren Vandergeld attempts to kidnap the Wilson sisters. He captures one of the real twins and Kevin, only to have his criminal activities and bankruptcy exposed. In the ensuing fight, Kevin is shot trying to protect Denise, and Latrell is shot trying to protect Marcus. The duo successfully captures Vandergeld whilst Gomez and Harper apprehend Heath and Russ. While thanking Latrell, Marcus peels his mask off, revealing that he is actually a black man. While Latrell is upset that Marcus is a man, he is mainly angry over the fact that Marcus is black. Marcus apologizes to Gina for constantly putting work before her, and the two make up, much to Shaunice's disapproval. Denise falls for Kevin after he took a bullet for her The movie ends with Tori, Lisa, and Karen admitting they liked Brittany and Tiffany a lot more when it was Marcus and Kevin, and the five agree to remain friends, promising to go shopping.

Cast

Production

Filming

Portions of the filming occurred in Chilliwack, British Columbia, including the exterior scenes of the Hamptons.[5]

Release

White Chicks was released in the US on June 23, 2004. Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment released the DVD in the United States on October 26, 2004.[6]

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $19.7 million in its opening weekend, taking the #2 spot. It finished with $70.8 million at the US box office, and $42 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $113.1 million, against a budget of $37 million.[4]

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes gives it an aggregate rating of 15%, based on 123 reviews, with an average rating of 3.7/10. The site's consensus reads that the film is a "scattershot comedy that's silly and obvious."[7] On Metacritic, the film has a rating of 41 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[8] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[9] Film critic Richard Roeper put the film at #1 on his list of the worst films of 2004, amongst claims of unconvincing prosthetics and racism. It was nominated for five Razzies, including Worst Picture, Worst Actress for the Wayans brothers in drag, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay and Worst Screen Couple, but failed to get any of those awards.[10]

Sequel

In 2009, a sequel to the film was announced by Sony,[11] though they later canceled the project.[12] In April 2014, Marlon Wayans expressed interest in a sequel.[13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Chito Childs, Erica (June 16, 2009). Fade to Black and White: Interracial Images in Popular Culture. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 193. ISBN 0742565416.
  2. 1 2 "White Chicks". American Film Institute. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
  3. ↑ "White Chicks (15)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
  4. 1 2 3 "White Chicks (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2013-08-19.
  5. ↑ "White Chicks". Tribute. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
  6. ↑ Rizzo, Francis III (2004-10-24). "White Chicks - Unrated and Uncut". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
  7. ↑ "White Chicks (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
  8. ↑ "White Chicks". Metacritic. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  9. ↑ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.
  10. ↑ "2004 RAZZIE Nominees & "Winners"". Razzies.com. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  11. ↑ "'White Chicks 2' Is On The Way". Screenrant.com. Retrieved 2014-05-01.
  12. ↑ ""White Chicks 2" is canceled by Sony Pictures". DVD World Report. Retrieved 2014-05-01.
  13. ↑ Witherspoon, Chris (2014-04-10). "Marlon Wayans talks 'White Chicks 2,' defends Nick Cannon in whiteface controversy". theGrio. Retrieved 2014-05-01.
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