I’m still not sure whether I should be recommending you one of the most popular comedies of the early 2000s. I mean, you’ve probably seen it but if you haven’t, you don’t know what you’re missing. Plus, this is one of those movies with a huge replay value. You can watch it almost every year and it will still be funny. White Chicks is a hilarious Wayans Brothers comedy following two black FBI agents who go undercover as two white girls. So, they’re not only changing the color of their skin but also their gender. I’m guessing that a movie with a plot like this would be laughed out of the studio today. And the eighties were even wilder.
Do you remember the movie Soul Man starring C. Thomas Howell? You know the one about a white teen who disguises himself as a black man to attend Harvard? I think I rest my case. White Chicks went on to make almost $120 million on a $37 million budget, proving the audiences were hungry for this type of comedy. They were already signaling that just four years earlier when a slasher parody Scary Movie took the world by storm. Keenen Ivory Wayans made his first parody back in the eighties. He also stars in I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, a movie poking fun at the whole blaxploitation genre.
It’s funny to think that White Chicks was panned by critics at the time of its release. And it also received no less than five Razzie nominations. I, on the other hand, instantly fell in love with it. The atmosphere was just so bubbly, positive, and entertaining that I couldn’t believe it. And quickly this movie became one of those I go to when I want to cheer myself up. It features a lot of memorable scenes and great characters. White Chicks satirizes the characters of Paris Hilton and Nicky Rothschild complete with Hilton’s “cute little dog”. They were the two “it” girls during the early 2000s.
To be perfectly clear, this is a regular movie and not a parody. So, we will have the usual movie structure and a pretty straightforward plot. Just make sure you get your hands on the Unrated version of the movie featuring a running time of 1 hour and 54 minutes. I just love how this movie doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s the perfect amount of silly repurposing genre tropes and generating a lot of great jokes. Some will take you by surprise and some you’ll see coming a mile away. And the script is just pure perfection. I don’t know how many times have I said “Once you go black, you end up in a wheelchair”.
White Chicks is able to get away with all kinds of jokes, most of which are not politically correct. Again, it passes the Subversive Rabbit’s masterpiece comedy test with flying colors as it includes one hilarious shitting scene. Speaking of hilarious scenes, you’ve probably already seen the one where Terry Crews sings A Thousand Miles song just perfectly. His character almost stole the show from our leading duet. I also love the little game our two backup detectives are playing of who would they rather do. And then the questions start getting increasingly disturbing. When you think about it, it’s amazing just how many themes they crammed into this little movie.
Not only do you have the main story of identity switch along with a kidnapper sting operation but you also have different relationship and romantic subplots. Then there’s the rivalry between our undercover white chicks and the Vandergeld sisters. Finally, everything is happening in the Hamptons, another place ripe for exploitation. For example, the charity event is called South Hampton Nuclear Opposition Benefit AKA SNOB. And this is just a little background detail that’s going to put a smile on your face when you notice it. Finally, I just want to remind you of a highly underrated nineties masterpiece that is Don’t Be A Menace, my first Wayans movie.
Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans
Writers: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans
Cast: Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Busy Philipps, Frankie Faison, Terry Crews, Jennifer Carpenter
Fun Facts: Terry Crews did the scene where he sings A Thousand Miles in just one take. He actually likes the song in real life and knew it enough to pull this off.
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IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381707/
