White Chicks


White Chicks is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans. It stars Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans as two FBI agents who go undercover as two white stereotypical rich 'Beverly hill type teens' to solve a kidnapping plot. The film was theatrically released in the United States on June 23, 2004, and grossed $113.1 million worldwide against a budget of $37 million. It received mixed reviews on Metacritic and was nominated for five Razzies.

Plot

FBI agent Copeland brothers, Kevin and Marcus Anthony II, try to bust a drug dealer selling their product disguised as ice cream, but they botch it when a genuine ice-cream salesman shows up first. The two agents are offered a reprieve if they chauffeur the Wilson sisters, Brittany and Tiffany, a pair of rich but shallow socialite daughters of Wilson Cruiseliners CEO Andrew Wilson, safely to a weekend-long fashion event in The Hamptons, so they won't become the next victims in a string of high-profile kidnappings. But the Wilson sisters suffer minor facial scars in a car accident and refuse to be seen in public in such imperfect condition. Fearing for their jobs, Kevin scares the girls into staying at a hotel while he and Marcus disguise themselves as them and attend the event.
Kevin, disguised as Brittany, and Marcus, disguised as Tiffany, acquaint themselves with the sisters' three best friends - Lisa Anderson, Karen Googlestein, and Tori Willson - and encounter their rivals: the Vandergeld sisters, Heather and Megan. Unbeknownst to Kevin and Marcus, the sisters are being monitored by their colleagues, Vincent Gomez and Jake Harper, and their boss, Section Chief Elliott Gordon, who are undercover posing as hotel staff. At the hotel, pro-basketball player, Latrell Spencer, who has an assistant named Tony, takes a shine to Marcus/Tiffany, and Kevin takes a shine to New York One News reporter, Denise Porter.
At one of the Vandergelds' annual charity auction party that night, Latrell wins a dinner date with Marcus/Tiffany, while Kevin pretends to be Latrell to attract Denise, after hearing that she likes rich men. While the real Latrell takes Marcus/Tiffany to the La Bella restaurant, Kevin uses Latrell's car to drive Denise to Latrell's house, where he begins to solicit information about Ted Burton turning the tables on Warren Vandergeld, Heather and Megan's father. With Kevin becoming romantically involved with Denise and Marcus/Tiffany trying to reject Latrell to no avail, their combined antics put them under Gomez and Harper's suspicion.
At a nightclub, the "Wilsons" win a dance-off against the Vandergelds, and a drunken Karen slips to Kevin and Marcus that Warren Vandergeld is actually penniless and has been taking loans from her father. This makes the Copelands think that Warren is the mastermind behind the kidnappings. But before they can investigate, the real Brittany and Tiffany back at the hotel find out that they're being impersonated. As they arrive in the Hamptons to reveal their "clones", so do Marcus' wife, Gina, and her friend, Shaunice, having assumed that Marcus is cheating on Gina, Gomez and Harper also conclude that the Wilsons are being impersonated by two men and aim to expose them, only to inappropriately strip down the real Brittany and Tiffany in front of Gordon. They are subsequently suspended, and Gordon fires Kevin and Marcus after he discovers the truth. Having lost both his job, Marcus snaps at Kevin for his renegade ways, always dragging Marcus into trouble.
Later, Kevin and Marcus discover that Warren had funneled large sums of money through his modest charity. Marcus stops Kevin from notifying Gordon, convincing him that they should personally intervene to redeem themselves, and they contact Gomez and Harper to help resolve the case. Under disguise as the Wilson sisters, "they" are chosen to appear in the event's final fashion show, and the Vandergelds are furious that they were kicked off the catwalk by the boss, Aubrey, in favor of the Copelands/Wilsons, but the real Brittany and Tiffany also perform in the event. Karen refuses Heath who callously snubbed her in which Marcus punches him in the face. During the show, the Vandergeld sisters try to sabotage their "rivals", but end up being humiliated by Karen, Lisa and Tori, who discovered them on the catwalk.
After the real Brittany and Tiffany unmask Kevin and Marcus as imposters thus causing mass confusion between the foursome and the audience, Warren uses the opportunity to begin the kidnapping. However, he incorrectly captures Marcus/Tiffany and Brittany, which begins a fight between the Copeland brothers and Heath and Russ, a pair of friends Warren hired to get involved with the girls and aid in the kidnappings. Warren soon captures the real sisters and explains his financial troubles to his wife, Elaine, and daughters not knowing that Denise and her cameraman are recording his confession. In the ensuing fight, Kevin is nearly shot trying to protect Denise, Latrell is shot trying to protect Marcus/Tiffany, and Kevin shoots Warren in his shoulder.
Two men successfully capture Warren while Gomez and Harper apprehend Heath and Russ. Afterward, their true identities are revealed to all, and Latrell is dismayed that Marcus isn't actually "white". Gordon reinstates the Copeland brothers, Gomez, and Harper. Marcus clears things with Gina, Kevin and Denise begin a relationship, and Latrell wins over the real Brittany and Tiffany. Tori, Lisa, and Karen admit they liked Brittany and Tiffany a lot more when they were Marcus and Kevin. The five agree to remain friends and go shopping.

Cast

Production

Filming occurred partly in Chilliwack, British Columbia, including the exterior scenes at the Hamptons. Director Keenen Ivory Wayans also co-wrote and co-produced the film with his brothers.

Soundtrack

  1. "Latin Thugs" – Cypress Hill
  2. "Hey Ms. Wilson" – The Penfifteen Club
  3. "Shake It " – Jesse Jaymes
  4. "A Thousand Miles" – Vanessa Carlton
  5. "Realest Niggas" – 50 Cent, Notorious B.I.G.
  6. "White Girls" – Mighty Casey
  7. "Dance City" – Oscar Hernandez
  8. "Trouble" – P!nk
  9. "U Can't Touch This" – MC Hammer
  10. "Dance, Dance, Dance" – The Beach Boys
  11. "Guantanamera" – Jose Fernandez Diaz
  12. "It's My Life" – No Doubt
  13. " Boom Boom" – Britney Spears featuring Ying Yang Twins
  14. "Bounce" – Stock, IC Green
  15. "Get Low" – Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz featuring Ying Yang Twins
  16. "Crazy in Love" – Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z
  17. "It's Tricky" – Run–D.M.C.
  18. "This Love" – Maroon 5
  19. "No Control" – Blackfire
  20. "I Wanna Know" – Joe
  21. "Tipsy" – J-Kwon
  22. "Satisfaction" – Benny Benassi
  23. "Let's Get It Started" – Black Eyed Peas
  24. "Move Your Feet" – Junior Senior
  25. "I Need Your Love Tonight" – Elvis Presley
  26. "Girls Just Want to Have Fun' – Cyndi Lauper
  27. "TRU Homies" - TRU

    Release

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

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 box office in the United States, and $42 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $113.1 million, against a budget of $37 million. The film was released in the United Kingdom on October 15, 2004, and opened at #2, behind Shark Tale.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 15% based on 124 reviews and an average rating of 3.72/10, with the site's consensus stating that the film is a "scattershot comedy that's silly and obvious." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 41 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
In his negative review, Dave Kehr of New York Times stated that "Most movies require some suspension of disbelief. But White Chicks... requires something more radical than that. A full frontal lobotomy might be a good place to start." 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. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 1 and stars out of four and said "Here is a film so dreary and conventional that it took an act of the will to keep me in the theater." Owen Gleiberman from Entertainment Weekly said "A tawdry excuse for a movie, but it has a handful of shameless giggles", and rated the film "C+".
David Rooney of Variety gave a positive review, and stated that the film "scores more hits than misses." USA Todays Mike Clark rated it 3/4, and said "As with every other genre, there's a right way and a wrong way to handle dude-lawman comedies. Chicks does it right a lot of the time."
White Chicks was nominated for five Razzies, including Worst Picture, Worst Actress for the Wayans brothers in drag, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay and Worst Screen Couple. It lost in all categories. At the 2004 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the film received nominations for Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy, Worst On-Screen Couple, and Least "Special" Special Effects. Its only win was for Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy.

Sequel

In August 2009, a sequel to the film was announced by Sony, though they later cancelled the project. In April 2014, Marlon Wayans expressed interest in a sequel. A sequel was confirmed to be in the works in March 2018. On June 30, 2019, Terry Crews confirmed a sequel on the program Watch What Happens Live. Marlon Wayans confirmed that this information was not meant to leak, and that the deal had not yet been confirmed.