White Chicks DVD Review:

After their last case went disastrously wrong, FBI agents Kevin Copeland (Shawn Wayans) and Marcus Copeland (Marlon Wayans) are assigned babysitting duties for possible kidnap victim’s hotel heiresses the Wilson sisters. But when the girls refuse to go to the Hampton’s, the disgraced agents see this as their chance to get back in the FBI’s good graces and call in the agency’s top undercover makeup artists. Now Kevin and Marcus are Brittany and Tiffany and all they have to do is fit in with the rest of the rich and famous.

If you think that two black comedic actors dressing up as two high society, white girls will be a recipe for hilarity then you are going to be extremely disappointed.

When the poster for the movie actually says “From the makers of Scary Movie” alarm bells should instantly start ringing in your head warning you that this is going to be an appalling film. Trying to move away from parody and vulgarity, White Chicks is a concerted effort by the Wayans clan to make inroads in the mainstream market. The movie tries to mix a grandiose plot device with an underlying message of understanding women but just becomes irritating and clichéd.

By trying to bring down their approach from their usual over the top, rude level, the Wayans’ fails dramatically in trying to reach the audience that they are aiming for. You can’t figure out who they are trying to capture, as they are alienating the fans they already have and missing completely the people they are trying to gain. White Chicks is comedy at its most basic and the Wayans just don’t know how to raise it any higher than that. A one gag premise is dragged kicking and screaming through the film’s 97 minutes and none of it is original or at all interesting.

Shawn and Marlon Wayans are not bad comedic actors. Anyone who has seen Marlon in ‘The Lady Killers’ will know that given the right script he can actually provide a good quality performance but with this very basic script, he only gets the chance to produce a character that is one-dimensional and clichéd. Shawn doesn’t fair much better either. When the pair are playing the Wilson sisters, they try their best to caricature certain, very famous, hotel heiresses but a combination of appalling makeup effects and awful dialogue make the characters extremely repugnant. They might be trying to create a pair of unlikeable, toffee-nosed socialites but even the ‘black man in a white man’s world’ plot can’t save this from disaster.

The only plus side is some of the supporting cast. Jaime King, Brittany Daniel, Busy Philipps, Jessica Cauffiel, Maitland Ward and Anne Dudek all play the infighting, bitchy socialites extremely well. King and Daniel are especially good as the Wilson’s main rivals, the Vandergeld sisters.

White Chicks is a truly appalling attempt by the Wayans to become more mainstream. Full of clichés and no originality the film becomes almost painful to watch as it cements the opinion that the Brothers should go their separate ways and start with other more creative filmmakers.

Star Rating = *

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is good. The sharp picture quality brings the so-called comedy stylings of the Wayans’ brother’s film to life. The sound quality is also good with a strong emphasis on dialogue but don’t expect it to set your speakers alight.

BONUS FEATURES

Wayans Brothers Commentary
Director Keenen Ivory Wayans and stars Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans provide a chatty commentary track. With fun stories from the shoot, the brothers reveal what they had to go through to become white women. They also talk about the origins of the characters and story, with the director trying to be informative about his film style with his brothers have some fun. This is a decent commentary track from three people who really believe in the project.

How’d they do that? (The Makeup) (11.34 mins)

Director Keenen Ivory Wayans, special makeup creator Greg Cannon, cinematographer Steven Bernstein and stars Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Busy Phillips, Faune Chambers, Jessica Cauffiel, Anne Dudek and Maitland Ward take you behind the scenes of the makeup design for the movie. We see the five hour makeup been applied to the stars and what they had to go through to become ‘White Chicks’.

A Wayans Comedy (The idea, process and humour) (10.08 mins)

Director Keenen Ivory Wayans and stars Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Busy Phillips, Faune Chambers, Jessica Cauffiel, Jaime King, Drew Sidora and Terry Crews talk about the idea behind ‘White Chicks’. Highlighted as a cross culture comedy, the group talk about the plot, characters and what they think is funny.

Encore: On the Set (14.02 mins)

Director Keenen Ivory Wayans, producer Rick Alvorez, special makeup creator Greg Cannon and stars Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Busy Phillips, Faune Chambers, Jessica Cauffiel, Jaime King, Drew Sidora, Jessica Carpenter, Anne Dudek, Maitland Ward, Rochelle Aytes and Terry Crews take you onto the set of ‘White Chicks’. This featurette features a lot of footage from the previous two and offers nothing new to the viewer.

Filmographies
Text lists of the previous films involving director Keenen Ivory Wayans, Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans.

Trailers
Previews of ‘Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid’, ‘The Forgotten’, ‘Little Black Book’ and ‘Envy’

OVERALL

With only three featurettes and a commentary track, the DVD is a very average affair. The lack of deleted scenes of an extended makeup feature will disappoint fans of the film. An average DVD for an awful movie.

DVD Star Rating = * *

Jamie Kelwick

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