Movie Review - White Chicks (2004)

Country: United States

Language: English

Type of story: MtF Disguise

Is the protagonist Transgender? No.

Sexuality: Doesn’t change

Nudity: No

How I watched it: Netflix (Watch PG-13 version here).  There is also an unrated & uncut DVD version available on Amazon.

When I last watched it: July 11, 2025

Is White Chicks a crossdressing story or a body suit story? Or neither?

This review is going to be a little bit different. White Chicks is less about the transformation than it’s a vehicle for the Wayans brothers to perform their brand of comedy. 

My synopsis (spoiler-free): Two black FBI agents, Kevin (Shawn Wayans) and Marcus (Marlon Wayans), disguise themselves as a pair of white socialite sisters in order to expose a kidnapping plot.

* * Spoilers ahead * *

In addition to FBI agents, Keven and Marcus are disguise artists as well, donning disguises is part of their job.  But they're in hot water after botching up a drug bust. Their next assignment is to escort sisters Brittany (Maitland Ward) and Tiffany (Anne Dudek) to a fashion event in the Hamptons. The police suspect the sisters will be the next target of high-profile kidnappings.  During some shenanigans leaving the airport the four of them are in a car accident and both girls wind up with minor facial injuries.

Despite the superficial injuries, the sisters refuse to be seen in public and refuse to go to the Hamptons.  Kevin has the idea for him and Marcus to take their places.  He gets his hi-tech makeup and prosthetic friends to turn Kevin and Marcus into Brittany and Tiffany.

The transformation: We are treated to a transformation montage where the makeup and prosthetic team turn Kevin and Marcus into Brittany and Tiffany. There’s really not much to this scene as we see the team using computers to create molds and testing out the prosthetics.  The transformation in the movie is more fantasy than real life.  The prosthetics likely take a long time to put on and take off.  Also Brittany’s and Tiffany’s clothes shouldn’t fit Kevin and Marcus.  If they bought new clothes, it wasn’t shown in the montage.

Do they pass?  Well, they don’t look like the Wayans brothers.  But they don’t look like the real Brittany and Tiffany either.  Their white-chick personas have an uncanny valley… (uncanny valley-girl?) feeling to them.  They’re too tall and broad. Their skin is too perfect.  Their eyes are too blue.  Other characters do notice that the new Wilson sisters are taller than they used to be.

Gender and Sexuality: Gender isn’t really explored in this movie.  Neither Kevin nor Marcus really have any gender revelations.  They’re just playing a part for their job.  Marcus, of course, is the comic relief and is forced to go on a date with pro-basketball player Latrell (Terry Crews) which is played for laughs as Marcus is put in uncomfortable situations.

What else is there? OK, so there’s not really much to say about this movie in terms of TF/TG content. It’s really making fun of the rich white girl culture from the early 2000s. Remember Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie? Yeah. That’s what this movie was satirising. Of course, throw in the ‘Yo Mama’ jokes the Wayans are famous for, the fart jokes, the gross jokes, and you have a very different movie than I’m used to reviewing.

How it ends: The climax of the film happens at the fashion show as Kevin, Marcus, Tiffany, and Brittany are all on the stage at the same time.  The kidnappers attempt to kidnap the girls but are foiled by Kevin and Marcus.  Their disguises are uncovered. The three girlfriends admit the guys were much more fun than the real Tiffany and Brittany.

Random Thoughts:

• The Wilson sisters say a few off-color things to Kevin and Marcus in the beginning that they repeat when they first replace them.

• Lisa: “You got taller, too.” Marcus: “We got our knees done.” Tori: “You can do that?”

• ‘Yo Mama’ jokes.  Aw, man, that totally dates this film right? I remember growing up watching the Wayans tell ‘Yo Mama’ jokes on In Living Color.

• Marcus is lactose intolerant, so that just sets up the bathroom humor.

• Perhaps the most well-known scene in this movie is when Kevin and Marcus are in the car with Lisa, Tori, and Karen; and Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” comes on.  “This is our jam!” The girls start singing and grooving to it while the two guys try to sing along without knowing the words.

• “A Thousand Miles” comes up again later in the movie when Marcus is on a date with Latrell.  The song comes on and Latrell says, “I love this song!” and he starts singing and dancing to it. Marcus is mortified.

• A subplot in the movie is Marcus’s overbearing wife. It’s certainly a toxic relationship that’s played for laughs.  Especially as she starts noticing Marcus’s odd spending spree. At the end, Marcus oddly apologizes for… something.

• Occasionally, Marcus and Kevin have to swap back and forth - which is totally unrealistic considering how much work has to go into the real-life makeup the actors have to sit through.  Not just face and body prosthetics, but skin coloring, too.

• During the sleepover scene, Marcus is braiding Karen’s hair - but is giving her cornrows. When she sees them, she loves the look. “I think you might have been black in a previous life.”

• They show everyone at the beach.  So, in order for that scene to work, either the guys need to be in full body suits, or they have to spray themselves with body-coating makeup to cover up their darker skin (which it appears they do).

• Another subplot is Kevin pretending to be Latrell in order to flirt with the reporter (Rochelle Aytes) covering the fashion event.

• Goof? At the end of the movie, when they pull their wigs and faces off, magically their contacts come out too.

Overall impression. It's a fun movie for what it is - a Wayans brothers comedy.  I definitely laughed out loud at several of the jokes. Some of the jokes were crude and gross.