Those who enjoy this spectacle think simply parading around as a
woman is amusing in itself. That’s really only true if those in drag are given something funny to do or say. (Monty Python, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis certainly proved it’s possible to accomplish this feat.)

“White Chicks” is another in a long line of projects to explore the
premise: Two (blank) guys dress up as women in order to (blank).

Everything from “Some Like It Hot” to “Sorority Boys” to TV’s “Bosom
Buddies” have built upon this idea. In this case, it’s “Two FBI guys dress up as women in order to foil a kidnapping plot.” The twist is, of course, it’s two BLACK guys dressing as WHITE women.

There’s such a fine line between stupid and clever.

Marlon and Shawn Wayans play FBI agents Marcus and Kevin Copeland. After a dismally unfunny drug sting gets them in hot water with the department, they are given the task of escorting the Wilson sisters (Maitland Ward and Anne Dudek) to a weekend bash in the Hamptons. The bureau believes these two spoiled socialites to be potential kidnapping victims.

When the sisters refuse to go along with their bodyguards, the men decide to impersonate them in order to catch the villains. A team of makeup artists and a vat of latex help pull off the scheme.

Before long they’re living life as the Wilsons, complete with all the baggage that accompanies the gig.

Considering the stars of “White Chicks” and its director (older brother Keenen Ivory Wayans) are the same crew responsible for the hilariously in-your-face blockbuster “Scary Movie,” their latest comedy is rather tame by comparison. It manages to veer from being truly offensive by not really targeting whites or women as much as uppity rich culture in general. It’s hard to get outraged when people like Paris Hilton and her skanky entourage are being mocked.

These moments are sporadically amusing, as when a fellow gal pal
throws a hissy fit about her anorexia while shopping for dresses. Yet, the movie relies far too heavily on scatological humor when trying to pad out the one-note script.

The Wayans have proven they’ll never turn down a good poop joke, no
matter what the context.

The one genuinely funny performance comes from Terry Crews (“Friday
After Next”), who portrays a famous NBA forward. The muscular bald man becomes obsessed with seducing one of the faux Wilson sisters because he’s found a “white girl with a black girl’s ass.”

Crews (a former NFL defensive end) is just so willing to be silly that it’s endearing. The sight of him giving a passionate rendition of Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” – the girliest of girly songs – results in the picture’s highlight. In fact, the filmmakers earn more laughs from that one tune than from all the other gags combined.

And speaking of combined laughs, it took six people to write this movie?

The Wayans trio and three other screenwriters are credited on “White Chicks.” This may account for why the movie ends up with way too many characters and a crime-oriented back story that’s confusing to follow.So why is there a kidnapping/ransom plot?

The sextet of scribes also explains the film’s uneven tone. One minute it’s sensitive and touchy-feely; the next it’s profane and misanthropic.

Critics likely will hammer “White Chicks” for being a movie that preys on racial stereotypes to provoke much of its shenanigans. The problem isn’t that the flick is too offensive in this sense – it’s not offensive enough. This is a watered-down, PG-13 picture that desperately needs to have the outrageous, anything-for-a-laugh quality of the R-rated “Scary Movie.”

Compared to the Wayans brothers’ previous hit, “White Chicks” is a pale stand-in.