In need of a mental pick-me-up, I took Heaven along recently to see Dodgeball and White Chicks on back-to-back days.
Dodgeball was hilarious. Ben Stiller was especially funny as the arrogant villain. The main thing that struck me though was the writing. The humor was non-stop and ranged from subtle dialog (especially from Stiller's character) to blatant in-your-face physical stuff.
One other thing that caught my eye was another unique gem of a character named Gordon, played by Steven Root. He's probably best known as Jimmy from the long-running TV series NewsRadio, but his real fans will also remember him from off-beat characters like Milton from Office Space.
White Chicks was finny too, but I can't say that I enjoyed it nearly as much as Dodgeball. To me it was the same basic joke over and over again. Don't get me wrong, black men trying to pass for young white debutants was a funny joke, especially when the black men are both Wayans brothers, but for me the movie turned out to be just a nice funny diversion. It was uneven and wore thin on me the longer it went.
I typically judge movies on how well they engage me and wrap me in their story. A good movie lets me escape into another world for a couple of hours. For me, Dodgeball did it for me better than White Chicks did.
But then again, what do I know? While we were leaving the theaters, I asked Heaven which one she liked better, and without hesitation she said “White Chicks!”.