Very few movies take my by surprise - that is - in a positive way. Usually, it's the other way around. I wait for a movie to come out, and I become disappointed.
Barbershop wasn't even on my radar screen. I hadn't seen any previews for it and any of the regular media stuff I peruse didn't mention the film. I ended up going to see it because it was #1 at the box office last week. I wanted to see what all of the fuss was all about.
What's it about?
Calvin (Ice Cube) is the owner of a barbershop in a not so nice part of Chicago. His grandfather started up the business, passing it down to his father. Once his father died, it became Calvin's.
Unfortunately, Calvin sees the barbershop as nothing more than a burden. It's not a money making venture and with a wife (Jazsmin Lewis) and a baby on the way, he wants to find a way to be able to build them a dream home - like the guest house that Stedman (Oprah's significant other) sleeps at.
Calvin has tried side ventures like getting a studio up and running and selling vitamins but all of these ideas never work out. With the financial pressures mounting (not being able to make all of his bills, including his property taxes on the barbershop), Calvin looks at ways to get out of his crunch. The one way is to sell it to shady business man Lester (Keith David).
While he ponders the consequences of the sale, Calvin does a lot of reflection on those who work for him and the customers who patronize his business. At the same time, he's dealing with the distraction of the business next door, getting broken into and whose atm machine was stolen.
His staff includes:
Terri (Eve) - she's the only female in a room full of mouthy men. She's half vulnerable woman and half mouthy feminist.
Ricky (Michael Ealy) - a twice convicted felon, who is under suspect for the recent atm theft.
Jimmy (Sean Patrick Thomas) - an irritating know it all who thinks that he has the answers to everything.
Issac (Troy Garity) - the only white guy in the bunch who acts more black than some of his other co-workers.
Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer) - the oldtimer barber, who tries to mentor (through comedy) his youngin' co-workers.
Does Calvin keep his shop? Do the thieves of the atm get caught? All this and SO MUCH MORE, can be found out once you go see the movie :).
I'm going to get the one major flaw out of the way. Just like The Brady Bunch, every thing gets wrapped up in the end. But you know what, by the time we got there, I really wanted that kind of ending. Weird, huh?!
Otherwise, this was a fantastic film.
I've never seen Ice Cube act. How bad is that! I was blown away at his subtle take of the character of Calvin. He came across as real, grounded (but a dreamer), and a man that at times, just didn't get was really important in this life time. His transformation was so interesting to watch. And dare I mention his chemistry with every single other character? Just fantastic.
Cedric the Entertainer was a hoot! There's this scene where Eddie goes into his philosophy about Rosa Parks, Jesse Jackson, and O.J. Simpson. It's so funny that it would be a great stand up piece on audio.
Eve added the right balance to the male dominated cast. As a woman who was constantly screwed over by her hot boyfriend, she was able to be b*tchy and vulnerable and believable at it.
The biggest acting surprise for me was Troy Garity. Recognize the name? Probably not. He's the son of Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden. I wondered how they were going to treat the presence of an only white male amongst an entire black cast. Issues about race weren't danced around. He jumped in and said every thing that was on his mind, just like his black counterparts did. Although I realize that this was scripted, I think that Troy handled it quite well. It came off sincere and real and it could have been very uncomfortable.
So I'm done gushing about the actors. Let's gush about the writer and director.
Writer Mark Brown didn't discover brain surgery with this story. It's been told many different times in many different forms. What he did though was weed out a lot of the extraneous garbage that gets in the way of a man coming to terms with what life is all about. In addition, the comedic lines of all of the actors were just hilarious. Even with some of the serious subjects touched, I found my self laughing so hard that I almost pee'd my pants.
Director Tim Story was amazing. He had such a talented cast. Instead of controlling them, it appeared that he let things naturally progress. He let Cedric be the comedian that he is without stifling his creativity. He didn't push different morals on to the audience. How? He kept the story moving at a very steady pace. When the characters were in the barbershop, I was reminded of the pace that Eddie Murphy took in Coming to America with those characters. It was impeccable timing that seemed natural but I'm sure, was difficult to pull off.
So, should you see this movie? Absolutely. Why? Because, it's not about race. It's not about class. It's about what really matters in life and no matter what your color is or how much money you have, it all comes down to what is in our hearts.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.