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Movie Review:
Barbershop, Ice Cube
BARBERSHOP
Director: Tim Story
Writer: Mark Brown
Starring: Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, Eve, Sean Patrick Thomas
Distributor: MGM
Runtime: 102 minutes
[Sidebar: I watched this movie quite some time ago, and my memory's not what it used to be, so bear with me.]
In typical Hollywood fashion, hype is what makes or breaks a movie. For instance, a movie with too much hype can end up being buried under all those press releases (Pearl Harbor comes to mind). On the flip side, a movie with initially little to no buzz can surprise critics and studios alike with its escalating box office gross (My Big Fat Greek Wedding is one). Barbershop would fall somewhere between these extremities. While Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, Eve, and Sean Patrick Thomas all star, Barbershop received mediocre studio support with its release. Good word of mouth kept the movie alive and at the top of the box office for several weeks. Ice Cube is laughing all the way to the bank.
But before he can do just that, in typical Happygrrls fashion, we decided to check out Barbershop to see if it's as good as its $65+ million gross to date suggests.
Catching a weekday matinee (as my ghetto days are still not quite over), Michelle and I were two of six people in the theatre. Which meant we could eat our rice cakes with unadulterated glee without having to worry about bothering the people next to us. As the opening scene began, I sat back and let the Ice Cube goodness wash over me. After all, he is number ten on my To-Do List.
Ice Cube plays Calvin, the owner of the titular Barbershop. Apparently, his father had passed on the legacy. From the beginning we can surmise that Calvin is having trouble with the store. More specifically, it isn't making any money for him, and his father had been running it into the ground well before passing away. Working at the Barbershop is the typical ensemble cast - Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer), the patriarch; Terry (Eve), the hot-tempered female employee; Jimmy (Sean Patrick Thomas), the pretentious guy with a chip on his shoulder; Isaac (Troy Garity), the white boy with the gold chains and black girlfriend; Dinka (Leonard Howze), the shy, love-struck hair-sweeper-person who quotes Pablo Neruda; and Ricky (Michael Ealy), Calvin's protégé with a prison record. The movie takes course over one day, which I'm presuming is a Saturday, although I don't think there's any indication. The audience is quickly introduced to the key players, and within minutes it becomes clear as to what they're all about. We also meet JD (Anthony Anderson) and Billy (Lahmard J. Tate), two bumbling fools who have stolen an ATM machine from a store near the Barbershop.
As far as plots go, Barbershop is not at all like Mission: Impossible (which took me a while to figure out). Calvin plans to sell the shop to Lester (Keith David), a slimy used car auto dealer who is known in these parts as a small-time loan shark. Lester promises to keep the Barbershop as is and pays Calvin, only to renege on the deal. Calvin attempts to get the Barbershop back, but is told that the payout will be more than what Lester initially gave him. Meanwhile, JD and Billy try, unsuccessfully, to open the ATM machine. There are other stories involved as well, but some are so contrived that they're not worth a mention.
Barbershop is more than a comedy (or not at all, I know I hardly laughed) - it delves into human relationships and touches on the subject of loyalty, between friends as well as in a community. It's not so ambitious as to explore the human condition or the motivators behind the character's actions, and that's what makes it an enjoyable film. The movie instead focuses on the subculture of the Barbershop, and thus makes the audience care about its fate. The characters come through as mere caricatures, but with some good acting it's hardly noticeable. Eve surprisingly turns out a decent performance, although a majority of her scenes call for yelling and more yelling. Ice Cube plays Calvin with a sure hand, and Michael Ealy doesn't chew the scenery (as most young actors would) playing a reformed delinquent with a questionable future. As for JD and Billy's characters, their hijinx grew old real fast.
The problem with Barbershop is, as with most movies, its ending. I felt like it was Christmas all over again and the writers had handed me a neatly wrapped gift. It felt calculated and unnatural, and while everything was tied up neatly, it left me wondering if the writers had run out of time or had simply grown bored. Not even Ice Cube could save that ending.
One part of the movie that I must point out is a scene between Calvin and Ricky. Calvin is driving while Ricky is seated in the passenger seat. For some odd editing reason, the scene opens to reveal Ricky staring out the window, his mouth hanging wide open. This scene lasts for about ten seconds, but it was one of the most hilarious ten seconds of my life. It reminded me of the time I stared at the wall after taking too much Nyquil. I pointed it out to Michelle, but she couldn't understand why I was rolling on the floor. For that scene alone, I recommend watching Barbershop. ¤ C.Ho.
BARBERSHOP:
out of 5