Barbershop

This is definitely one great film. This film pretty much tells it like it really is in most barbershops in predominantly African-American neighborhoods. I remember what it was like when I would go with my dad to get my hair cut and it was pretty much like it is in the film. The barbershop I went to was the gathering for African-American men of all ages to not only socialize, but to gossip as well.

Also, about the controversy. I see no harm in what Cedric the Entertainer's character, Eddie, said. If some people were offended by it they really should go to a real barbershop and find out what people really say, especially Jesse Jackson himself.

When I first saw the plot and cast for this movie I was filled with little hope that this film would be any more than a stereotypical look at black/urban culture with the characters rhyming words for supposed comic effect ad the scriptwriter fitting a screenplay around the jokes. It us easy to forget that the film's protagonist, Ice Cube (who gave a fine performance) had just come off making the awful 'All About the Benjamins' which fell into the trap of so many of these comedies based around black people. Added to the fact that 'Barbershop' was released when there had been a spate of these sub-standard pictures such as 'How High', Friday After Next' and 'State Property', you can understand why I approached this movie with no expectations.

Thankfully I was proved wrong as 'Barbershop' followed a simple structure to work. It had solid direction, a commendable screenplay, was well acted but more important than any of that, it was a story worth telling and that is the one thing that good films have in common. However, this does not mean that this movie followed the conventional ways of Hollywood and 'sold out' to appeal to a mass audience. If anything pleased me most about the film it was the fact that it retained a true sense of representing the black community and credit for this goes to the high standards of dialogue and acting. People who live in the suburbs can watch in the knowledge that they're getting a window into another culture, while people in urban communities can watch this with a comforting sense of familiarity. Another reason for this is that the screenplay is informed enough to not 'pigeon hole'. The characters are well rounded, with both positive and negative traits and the movie is not surrounded by guns,single mothers and drugs. This is not not to say these issues are ignored, as they are connected with one the film's major plot strands but despite the mass media sterotype (to which not all black people are unaccountable) the 'ghettos' of America are primarily filled with honest, hard-working people who just trying to make the best of an unenviable situation. While previous urban films have made a point of blaming 'whitey' and 'the man' for the troubling issues surrounding black people, 'Barbershop' looks closer to home and encourages black people to take responsibility for themselves and to break away from nature of 'frontin' that is slowly paralysing urban communities. One of the films best quotes is 'Dont buy yourself a Benz when your living with your mama! And black people; please can we be on time for something other than free before 10 at the club'. I think this is a wonderful statement and it encourages black people to reject the notion of style over content as that is what the film does as well.

Added to this the well-rounded nature of the film is a diatribe from Cedric The Entertainer (who's performance is almost as hilarious as his stand-up act) about black icons such as Rosa Parks, Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King. This is probably the most provocative section of the film and initially made me question the validity of these icons but after reflection, it made me realized that even Martin Luther King was a human being with flaws but that doesn't take away from his legacy. Regardless what's been said about Jesse Jackson he's still the first black man to run for President and nothing will ever take that away from him.

While Cedric the Entertainer took most of the acting plaudits, this was a great ensemble piece that was well acted all round. My only gripe is that why can't other films of this nature stay true to black culture but also have a cinematic soul

Thanks Ice Cube. You did a great job in creating and showcasing a part of African-American life that was true-to-life. There were so many diverse elements that all came together, they seem too many to mention. But all of the main characters had a measure of character development and an intimacy that you couldn't forget.

Even the minor characters played a big role, such as Lamar (J. David Shanks). Though introduced briefly very early in the movie, he played a major- but again brief- role near the end. Minor character- major input. The robbery of the convenience store: five characters interwoven all with lessons to learn- Craig (Ice Cube), Ricky Nash (Michael Ealy), Detective Williams (Tom Wright), Samir (Parvesh Cheena) and, of course, JD (Anthony Anderson). The timing in various scenes were impeccable. The following sequence: the radio voice of Chicago deejay Howard Magee, Billy's mother (?), Gabby (Jasmine Randle), Billy (Lahmard J. Tate) and JD was wonderfully choreographed.

I know some will say, "Hey, it was predictable. I knew beforehand the resolution of some, most, or all of the character's plights." And that may be true. But it's the manner in which each character was interwoven- how one touched another and yet criss-crossed each other that gave this movie special meaning. How each character had their strengths or weaknesses to overcome. Great stories being told by Mark Brown, Don D. Scott, Marshall Todd and with Tim Story's direction. Every major character was (and is) a character study.

Terence Blanchard does an admirable job supporting the scenes with his score.

And regarding the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks controversy, the writers qualified that diatribe very clearly as it progressed. Did people hear just want they wanted to hear?

Another important feature that I admire was the honesty, sometimes brutal, on other issues such as foreigners owning businesses in the African-American community or how dangerous it can be for anyone living in certain parts of the "ghetto" or how we (yes I'm African-American) help keep each other from prospering.

It wasn't until I started viewing "Barbershop" a second time (and dissecting it) where I saw additional insightful and valuable revelations. An example being Hustle Guy (DeRay Davis). (Dogs and Pampers?) Many times we see the local hustler as a comedic tool, hustling whatever he/she can get their hands on. But he's only trying to earn a living- void of a storefront for lack of investment capital. And we find out how valuable Hustle Guy is, also, before the movie ends. Minor character- major message.

If you haven't seen it, see it. If you've seen it, and just saw it for it's entertainment value, see it again for some valuable lessons.

Not only will it be in my movie collection, but it will be used as a teaching tool for my grandsons (and granddaughters if I'm blessed with any).

Believe it or not, to me, Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer's character) was the most unbelievable. Not that Eddie wasn't valuable, because he was. It was Cedric's interpretation of Eddie and the lack of age lines on his face that was a pure turn off for me. For those reasons, I wanted to remove 1 point. But because of the strength of the other characters and the story, I'm keeping it a 10.

The 7.1 rating as of this writing is an injustice to the quality and caliber of this production.

I give it a $10.00 haircut plus a $5.00 tip.

Great job Ice Cube to you and your production company, Cube Vision. Great job.

I thought this was a pretty decent flick. I laughed out loud at least twice, which is OK, because this film is not really supposed to be hilarious, just sardonic, mostly. Cedric the Entertainer was good, but not truly believable as an elderly man. Ice Cube turned in a quite good performance. In some of his previous films, I had thought he was pretty good, but rather one-dimensional. ("Anaconda" "Three Kings") Here, he definitely extends his acting range enough to be taken seriously. And wherever the one-named "Eve" came from, she nailed her character. There's a lot more to this movie than the controversial lines from Eddie (Cedric). It was interesting to see some black characters be aware of, and concerned about, the pathologies in the black community. But I guess this is spoken of only in barbershops, or elsewhere away from whites. Overall, definitely worth a look. Grade: B+

An uneven but mostly entertaining comedy/drama, "Barbershop" stars Ice Cube as Calvin, the owner of a neighborhood barbershop that has been passed down in his family through the generations. Of course, it's more than just a barbershop; it's a cornerstone, where you go to laugh with friends and find out what's happening in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, that doesn't pay the bills, and Calvin, tired of barely scraping by, decides to sell the place to a local loan shark (Keith David).

The movie covers the events in and around the barbershop on the day Calvin sells it, changes his mind, and spends the rest of the day trying to get it back, along with several other sub-plots involving other characters in and around the shop (the most interesting being played by Cube and Cedric the Entertainer, both terrific actors).

Whenever the movie stays in the barbershop, it's usually a lot of fun, with some good, entertaining dialogue and witty interplay between the many characters (both barbers and customers). However, the film frequently cuts to an annoying and mostly unfunny sub-plot about two bumbling crooks (Anthony Anderson and Lahmard Tate) trying to break into a stolen ATM machine. This is almost entirely unrelated to anything else in the film, and even though it connects with the main plot at the end, it still feels like dead weight that could have easily been entirely cut from the movie.

This is a good movie, full of heart and worth checking out just for the performances by Cube and Cedric, as well as the good tunes on the soundtrack. It just has a few too many dry stretches and the irritating ATM sub-plot, which holds me back from whole-heartedly recommending it.