Beauty Shop

This movie is a spin-off sequel to Barberer Shop 2: Back in Business. Gina is a hairstylist who opens up a beauty shop full of employees and customers more interested in speaking their minds than getting a cut.

Latifah does it again! Her charm lights up the screen. Gina's business starts off bad. Her own shop just looks bad. Luckily, her friends help her clean up the place and that's where she hires employees. She gets one of her white friends in the other shop to help her work there. Some of her black friends comes to help.

This is one of those comedies that doesn't uses f-words. The acting from Latifah, Woodard, Silverstone, and Bacon are great. Actually, I've never seen Bacon act like that in his entire film career. It's funny to see that. Bacon's character then gets jealous because Gina is doing much better than he has expected. The jokes are funny in this film.

If you just want to see a feel-good film, here it is!

Barbershop spin-off finds Latifah in Atlanta where she's recognized as the city's best hair stylist even though she works for a dandy, self-absorbed shop owner (Bacon). Ambitious and fed up with his disrespect, she quits her job then branches out and opens her own shop. Despite her undeniable talent, and the support of her devoted co-workers, she still has to learn how to endure the hardships of owning and operating her own business. The plot is a little too simple, and seems set up a bit too easily, but it's likable and pleasant with an appealing, first-rate cast. Bacon has an odd but amusing supporting role, and Latifah is an ideal leading woman. Laughs aren't always consistent but they are effective, and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. **½

More of a spin-off movie than it is a sequel to 2002 and 2004's Barbershop movies; Beauty Shop comes to us as the female rendition of the popular franchise. Beauty Shop gives us the return of Gina, played by Queen Latifah, from the second Barbershop movie. Gina has moved away from Chicago to Atlanta so her daughter can attend a prestigious music school. She has made a name for herself at a posh European-style salon owned by the famous hairstylist Jorge. After a scuffle with her boss, Gina decides to quit her job and achieve her dream of owning her own beauty shop. She brings with her, a few loyal customers along with another worker at the salon. With the help of her family and the electrician slash romantic interest who lives above the shop, Gina finds success with her beauty salon.

The cast of Beauty shop follows the same formula as the barbershop movies. There's the obvious ice cube parallel with Queen Latifah's Gina. The older and wiser stylist, the male form of Cedric the Entertainer's character, played by Alfre Woodard who quotes the wisdom of Maya Angelou to her customers. The token white worker is present with Alicia Silverstone, and the one opposite sex worker played by Eve in the barbershop has her counter part with Bryce Wilson's James. Also included in the film is everyone's favorite Huxtable, Keisha Knight Pullian, famous as Rudy Huxtable. And lastly, quite possibly my favorite part of the movie and funniest character in the movie, Kevin Bacon is hilarious as the egocentric Jorge. The cast works very well together and the fun they had while making the film shows in each scene.

While the cast is fun to watch, I still felt as though something in the film was missing. When watching Barbershop, that classic old town feel emits throughout the show. The characters are so fun to watch as we see their relationships with each other and their own personalities work and clash with each other. While watching Beauty shop, while the characters were fun to watch interact with each other, that feeling just isn't the same when you walk out. I left feeling somewhat unfulfilled.

However, after more reflection on the matter, I realized, that the mood of a beauty shop is no the same as the mood of a barbershop. Maybe I didn't feel the same, because, well, I'm not a woman. As with any television spin off, a movie spin off should be able to hold its own ground. It doesn't need to be a complete reference to its predecessor. Think of Frasier. One of the things that made the show so great was the fact that it held its on ground separate from Cheers. The same goes with Beauty Shop. Yes, it relies on a few references and relations to the barbershop movies, but other than that, it completely holds its own. Which, as I thought about it, made it more enjoyable to know that I wasn't watching the same movie in female form.

Beauty Shop is a fun movie to watch with a very solid cast. Queen Latifah does a fine job as Gina and makes and, more or less, makes up for her involvement with last year's Taxi. If for anything else, see the movie for Kevin Bacon, you wont be disappointed. Beauty shop is pretty enjoyable and is the closest to a hair cut ill come to. I give it 3 stars.(out of 5)

Beauty Shop is a wholesome movie. It is a refreshing change from the negative portrayal of females seen in most movies today. Beauty Shop captures the true qualities of women striving, surviving, and winning against all odds. There wasn't a strong storyline, just a message of how women of all cultures deal with cheating husbands, cosmetic surgery, gender and racial profiling, insecurity, and male chauvinism. Still these women roll with the punches to enjoy each other and celebrate the beauty within.

The underlining theme of the movie is Maya Angeleo's poem Phenomenal Woman, which can be seen in Gina Norris (Queen Latifa), the struggling entrepreneur trying to secure a future for her daughter Vanessa (Paige Hurd) a young talented pianist. Particularly colorful characters are "Catfish Rita" (Cheryl Underwood), Ms. Josephine (Alfre Woodard), Lynn (Alicia Silverstone), Darnell (Keshia Knight Pulliam) and Jorge (Kevin Bacon). It is has lots of humor, guaranteed to make you smile.

I really enjoyed this movie! And these words come from a complete pessimist of black films. I've never truly been fond of sequels but on this rare occasion Beauty Shop is arguably better than Barbershop 2.

The movies have several comparisons such as the ensemble effort and the moral values. Queen trades in Cedric the Entertainer, who played the older, wise yet hilarious barber for a female counterpart in Alfre Woodard. The white barber who couldn't catch a break is replaced by the white hairstylist with the same dilemma. Both films involve the financial hardships of trying to run a business while not being ran out of business. Unlike the original Barbershop films, Beauty Shop lacks the intensity but more than makes up for it with comedy.

And…the movie was funny! How could it fail? The support cast included comedians (or scene stealers) Sherri Shephard, Sheryl Underwood, Adele Givens, Ms. Laura and L'il JJ. But no one could compare with Kevin Bacon's performance as the Scandinavian stylist extraordinaire Jorge. At 50, he still looks like a man in his 30's. And while we're talking about the supporting cast, I can't forget to tell you about Keshia "L'il Rudy" Knight Pulliam. She's grown into a beautiful young woman and she's still a decent little actress. I just hope she doesn't go the dismal way of child stars and end up in the center on Hollywood Squares.

Who knew that when we saw Queen Latifah pushing those chess pieces off that large board in the Ladies First video that one day she would stand out as a gifted actress, singer and comedian. I guess she showed us