Barbershop
Barbershop is look into a not-so-ordinary day in the life of a Chicago barbershop's opinionated barbers and quirky patrons.
Story
''Calvin, I need a haircut. Like how you did to Ronnie last week: A little off the top, long in the back but not quite a shag, slope to the left like Gumby, Eddie Munster in the front, a lil' Wyclef on the right...'' Just a typical day at the barbershop. A stressed-out father-to-be Calvin (Ice Cube) inherits his father's shop on the south side of Chicago, where business is not exactly booming. In a moment of weakness, Calvin sells the business to a sleazy neighborhood loan shark who wants to turn the place into a strip club. Calvin regrets the deal the moment he makes it, realizing that his shop is more than a place for haircuts; it's a place where people meet, hang out and talk politics or current events, a family legacy important to both the community and the people who work there. Calvin tries to renege on the deal, but it's too late. He must now find a way to save the barbershop, or break the news to his staff. There is also a story line involving two buffoons who steal an ATM and spend the entire film trying to either hide it or break into it. Barbershop is not a groundbreaking comedy, but it's sweet and relatable and definitely has some good knee-slapping moments.
Acting
With his powerful performance as Doughboy in the 1991 drama Boyz N the Hood, Ice Cube proved he was a force to be reckoned with. More than a decade after his big screen debut, Ice Cube shows a gentler, softer side as Calvin in Barbershop. Calvin, for example, is the type of guy who at one point asks one of his employees to stop cussing. He does not revel in the spotlight here, but instead is quite content taking the back seat and letting the ensemble cast do their thing. Cedric the Entertainer (Serving Sara) actually steals the show as Eddie, one of Calvin's barbers who never actually cuts any hair: his specialty is the lost art of the straight-razor shave. Cedric gets into character--all the way down to Eddie's voice--and launches into one funny diatribe after another. Anthony Anderson also churns out a hilarious performance as JD, the bungling ATM thief. If you thought he was funny in Me, Myself and Irene, Big Momma's House and Two Can Play That Game, you will like him even more now. Also worth mentioning are Eve, Sean Patrick Thomas, Troy Garity, Michael Ealy, Leonard Earl Howze and Keith David, all of whom turn out really great performances.
Direction
In his big-screen directorial debut, Tim Story does a great job recreating an authentic, old-school inner-city barbershop. The fact that producers Robert Teitel and George Tillman, Jr. insisted on shooting the film in Chicago in the thick of winter only adds to the film's authenticity. The dingy walls are decorated with African-American art and photos of historical figures and locals who frequent the shop. The staff bickers about things that takes place in any work environment, including who ate whose lunch out of the fridge. The characters are all well developed, and the cast makes the film work in part because we all have someone similar to them in our lives. There is the cocky guy who thinks he's better than everyone, the white guy who think he's black and the friend who just can't bring herself to dump her cheating boyfriend. But despite all their infighting, the clients and staff have created a sort of dysfunctional family that works, and the barbershop is the backdrop for this familial microcosm. Keep an eye out for some of the shop's customers, who include the Chicago Bull's Jalen Rose, former Chicago Bear Shaun Gayle and probably a lot more I can't name.
Bottom Line
Director Tim Story brings a great script that takes a surprisingly sweet and comical look at a barbershop on the south side of Chicago to life through a very funny and talented ensemble cast.