...a charmer of a comedy, rich in the traditions of American camaraderie.
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When I was very young, eight or ten, I thought about becoming a barber. It seemed like an agreeable, casual, social activity, visiting with people every day. The shop I frequented down the street from my house had only four chairs, a little smaller than the establishment pictured in 2002's "Barbershop" but on the same order. In my old neighborhood, the barbers were all Italian and the shop seemed to be thriving, but those are about the only differences in my experience and the one portrayed in the movie. The shop I knew was a comfortable place, redolent of talcum and after shave and filled with the endless patter of employees and patrons. It's the kind of atmosphere evoked by the movie "Barbershop," a charmer of a comedy, rich in the traditions of American camaraderie.
Ice Cube has never been more engaging than here as Calvin Palmer, the owner of a Chicago barbershop that's been in his family since his grandfather opened it in 1958. But times have gotten hard, and the neighborhood is only an echo of what it used to be. Still, the barbershop is the local center of the male black community, and a hum of vibrant energy resonates throughout the establishment. Ice Cube's screen presence as Calvin is laid-back and genial, his character a thoroughly decent human being who's trying to get ahead in life but just can't quite make it with the shop. Calvin's real ambition is to invest in a music studio, make some big cash for himself and his expectant wife, Jennifer (Jazsmin Lewis), and get out of the ghetto.
Calvin is so nice it never crosses his mind to maybe lay off a few of the half dozen barbers in his employ. And a good thing he doesn't, too, because it's their interaction with one another and with the customers that makes the movie such a pleasure. Among the barbers in Calvin's shop are Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer), an old-timer who rightly calls the barbershop the "cornerstone of the neighborhood; our own country club." Then there's Jimmy James (Sean Patrick Thomas), the college-educated intellectual who considers himself a step above everyone else; Terri Jones (Eve), the only woman cutting hair in the shop, angry at just breaking up with her boyfriend; Isaac Rosenberg (Troy Garity), the lone white guy in the place, a fellow who desperately, and patiently, wants to fit in; Ricky Nash (Michael Ealy), a two-time felon whom the police think may have committed another crime; and Dinka (Leonard Earl Howze), a sweetheart of a man, self styled as an "overweight barber from West Africa with a fondness for poetry."
As customers come and go through the shop, they bring their own unique personalities to the story--hustlers and lowlifes on occasion, to be sure, but mostly plain, respectable folks. Nevertheless, the moviemakers apparently felt they needed something a little more than simply the interplay of the barbers and patrons, so there are two subplots interweaved into the proceedings. The first involves Calvin's sale of the shop to a loan shark, Lester Wallace (Keith David), and Calvin's subsequent regrets. The second subplot involves the theft of an ATM machine by a pair of incompetent ninnies, JD (Anthony Anderson) and Billy (Lahmard Tate).
The subplots are amusing, especially the business of the ATM machine as the two guys haul it around the neighborhood unsuccessfully trying to find a way to bust into it, but these extra shenanigans are probably unnecessary. More important to the film's success are its sentiments. The film presents good people helping one another survive with good conversation and good vibes. Not that they don't argue in the shop, too, of course, and sometimes they come near to blows. That's part of the fun, and old Eddie is at the heart of the debates with his politically incorrect contentions. But as he says, "If we can't talk straight in a barbershop, then where can we talk straight? This ain't nothing but healthy conversation." In the end, the film is more than mere fun; it's an affirmation that people can be different, have their differences, and still get along; a satisfying, feel-good movie of the most welcome kind.
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[release]10701[/release]