After digging through Ice Cube's filmography and finding some mediocre films like All About the Benjamins and Janky Promoters I finally found a gem shining out from the pile. Barbershop is to smart to have its characters fall into an endless pit of clichés. It knows that somewhere these characters exist and they give them a sense of individuality. They are being themselves, not who they should be. And not what movies expect them to be.
Barbershop takes place all in one normal work day. Calvin (Cube) runs the barbershop that was once occupied by his father and grandfather. Calvin gets by working there, but isn't as into cutting hair as his former generations. Desperate to try and get his record company on its feet, he sells the shop to a shady loanshark named Lester (David). Regretting his deal, he tries to undue the damage and call of the negotiation but Lester refuses.
The other subplot is two bumbling thieves (Anderson and Tate) steal an ATM machine and spend the whole film trying to get inside to the money. Their antics are idiotic and sometimes humorous, but ultimately, these two subplots make the film a little less enjoyable.
When I look back on Barbershop, I will remember very funny dialog, realistic characters, and an enjoyable setting. I will not remember the loan shark or the idiot thieves. If the whole movie would've been set in a barbershop with these characters I would've loved it even more. The screenwriter and the director probably figured it would be "too boring." But with these characters it probably wouldn't.
The rating seems to hold back the film as well. A PG-13 rating on any comedy movie holds it back from being, not necessarily funny, but daring. Some comedies, like Just Married for example, could've been better if they would've gone further and not watered their material down. Barbershop doesn't water it down too much, but you can tell at times the characters are holding back their true feelings.
The employees at the barbershop are some of the funniest and cheeriest of people you'll ever meet. We have Ricky, a felon, Jimmy, a College graduate looking to make more out of his alive, Terri, a hostile women with a passion and devotion for apple juice, Issac, the token white barber who says he is just as black as the other employees in the shop, Dinka, the Nigerian barber with a love for poetry and harbors a crush on Terri, and my personal favorite, the sixty year old veteran barber Eddie who seems to be on a continuous break.
These characters have their own place and purpose, and each are as welcomed as the next. Barbershop has enough passion and soul to be labeled a drama or even realistic fiction. It's a comedy, but not always. I feel that if the two subplots were removed the tonality would completely change and we would have a bunch of people doing what they do best; talking and cutting hair. It's more than a barbershop, it's a constant social hour amongst employees and customers.
Starring: Ice Cube, Anthony Anderson, Sean Patrick Thomas, Eve, Michael Ealy, Troy Garity, Leonard Earl Howze, Keith David, Lahmard Tate, DeRay Davis, and Cedric the Entertainer. Directed by: Tim Story.
Barbershop takes place all in one normal work day. Calvin (Cube) runs the barbershop that was once occupied by his father and grandfather. Calvin gets by working there, but isn't as into cutting hair as his former generations. Desperate to try and get his record company on its feet, he sells the shop to a shady loanshark named Lester (David). Regretting his deal, he tries to undue the damage and call of the negotiation but Lester refuses.
The other subplot is two bumbling thieves (Anderson and Tate) steal an ATM machine and spend the whole film trying to get inside to the money. Their antics are idiotic and sometimes humorous, but ultimately, these two subplots make the film a little less enjoyable.
When I look back on Barbershop, I will remember very funny dialog, realistic characters, and an enjoyable setting. I will not remember the loan shark or the idiot thieves. If the whole movie would've been set in a barbershop with these characters I would've loved it even more. The screenwriter and the director probably figured it would be "too boring." But with these characters it probably wouldn't.
The rating seems to hold back the film as well. A PG-13 rating on any comedy movie holds it back from being, not necessarily funny, but daring. Some comedies, like Just Married for example, could've been better if they would've gone further and not watered their material down. Barbershop doesn't water it down too much, but you can tell at times the characters are holding back their true feelings.
The employees at the barbershop are some of the funniest and cheeriest of people you'll ever meet. We have Ricky, a felon, Jimmy, a College graduate looking to make more out of his alive, Terri, a hostile women with a passion and devotion for apple juice, Issac, the token white barber who says he is just as black as the other employees in the shop, Dinka, the Nigerian barber with a love for poetry and harbors a crush on Terri, and my personal favorite, the sixty year old veteran barber Eddie who seems to be on a continuous break.
These characters have their own place and purpose, and each are as welcomed as the next. Barbershop has enough passion and soul to be labeled a drama or even realistic fiction. It's a comedy, but not always. I feel that if the two subplots were removed the tonality would completely change and we would have a bunch of people doing what they do best; talking and cutting hair. It's more than a barbershop, it's a constant social hour amongst employees and customers.
Starring: Ice Cube, Anthony Anderson, Sean Patrick Thomas, Eve, Michael Ealy, Troy Garity, Leonard Earl Howze, Keith David, Lahmard Tate, DeRay Davis, and Cedric the Entertainer. Directed by: Tim Story.