DVD Review: Barbershop (B+)

Directed by Tim Story
Starring Ice Cube, Cedric The Entertainer and Sean Patrick Thomas
MPAA: PG-13
Grade: B+

Review by Scott Standish

Calvin Palmer has inherited his father's barbershop and is intent on keeping it in the family. However, financial pressures to provide for his family make him reconsider. The shop has become a neighborhood institution, where people can discuss the issues of the day and share a few laughs. But when Calvin considers the money he'd gain by selling and the fact that his wife has a baby on the way, he makes the move to sell.

What happens next really propels the movie Barbershop forward. Calvin sees just how much the shop means to the community and starts to have a change of heart. The change that Calvin (played quite well by Ice Cube) goes through seems real and therefore Barbershop is not just a wacky comedy set on Chicago's south side. This is a movie with lots of heart.

The joking, the arguments and the discussions among the staff and the patrons of Barbershop are very entertaining and at times a little insightful. Cedric the Entertainer has garnered some criticism for the remarks of his character Eddie (regarding Rosa Parks and OJ Simpson) but frankly, these remarks are from a character in a movie, not Cedric the Entertainer. And let's face it, not everyone in life has the same opinions and these opposing views are touch points for discussion. These arguments and discussions inside the Barbershop help to lend this film its authenticity and that's something that is sorely lacking in most Hollywood comedies today.

Barbershop is a very funny light comedy with a lot of heart. Highly recommended.

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