Rating- * * * * (4/5)
This is one of the first movies from ’02 that I have seen by rental and I came upon it amidst the studio crap-fest that is January. For those who don’t know, the movie year can basically be divided into three periods. The first third of the year (January to April) is when moviegoers are too occupied and busy with other things to go out and see movies and, knowing this, the studios decide to use this time to dump all their sub-par movies that no one will see anyway. The second third of the year (May to August) is when kids are out for the summer and adults have more time on their hands so, knowing this, the studio pulls out its big guns. Blockbuster, big budget movies with big name stars and oodles of special effects dominate the box office. Not always the most thoughtful, moving films but usually some pretty entertaining ones will come around. Then we come to the final period of the year (September to December) when the really good movies get released because the studios know that the Academy voters have the attention span of a goldfish and they want to keep their best stuff fresh in everyone’s minds as they fill out those ballots. Well, that was educational wasn’t it? Anyway, all of this is to say that since we are in that dread First Third of the year, the box-office is filled to the brim with studio crap and since my friends were dying to see a comedy, I suggested we go rent one, and Barbershop it was. My friends seemed less than impressed with this movie, probably because they were expecting a brainless, gross-out comedy like they might have seen had they gone to the theaters. Barbershop is anything but that; it is a refreshingly simple and light-hearted movie, clearly intended for minority audiences yet I found it much more entertaining than I have some of the other minority-aimed movies I’ve seen. The story follows an aspiring young record producer (Ice Cube) who has inherited his deceased father’s neighborhood barbershop. Most of the film takes place in the barbershop and illustrates the many diverse conversations that one might hear in a place such as the neighborhood barbershop. There is a colorful mix of characters including rapper Eve as a female barber having man trouble, Sean Patrick Thomas as a pseudo-intellectual who tries to enlighten the rest of his co-workers with useless information, and Troy Garity as the only white guy in the shop whom nobody takes seriously. But by far the highlight of this movie is Cedric the Entertainer as the wise-cracking Eddie, an old man who has worked at the barbershop for longer than anyone can remember as serves as the moral center for the entire shop. His mannerisms and comic timing absolutely make this movie and it is one of the best comic performances of the year. There are a few parallel plotlines, including one about some dimwitted criminals trying to crack open a stolen ATM machine (which unbeknownst to them contains no money), and a main plotline involving Ice Cube selling the barbershop and then realizing his mistake and trying to get it back. The plotline is a little unoriginal but it only serves to tie together the various wonderful conversations we get to listen in on in the barbershop. This is one of those films that is more about the experience than the story and this one is definitely a joy to watch from start to finish. I wouldn’t mind seeing two or three comedies like this a year instead of the brainless sex comedies and gross-out Farrelly Brothers movies. I recommend this one to anyone who can enjoy a simple story with great, enjoyable characters and some really funny dialogue without all the trappings of contemporary comedy.