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FILM CRITIQUE:
"Barbershop" is a wonderful movie. This movie is SO good that it
is practically guaranteed to end up on my list of 10 Best Movies for 2002. "Barbershop" opens up a whole new
world for anyone who has never before been aware of the importance that the barbershop plays in the social and cultural life
of the Black community.
It is a also revelation as it is to my knowledge the first Black movie
that might end up a crossover hit with White audiences as well. While Black audiences will patronize both Black and White
films, very few members of the White film going public will go out of their way to patronize a movie with a strictly Black
outlook. This movie deserves to be the exception to that rule.
In the old saw that no publicity is bad publicity, thank goodness
for all the silly noise that the Reverends Jackson and Sharpton have raised about this movie. Maybe all the press attention
that those two have received will raise the buzz level about "Barbershop" to the point that more people will be
influenced to see this very fine film.
"Barbershop" has everything a good movie should have. First,
a complex story line with convoluted plots intricately meshed together, just like in the real world. Furthermore, all
of the characters' lives are spelled out with personalities so well developed that they immediately become real people, people
just like us with their own dreams and aspirations and hopes and fears along with a lot of personal disappointments.
Now, it is impossible to have these complex characterizations in
a movie without intelligent writing and direction, and "Barbershop" has these in abundance. This movie has a
large cast of colorful characters whose portraits the movie draws with considerable sensitivity and intelligence along with
a great deal of love.
In that sense this movie is very much like one of my other favorite
movies of this year, John Sayles' "Sunshine State," in that in both of these movies each character is credibly
drawn with actions and dialogue that flesh out each person into realizable individuals who then becomes as flesh and blood
on the silver screen. This is the hallmark of an intelligently written and smartly directed movie.
There are also similarities of "Barbershop" to other classic tales of years past, so, in essence, this movie
ends up as not only being an updating of these much loved stories, but also represents a cultural crossing point with which
all ethnic groups striving for the American dream can identify.
The first of two stories that "Barbershop" most resembles is that
of "The Honeymooners." Yes, the lead character, Calvin (Ice Cube) is the Ralph Kramden of today, a dreamer constantly
scheming to better his life while his patient and loving wife knows better.
Like Kramden's wife, Audrey Meadows, Calvin's wife, Jennifer (Jazmin Lewis) has long since realized that Calvin has a
good thing in the South Side Chicago barbershop that he has inherited from his father. It won't make him rich, but it is a
respectable life and the barbershop is also an invaluable asset to the community. So she patiently waits for Calvin to come
to his senses and realize that all his cockamamie get-rich-quick schemes are just that, schemin' and dreamin' with little
or nothing worthwhile to come of it.
The second, and better, comparison would be with, surprisingly enough, that of Frank Capra's beloved 1946 movie, "It's
a Wonderful Life." Like the George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) character in that movie, Calvin is never satisfied with his
small lot in life. He wants to go places to make it big and be somebody. Both George and Calvin count their potential blessings
to be in the obvious forms like fame and fortune and travel rather than their having done the many small kindnesses that they
each have long done for other people.
Each has inherited a small business along with the reputation and the respect of their fathers, the former owners and
founders of these businesses, handed to them on a silver platter, but neither counts the gift as being of any value.
In the Capra movie, evil, other than George Bailey's inner demons, is personified by Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore), who
is a cold, calculating materialist living only for the bottom line. In "Barbershop," evil, other than Calvin's inner
dreams for a lifestyle of the rich and famous, is similarly personified by the role of Lester (Keith David), the strutting
peacock of a loan shark, who wants to take over the barbershop and turn it into a nightclub.
Each has to lose their dream before they are able to see the value of what they have lost. Calvin falls into Lester's
clutches before he comes to his senses and realizes what a good thing he has had as a respected counselor and friend to his
community. George Bailey has Clarence the Angel to help him out of his dilemma while Calvin has a wandering ATM machine provide
the machinations, if you will, for the salvation of this equally trapped soul and his newfound dream from extinction.
"Barbershop" takes place in the dead of a cold and snowy Chicago winter. While there is not a Christmas tree
or a holiday decoration anywhere in the film, this movie could, and should, become the modern rendition of "It's a Wonderful
Life" for Black people everywhere around the Christmas season.
And, did I also mention that this movie was very funny, as well? "Barbershop" has the additional advantage of
having a lot, and I mean a LOT, of good natured ethnic humor thrown into this film.
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FILM SYNOPSIS:
Calvin is experimenting with a recording studio set up in his garage when something goes wrong and half the equipment
goes up in smoke. His loving, very pregnant wife, Jennifer (Jazmin Lewis), has seen all this before. Calvin is a dreamer who
has hopes of striking it rich with one great recording contract so that he and Jennifer and their child can move into Steadman
Graham's $3.5 million house down next door to Oprah Winfrey's mansion in Indiana.
Reminded that he is late for work, Calvin trudges off to his barbershop in the dead of a frigid Chicago winter to unlock
the steel gates and open up his store for business. Police cars with their flashing lights announce another break-in at the
mini mart across the street. Calvin waves at the Indian owner and gives him a "thumbs up" sign of encouragement.
It later develops that the ATM machine in front of the store had been ripped off its foundation and carted away.
Calvin had inherited the barbershop from his father, who was an icon in the community. Murals of Blacks adorn the walls
and photographs of famous customers from the past hang everywhere. The place has a strong sense of community history in a
building that has, unfortunately, decayed to the point of dereliction.
His barbershop has remained the institution that his dad built up where everyone in the community is welcome to come in
and discuss whatever is on their mind, whether it be the issues of the day or who needs whose "booty" and how they
will manage to get it.
Calvin knows his business, but he is not happy with it as he has never been able to get any real money out of it. Oh,
the place is usually filled with clients, but few of them are able to pay and even the chairs that he rents out to his associate
barbers offer little additional income as they face the same customer payment problems that he does.
There is Eddie (Cedric, the Entertainer), the oldest of the barbers and the only holdover from the days when Calvin’s
dad ran the business. His business lately has been to hold court with everyone about everything as no one can remember the
last time he cut anyone's hair. When the conversation starts to drag, you can be assured that Eddie will come to the rescue
by throwing out another verbal hand grenade guaranteed to shock everyone into another round of animated discussion. Even those
of you have seen the previews of Eddie doing his thing can be assured that his commentary will still leave you rolling in
the aisles in laughter.
The other barbers include Jimmy James (Sean-Patrick Thomas), who, like the mailman on "Cheers," thinks that
he knows everything about everything and is quick and more than happy to show off his intelligence by correcting what he thinks
are the errors in the statements of the others. Young and handsome and smartly coifed, Jimmy views his status as a barber
as temporary until a better job opportunity comes along.
Most of his correctional venting is sent in the direction of Troy Garrity (Isaac Rosenberg), the lone non-Black in the
shop. Troy is of Hispanic origin, but his heart and his lifestyle and even his girlfriend are Black. Troy chats with all the
patrons of the shop, but he mostly occupies space as none of the Black clients trust him to be Black enough to cut their do's
in the proper manner.
The one girl in the shop, Terri Jones (Rapper Eve), has long bleached blonde tresses and an abusive, narcissistic boyfriend
who is constantly cheating on her She also has a penchant for her special jar of chilled apple juice which is constantly being
pilfered from the aged refrigerator in the back room of the shop. This sends her into a frenzy of recriminations against her
fellow barbers, as none of them will 'fess up as to who is doing it.
She is, however, basically a nice, sweet girl with a weakness for good-looking, smooth talking men who will, no doubt,
all end up doing her wrong. Eve is looking in the wrong direction for love when the right guy just might be working at the
chair next to hers.
That chair is worked by Dinka (Leonard Howze), a huge, cuddly teddy bear of a man with a thick accent giving away his
Nigerian origins. Dinka is sweet on Eve, but doesn't know how to make a move on her. Furthermore, he considers himself not
up to the level of the smooth operators that he sees her going with, so he has been going to Troy Garrity for advice in the
romance department.
Finally, there is Ricky (Michael Ealy), a small Black man with a very troubled background. Recently out of jail for the
second time, another conviction on anything will lock him up for good. And Detective Williams (Tom Wright, from "Sunshine
State") has been sniffing around with the strongly held suspicion that Ricky has been involved in some of the local heists.
It is only through the good graces of Calvin that Ricky has an opportunity for a legitimate career, and he hopes to make
the best of it. Unfortunately, trouble is looming in the background and Ricky may lose his last chance for going straight.
That trouble with a capital "T" is in the form of two very inept thieves, JD (Anthony Anderson) and his friend,
Billy (Lahmard J. Tate), who were the two who were responsible for lifting that ATM machine from in front of the mini mart.
The trouble is, they used Ricky's truck to do the pulling and not only was the rear bumper left at the scene of the crime,
but the picture of the truck and its license plate will surely show up very clearly in the security camera shots.
First JD and his accomplice try to maneuver the very heavy ATM machine up to their apartment past a most rotund fellow
renter who always seems to be going in the other direction once they get started.
The ATM machine refuses to yield its treasure and they are forced to go from one place to another in order to try a new
method of cracking the ATM. From his grandmother's garage with a host of acetylene torches to a motel room rented for the
evening that they almost set on fire, this uncooperative AM machine begins to look more and more like either a bad dream or
a mill stone around their thieving necks. And each time they movie it to the next location, they run the risk of being seen
by the police patrols who are hot on the trail of that ATM.
One particularly funny scene has the policemen catching them in
the act of transporting the ATM, so they quickly prop it up against the side of a building and pretend to be using it
to access funds. And then the police man gets out of the police car because he needs some ready cash too!...
"Barbershop" is a great movie! Don't miss it!
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