Barbershop

Calvin Palmer (Cube) wants to be more than just a barber. After inheriting his father's shop two years ago, Calvin has tried every get rich quick scheme under the sun to try and make a better life for his pregnant girlfriend and him. The problem is that this has left him in debt and the bank is threatening to foreclose, so he panics and sells the business to the local hustler. After doing this only then does he release that the Barbershop is more that just a place where you get your hair cut.

A huge hit in the US, Barbershop is a comic look at the black community in Chicago but does it really have any relevance here in the UK?

The problem with a lot of American Black movies is that they don't really travel well when they move outside of the US. While the some of the comedy in Barbershop is funny, most of the humour is aimed at the American audience and many of the jokes and references just don't have any significance here.

The performances are fine. Ice Cube is as likeable as ever, Sean Patrick Thomas is an actor with a lot of potential and Cedric The Entertainer steals the movie with his oddball Eddie character. In fact most of the best laughs come when he is onscreen making his observations on the world.

The film suffers from having too many characters and not enough time to develop any of them. You never really know what Ricky did in his two previous crimes or why Eddie is never seen actually cutting hair. There is also a very flimsy subplot concerning the theft of an ATM machine involving Anthony Anderson, whose comedy of errors is neither believable nor funny. In fact the story itself is too predictable for its own good.

At its heart, Barbershop is a story about the importance of community with is a universal theme but it has too many references to American culture, history and politics to have any relevance outside of the US.

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2003