I remember liking the movie Soul Food quite a bit. Well, Barbershop is "from the makers of" Soul Food, and the commercials looked funny, and there’s some controversy regarding Jesse Jackson, and I was bored…
…and so I saw Barbershop.
Great flick!
Barbershop takes place on one day at a barbershop in Chicago. It’s a mostly ensemble piece, with Ice Cube as the shop owner, and therefore, the lead. He does a good job as the reluctant owner, unsure of his future.
I think the heart of the film however lies within the other employees and the clients of the barbershop.
I couldn’t tell you one song that Eve performs in the hip-hop world, but she does a real nice job here. Sean Patrick Thomas also does a great job as a pseudo-intellectual college student who looks down on his underachieving coworkers. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Michael Ealy before, but he did a great job as a sort of on edge, street wise guy.
There are others as well, but I guess the biggest star of the barbershop crew is Cedric The Entertainer. He plays much older than he really is, and while it doesn’t work all the time, it works most of the time. He can be a very funny guy.
On the outside looking in is a very funny Anthony Anderson. He’s becoming quite the busy young man and I wish him well. He’s a blast.
And finally there’s that great character actor Keith David. He’s really perfect here. He’s got a great style and his voice is just cool.
Like I said there are other actors and characters in the film and they are all really good. This isn’t a great movie in the grand scheme of film making as a whole, but it’s a good movie, and it’s fun and it’s entertaining. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it still has a lot of heart.