The Unseen Movie Review

Beauty Shop

You don’t go to see this sort of film if you’re after sophisticated Wildean wit, you go for broad, obvious silliness.

A spin-off from the Ice Cube-starring Barbershop films – themselves based on some amusing sketches in the late-80s Eddie Murphy vehicle Coming to America – Beauty Shop takes a tried and tested formula and changes little but the sex of the main characters. Where the two Barbershop films focussed around a series of black male stereotypes moaning and joking with each other to pass the time of day, this sees a bunch of black female stereotypes doing precisely the same thing.

Here, the Ice Cube role is adopted by the surprisingly popular Queen Latifah, who currently seems to be trying to corner the Hollywood market for vivacious, slightly overweight Africa-American women who seem to do little more than waggle their heads from side to side while saying “girlfriend”. Absolutely fine, if you like that sort of thing.

The plots of the two Barbershop films, such as they were, were all about struggling to maintain an idealised, old-fashioned approach to business in the face of bigger, bolder competition. No changes here. Latifah’s Gina, who cropped up in a relatively small role in Barbershop 2 last year, has moved from Chicago to Atlanta to give her daughter a chance to make something of herself. After a brief stint at the upmarket salon of the insanely over-the-top Jorge Christophe (Kevin Bacon, having fun with the limited material and a ridiculous wig), she ends up opening her own rival business, populating it with the full range of entirely predictable caricatures.

But predictable caricatures and old set-ups can be funny. That is, after all, the entire premise of every sitcom ever made – a bunch of exaggerated people knocking around a limited environment, doing similar things all the time. It’s Friends, it’s Cheers, it’s Only Fools and Horses. If it works for television, why shouldn’t it work for film?

Well, whatever the reason, it doesn’t. When you go to the cinema, unless you’re going to a classic movie on re-release, you generally expect to see something entertaining and original for your money. This is, to all intents and purposes, neither.

That’s not to say that this isn’t a funny film. There are a number of good jokes, amusing characters and moments. Mena Suvari and Andie MacDowell as a couple of stuck-up posh customers are both fun, if seemingly not trying too hard. Kevin Bacon, a much underrated actor, certainly has his moments. The woefully underutilised Djimon Hounsou, who amply proved his acting mettle in Amistad and Gladiator, may only be the love-interest, but he too is likable when onscreen. The only completely bum note is Alicia Silverstone’s obnoxious wannabe-black stylist – but then Silverstone hasn’t been good since Clueless, and that was ten years ago.

It’s always a shame when a generally good cast is left with duff and unoriginal material. All involved should have known better than to take part in this desperate attempt to wring more money out of the failing Barbershop franchise. Don’t expect a sequel to this one, but if you fancy an unchallenging couple of hours with a few giggles, it might be worth it. Assuming you can get a discount on the ticket price and so can avoid feeling ripped off, that is… Don’t say you weren’t warned, girlfriend.

posted by Nosemonkey @ 12:00 AM