Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
A day in the life of a barbershop on the south side of Chicago. Calvin, who inherited the struggling business from his deceased father, views the shop as nothing but a burden and waste of his time. After selling the shop to a local loan shark, Calvin slowly begins to see his father's vision and legacy and struggles with the notion that he just sold it out.
Barbershop is a warm, character-driven ensemble comedy that finds its strength in the lively personalities populating the shop rather than in its plot mechanics. The South Side Chicago setting feels authentic and lived-in, and the ensemble cast — led by Ice Cube with strong support from Cedric the Entertainer — delivers natural, charismatic performances that elevate the material. Cedric's controversial monologues gave the film genuine cultural buzz. However, the plot is fairly formulaic (reluctant heir learns to value his inheritance), and the subplot involving the stolen ATM machine is broadly comic and predictable. Cinematography is functional at best, workmanlike TV-movie-ish coverage of mostly interior scenes. The ending wraps things up in a crowd-pleasing but unsurprising way. Novelty gets a modest bump for the specificity of its setting and voice, even if the story template is familiar.