As good a rapper as Ice Cube is, he's an even better actor if you ask me. The man has wisely chosen low budget productions that consistently perform well and impress. Barber Shop caught alot of flack for its jabs at urban culture. The honorable Rosa Parks takes a big hit but as anyone will tell you to be great is to be critcized. Those who fear speech are the ones to be feared the most.
Barber Shop at its heart is a feel good story, a comedy of urban life with plenty of lessons. There's the most intelligent young man who is working his way through college in the Barbershop but fails to see that his advantages don't give him the right to belittle others. There's the 2 time ex-convict everyone expects to be dumb but shows his truly wise in the end. There's the stereotypical african immigrant who is love strucken by the only female barber who herself puts up with an abusive lover. Then there's the biggest cog in the wheel of all. A white guy who has chosen african american culture as his love, but unable to be accepted by the rest of the group.
The story has two weaving threads that end up intertwined in the end. It opens with two bumbling would be robbers who break into the convience store down from the barbershop and steal an ATM. Their misadventures of trying to open the ATM to get the money is the perfect comic relief to interlude with main character ICe Cube's struggle with the finances of running his now deceased father's Barber Shop. A near mistake is made good in the end with the crossing of the bumbling robbers. The movie just has a good feeling all around. Ice Cube even scorns the female barber for cursing. It's so nice and refreshing to see a movie that values lessons over entertainment and yet is sucessful at both.
The Disc:
The movie is set in Chicago among the aging look of a neighborhood that has taken its toll. The look of the transfer is a bit peculiar with some artifacting here and there. The disc isn't really a bad transfer but it's not quite the superior look we've come to expect from MGM.
Soundwise there's not alot to report since this is a dialogue driven movie with little use of the full range of surround. The voices are crisp and clean through the center channel making for an easy listen.
As far as extras go I imagine MGM had a good time since the movie caught so much flack for its now famous stab at Rosa Parks. Screen-specific audio commentary with director Tim Story, writer Don D. Scott, and producers Robert Teitel and George Tillman, Jr. is an absolute hoot! These guys have a passion for humor and it comes through in the lessons they share from making this film.
The other huge addition is a 40-minute documentary from director Todd Williams and producer Helena Echegoyen, broken into four featurettes. Called The Hair Club, we get to see so much more of the filmmaking process. There's also a few more things here such as a minigame and some stills. For all it's worth MGM really did a nice job with the extras.
bottom line:
Can Ice Cube do wrong? I'm sure he can but he hasn't yet. Add this to We Three Kings, Friday and Anaconda as films worthy of his name. Definitely worth watching no matter what your skin color happens to be.
4 out of 5
By - Brian Gray
