I was surprised to find out it’s been 16 years since
BARBERSHOP was released in theaters. As part of the new MVD Marque Collection
it’s being released on blu-ray and a welcome title to find in that format.
Watching the movie it left me with a few surprises.
The movie revolves around a barbershop in the south side of
Chicago. This is one of those classic barbershops, a place where people in the
neighborhood gather together not just to get their hair cut but to spend time
with one another, to shoot the breeze, to play a game of checkers and to
socialize in a time before Facebook and Twitter when people met face to face.
Ice Cube stars as Calvin Palmer the owner of the barbershop
and a man with dreams of the future. Inheriting the shop from his father he
wants more for his soon to be born son and a different career for himself.
Having tried various new business ideas and using his money for this, he’s
about to lose the barbershop to the bank. With no one else to go to he turns to
Lester Wallace (Keith David) the local loan shark who wants to buy the
business.
But Calvin learns that keeping the shop intact is not the
plan Wallace has in mind. Instead he plans on turning the location into a strip
club with a barbershop theme to it. When he tries to return the money Calvin is
told to do so means paying back the loan and the interest, 100%. He has until
7PM to get the money to Wallace or the shop becomes his.
The movie is about more than this simple transaction though
while it sits in the center of everything else that surrounds it. The movie is
about the people who are in the shop and that surround it. There are
distinctive barbers working here and each has their own story to tell. The
young man who thinks he has to impress everyone with how smart he is, the one
with a criminal past trying to do right, a young woman who has a habit of
picking the wrong men, an immigrant who is in love with her and finding his way
in this world, a white young man influenced by black culture and the old codger
who weighs in on every topic that comes up and almost always picks an opposing
side.
In addition to those working here there are the characters
who are in the neighborhood as well. A street hustler keeps coming in trying to
sell bootleg CDs and DVDs. Two bumbling thieves who steal an ATM from across
the street in the opening scenes. Police that tend to think ill of those with a
past. The owner of the nearby grocery mart who decides to stay open inspired by
Calvin and the longevity of his business.
As Calvin watches each of these people, both those who work
for him and those in the neighborhood, he comes to realize the true value of
the barbershop that his father left him. He realizes the sense of community
that revolves around this simple shop. And he comes to understand that there is
more to life than money, more to life than yourself and your own dreams when it
comes to those around you.
I remember enjoying the film the first time I watched it but
this time around I fell in love with it for so many reasons. First and foremost
I loved the fact that while it had the potential to be part of the
Blaxploitation genre it didn’t choose that route. Instead it was a family where
race didn’t matter. It may take place in a black neighborhood but the sense of
community, the morals that it promotes could take place anywhere.
The next thing I loved was the performance by Ice Cube. It
would be easy to write him off as just another rapper who wants to make movies.
But his performance here shows that there is more to him than that. His career
as an actor began with the usual roles delegated to blacks and his roots in
Compton, playing gang members and thugs. That slowly began to change to more
standard roles. But this movie allows him to show a depth of character that I can’t
recall any role prior allowing him to do so. He shines here and you wind up
feeling for Calvin.
The rest of the cast shine as well with every single one
turning in a stellar performance. While it would be hard to single any one of
them out perhaps this should be done for Cedrick the Entertainer. Only 38 at
the time this movie was made he does an amazing job playing someone who seems
to be 25-30 years older. His comic timing in the comments he makes are
priceless.
As part of the MVD Marquee Collection they are including all
of the previously available extras on the film that were on the regular DVD
years ago. They include an audio commentary track with director Tim Story,
producers Robert Teitel and George Tillman and writer Don Scott Jr., 4 behind the
scenes featurettes, 7 deleted scenes with commentary from Story, bloopers and
outtakes, “Trade It All” a music video with Fabolous featuring P. Diddy and
Jagged Edge, “Barber Banter” a featurette, a photo gallery, the original
theatrical trailer, the trailer for the sequel and the trailer for the somewhat
connected BEAUTY SHOP. They’ve done a great job here. And the movie itself
plays better than a number of new releases making this one worth adding to your
collection.
