Although Beauty Shop is a spin-off of the Barbershop series of films which starred rap artiste Ice Cube, I haven't seen any of those yet; ergo, I didn't know what exactly to expect when I stepped into the cinema to watch this film last week. The predictable plot notwithstanding, I was pleasantly surprised by the film's even pacing, and entertaining dialogue. As the main protagonist of the story, Queen Latifah is a joy to watch. There is a comforting maternal warmth and easy confidence about her that seems to embrace the film (and its viewers) so much so that her presence alone nearly compensates for the many character cliches and jarringly obvious plot loopholes which abound in the film. Nevertheless, in a bizarre yet inspired streak of casting, Kevin Bacon was simply hilarious as an effeminate and finicky hairstylist; I almost didn't recognize him initially. Conversely, Alicia Silverstone's (who plays a stylist-wannabe) affected Southern drawl became unfunny pretty fast.
The rest of the supporting cast, like the latter two, are not fleshed-out sufficiently; banally one-dimensional, they exist only to add colour and assortment to the show but then again, Beauty Shop isn't really a microscopic study about specific people but more like a macro-view of the everyday going-ons in a hairdressing salon. What I enjoyed most about it however, is the balanced scripting; never too sentimental, never too overtly slapstick or crude and choke-full of witty one-liners -- definitely worth every cent spent on my movie ticket!
my ratings ---- 3.7/5 stars!!!
