"Where Movie Critics Get A Taste Of Their Own Medicine"
Subscribe To Weekly Newsletter!

BARBERSHOP 2: BACK IN BUSINESS
by Peter Sobczynski
February 6, 2004

1/2 (out of 4 stars)

FILM CREDITS: Written by Don D. Scott. Directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan. Starring Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, Eve, Troy Garity and Sean Patrick Thomas. Rated PG-13

Looking over my review of the original "Barbershop", I noticed that I compared the film, which I liked, to a well-done sitcom where everything was still fresh and enjoyable and all of the elements were still clicking together effortlessly. "Barbershop 2: Back in Business", on the other hand, plays like a tired sitcom that has gone on for maybe two seasons too long, everyone seems bored and restless and the producers are desperately trying to revive things with new characters and "special guest stars"-at a certain point, I was all but expecting Ted McGinley to put in an appearance.

Like the previous film, "Barbershop 2" is mostly set within the walls of Calvin’s Barbershop, the tonsorial establishment that has been a gathering place for its South Side neighborhood for decades. That neighborhood, as the film opens, is beginning to undergo gentrification as Blockbusters and fancy coffee stores start popping up. For Calvin (Ice Cube), the current proprietor of the shop, this is a good thing because it will bring new people and new money into the area. His views quickly change, however, when a Nappy Cutz (apparently an inner-city version of Supercuts) makes plans to open right across the street from his shop and threatens to drive him out of business. After all, what chance does a small family-owned establishment-which offers only companionship, sparkling conversation as well as the occasional haircut-have against a place that features not only an indoor basketball half-court but which also supposedly has fish swimming underneath a glass floor that you can catch and eat while you wait? (If you are in doubt as to how things will turn out, then by all means go see this film and prepare to be endlessly surprised.)

The rest of the other characters are back as well-all slightly different but nevertheless pretty much the same. Terri (Eve) is now in anger management in order to control her temper. Upwardly-mobile Jimmy (Sean Patrick Thomas) is now working as an aide for a corrupt alderman who has a personal involvement in the gentrification. Token white-guy Isaac (Troy Garity) has begun to let his reputation as the best haircutter go to his head. Tough guy Ricky (Michael Ealy) is keeping odd hours and never seems to be around-could he be getting back into trouble? (Hint to director Kevin Rodney Sullivan: if you are trying to keep his behavior a surprise, you probably shouldn’t linger on a close-up of the GED equivalency book he is studying.) And, of course, Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer) is still foisting his oddball views on everyone within earshot. (This time, he describes the D.C. sniper as "the Jackie Robinson of crime").

There are a couple of additions this time around. One is Kenard (Kenan Thompson), a never-before-mentioned relative who comes to work at the shop, despite his utter lack of competence. Then there is Gina (Queen Latifah), who runs the beauty parlor next door who pops up for a couple of scenes to a.) prove how sassy she can be and b.) pave the way for a spin-off film that is currently on the boards. Latifah’s contributions can be measured by the fact that every frame in which she appears could have been deleted and it wouldn’t have any effect on the final film one way or another.

What made the first "Barbershop" memorable was the fact that it was genuinely funny and, through the character played by Cedric the Entertainer, was willing to take chances with material that may have skirted the boundaries of taste (such as the now-infamous bits about Rosa Parks and Jesse Jackson) but which actually sounded like the kind of things that real people might say. This time around, Sullivan and writer Don D. Scott desperately try to recapture the effortless feel of the first film but, failing that, they are simply content to repeat things.

Even that wouldn’t be a problem if it did so competently but "Barbershop 2" goes about it in the laziest ways possible. Take the Eddie character, for example. Even though he was only a supporting player in "Barbershop", he is now front-and-center for this installment-a move that only allows him to wear out his welcome quickly by padding thing with unnecessary information. (Do we really need to see the backstory about the great love of his life?) Worse still, his jokes are strained attempts at recreating the previous edginess (this time, he makes a Clinton-Lewinsky joke-how hip!!!) and there is also the sense that the filmmakers are trying to "balance" his remarks so that no one (except those with taste) go home offended-the Clinton joke, for example, is immediately followed by a Trent Lott gag.

The biggest problem with "Barbershop 2: Back in Business" is that there is never a single moment where it manages to justify its existence as anything other than a soulless cash-in enterprise. (It is hard to take seriously a movie that rails against impersonal franchise operations when it could be described in roughly those terms itself.) Face it, the film was made for one reason and one reason only-the original was one of the only non-Bond movies in recent years to make money for the continuously-beleaguered MGM. That may be a good justification for the stockholders but it isn’t a reason to make a movie-especially a follow-up that squanders the considerable goodwill generated by the original. If you don’t believe me, ask yourself this: when was the last time you thought at all about "Legally Blonde 2"?

-- PETER SOBCZYNSKI

Copyright © 2003 Peter Sobczynski
All rights reserved.
Used with permission
Peter's Archives

While the views expressed by Peter Sobczynski do not necessarily reflect the views of Criticdoctor.com, the Critic Doctor will occasionally examine Mr. Sobczynski's film reviews to bring forth an honest examination of those views expressed.