Barbershop (2002)

Director:

Tim Story

Writers (WGA):

Mark Brown (story)
Mark Brown (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

13 September 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Everyone's gettin' lined up.

Plot:

A day in the life of a South Side Chicago barbershop.

Plot Keywords:

Barber | Barbershop | Loan Shark | Argument | Jail

Awards:

2 wins & 16 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Feb. 20	11:00 AM	COMEDY
Sun. Feb. 21	9:45 AM	COMEDY

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Ice Cube	...	Calvin Palmer
Anthony Anderson	...	J.D.
Cedric the Entertainer	...	Eddie
Sean Patrick Thomas	...	Jimmy James
Eve	...	Terri Jones
Troy Garity	...	Isaac Rosenberg
Michael Ealy	...	Ricky Nash
Leonard Earl Howze	...	Dinka
Keith David	...	Lester Wallace
Jazsmin Lewis	...	Jennifer Palmer
Lahmard J. Tate	...	Billy (as Lahmard Tate)
Tom Wright	...	Detective Williams
Jason Winston George	...	Kevin (as Jason George)
DeRay Davis	...	Hustle Guy
Sonya Eddy	...	Janelle

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language, sexual content and brief drug references.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-7 | South Korea:12 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Manitoba) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | Netherlands:AL | Australia:M | Denmark:7 | Germany:6 | New Zealand:M | Norway:11 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:7 | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #38898) | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Shortly after the film's theatrical release in late September 2002, Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton protested over some of the statements made by Cedric the Entertainer's character Eddie about African-American historical figures Rosa Parks ("Rosa Parks ain't do nuthin' but sit her Black ass down; there was a whole lotta other people that sat down on the bus, and they did it way before Rosa did!"), Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ("Martin Luther King was a ho [whore]!"), and Jackson himself ("Fuck Jesse Jackson"). Jackson and Sharpton pressured MGM to edit these scenes out of the film before its DVD release in January 2003; the film was released with the "controversial" scenes intact.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ray Ray, the solicitor, is in the shop, he gives Ricky a phone which a few moments later, he is seen taking it back. However, as Calvin enters and chases him out, Ricky is seen again with that same phone, trying to give it to Isaac who was standing behind him.

Quotes:

Calvin: You see that? That right there is Oprah's house.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Entourage: Neighbors (#2.5)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

In the Mood

Talk About a Real Clip Joint....In More Ways Than One.

Hilarious picture that is held together just well enough by a somewhat mediocre screenplay to be one of the funnier movies of the past few years. In inner-city Chicago barbershop owner Ice Cube hates where his life is at. He has a very pregnant wife (Jazsmin Lewis) and is drowning in debt due to his late father's apparent lack of business sense. He looks at the shop as a burden and wants to unload it to shady neighborhood businessman Keith David (and his very large bodyguard DeRay Davis). What Cube does not realize is just how important the business is to many in the neighborhood and he also fails to realize that David cares nothing about the people and wants to turn the place into a gentleman's club. Some of the other cutters include intellectual Sean Patrick Thomas, West African immigrant Leonard Earl Howze, racially confused white boy Troy Garity, two-time criminal Michael Ealy, lonely and out-of-place Eve (who is involved with two-timing boyfriend Jason Winston George) and priceless veteran barber/loud-mouth Cedric The Entertainer (very politically incorrect as well). Simultaneously two local losers (Anthony Anderson and Lahmard Tate) have stolen an ATM machine from a convenient store near Cube's barbershop. The two try and try to get the money that is not even inside out with painstakingly outlandish results. Unwittingly they have taken an empty money machine. African-Americans like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson rubbished this movie as being demeaning and rude to black communities. This was never the intention of the film-makers (I don't think). Cedric has a tongue of acid here as he takes on Jackson, Sharpton, O.J. Simpson, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Rodney King and even Walter Payton. I believe the real point of Cedric's character is to show that the titled location is a place of comfort and respect, regardless of an individual's views or perspectives. In this regard it makes you realize just what a close-knit group the characters are to each other. All the players are very different and sometimes don't like one another, but still they respect and welcome everyone else. Overall I liked the project (even though it is not the most fundamentally effective film ever made by a long-shot). Comedic timing and fresh characters make a sub-par script and ho-hum direction look much better than they really are. Watch for former Michigan Fab-Fiver and current NBA standout Jalen Rose as one of the many diverse customers. 4 stars out of 5.