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:

Mon. Jan. 11

2:00 PM

COMEDY

Cast

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:

The cast spent a month training at a barber college to prepare for their roles. Only Troy Garity had had previous hair-cutting experience.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Calvin is driving Ricky, after Ricky throws the gun in the river, he makes a left turn. His hands move and the background scenery changes accordingly, but he only slides his hand over the steering wheel, which stays still.

Quotes:

J.D.: Hey, don't drop the soap!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 10 Items or Less (2006)

Soundtrack:

Trade It All (Part 2)

The Barbershop Depicted Very Nicely

The barbershop, especially in Black culture, has always been a communal spot. The shop is usually packed with shabby heads waiting to be groomed while the barbers quickly and carefully shaved and shaped the hair of the head in front of them. The barbershop was never short on conversation, hot topics, and a wide array of opinions.

"Barbershop" did a good job of capturing that in comedic fashion. Although Ice Cube is a sub-par actor, the supporting cast and the story itself were enough to overshadow his poor performance. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Ice Cube is a horrible actor, he just lacks the range and ability to do much more than the angry black man role. The cast of characters was very well chosen. Cedric the Entertainer's presence helped the movie a lot. There is not a movie that he is in except that he enhances it.

The movie had a nice even tone to it: not too funny, not too serious, not too much going on, not too many slow parts. The main story was nicely complemented by the other sub-plots involving the other characters. I'm especially pleased that the Barbershop was not depicted as a vulgar place not suitable for kids or anyone with decent morals. I wouldn't mind seeing more movies like this.