Barbershop 2  (2004)

Starring: Ice Cube, Cedric The Entertainer, Sean Patrick Thomas, Troy Garity, Eve, Michael Ealy, Queen Latifah
Director: Kevin Rodney Sullivan

Rating: PG-13

Studio: MGM

Release Date: 02.06.04

Review Posted: 02.06.04

Spoilers: Minor

By Sara M. Fetters

Cube and Company a Cut Above

What to do when a relatively small, modest budgeted urban comedy becomes a massive critical and word-of-mouth hit? Make a sequel to cash in on the phenomenon, of course. It is the Hollywood way, after all, and no amount of creative or artistic integrity is going to stand in the way of making a quick buck.

So it is with great surprise and astonishment I talk about “Barbershop 2” Back in Business.” Not only is the sequel funnier and more consistently entertaining then the 2001 smash, it’s also smarter and with a heck of a lot more on its mind. Whereas the first film was content to revel in snappier banter and smarter-than-average social observations, this second installment has far more on its mind, attempting to make points about societal gentrification, corporate consumerism and personal growth. And while it doesn’t quite work all the way through, it’s still a welcome break from the usual winter catastrophes floating out in the Cineplex.

Ice Cube (“Anaconda”) returns as South Side Chicago barbershop owner Calvin Palmer. He’s grown into ownership of his dad’s business, at ease now with life as a barber. Calvin’s Barbershop is still very much the local community hangout, old-timer Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer, “Intolerable Cruelty”) still dishing out all his wisdom whether anyone wants to hear it or not (wait until you hear whom he compares to Jackie Robertson).

Things get uncomfortable in the shop, however, when a local businessman (Harry Lennix, “The Human Stain”) starts buying up area storefronts and begins construction on a SuperCuts-like chain salon called “Nappy Cuts.” The future for Calvin and his gang looks grim, this corporate behemoth full of bells and whistles more than likely enough to put them out of business and on the street

But the problem is much greater than that. Although South Side is in definite need of the cash infusion brought on by this construction, it nonetheless has the unfortunate side effect of gentrifying the neighborhood. Businesses owned for generations – businesses much like Calvin’s – are being pushed out to make way for the next Starbucks or Blockbuster, a far more affluent clientele crowding out the everyday schmos whom have made this area of Chicago their home for decades.

Calvin finds himself smack in the center of this storm. On one hand, the cash to be made from allowing this gentrification to continue is impressive, assuring security for both his wife and child for the foreseeable future. On the other, allowing it to go forward could mean the devastation of the heart and soul of the neighborhood he grew up in and that his father loved so passionately. It’s a matter of conscience, both sides of his heart tearing him towards both sides of the question.

There is a lot to like about this sequel. Cube, director Kevin Rodney Sullivan (“How Stella Got Her Groove Back”) and writer Don D. Scott (“Love Don’t Cost a Thing”) have done a great job even more fully fleshing out the community of characters created by original writer Mark Brown. Everyone returns, but instead of just popping up displaying the same quirks and ticks as before, each is allowed a moment to grow and evolve. From Jimmy (Sean Patrick Thomas, “Save the Last Dance”) moving out of the shop and into a position with the city, to Terri (Eve, “XXX”) trying to tone down her belligerent in-your-face hysterics by taking up yoga, to Isaac (Troy Garity, “Soldier’s Girl”) getting out of the first chair to become the shop’s cockiest clipping superstar, everyone has evolved in some fashion to make them more complex, more interesting.

The only one, in fact, that hasn’t changed is Eddie, but this time around we start getting an idea as to why. Sullivan and Scott add flashbacks showcasing a younger, less mouthy Eddie, and it is through his eyes we really get a chance to see the sheer volume of change the South Side has seen in its lifetime. Unfortunately, while interesting and affecting on certain levels, these sequences are still the weakest in the film. The flashbacks stop things cold, and save for a potent sequence set during the Chicago riots are mostly ineffective.

The worst are glimpses of Eddie’s lost love. These moments are just absurd. Not because you don’t believe they couldn’t have happened, but because their shot and plotted as if they’re just another one of Cedric’s popular beer commercials. It is obvious the director could care less about bringing these moments to life, and the movie completely stalls out into long passages of dead air because of it.

Luckily, he does care about the rest of “Barbershop 2,” for the remainder of the film is shot with a surprisingly tender grace. Sullivan and cinematographer Tom Priestly (“Undercover Brother”) have a deft rapport with one another, the visual look to this sequel for more picturesque than the almost flat, slightly static look of the original. It’s crisply edited by Paul Seydor (“Hollywood Homicide”), while Robb Wilson King’s (“Rush Hour 2”) production design is note perfect walking the thin line between funny and campy to near perfection. In fact, his realization of the “Nappy Cuts” interior is total hoot, right down to its perfectly out of place and utterly stereotypical basketball court right in the middle of the salon. I also loved how Sullivan and Scott refuse to restrain Cedric and his potently cutting bit. Like the first film, Eddie says things that most people would feel ashamed to think let alone speak aloud, and “Back in Business” is all the better because of it.

Cube should be equally proud and disheartened by his work on here. Like his character, Cube the actor seems torn in two. On one hand, he’s a lazy, one-note thespian content to turn in snarling, rather rote thuggish performances in trash like “Torque.” On the other, he can be a beguiling, utterly charming leading man much like he is here. Ice is a sturdy presence, and there is a wonderful harmony between him and Cedric that’s wondrous. I just wish he’d make up his mind and decide what kind of actor he wants to be. My vote is for the multifaceted Cube displayed here and in films like “Three Kings,” not the guy just going through the motions and picking up a paycheck as shown in dreck like that aforementioned motorcycle bomb.

But that’s for him to decide. For me, all I have to know is if “Barbershop 2” is any good. Smarter and funnier than the 2002 original, not only is this sequel good; it’s an elegantly quaffed cut above.

Film Rating: êêê  (out of 4)

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