I
liked
Barbershop
and gave
Barbershop 2
a passing grade, but enough is enough. The spin-off,
Beauty Shop, is little more than Barbershop with
women, and while this does change some of the types of humor involved,
the formula has finally begun to wear thin on this third time out.
It's a shame too, because the right cast is here for a winning comedy,
it just can't compete with its brothers in film because it is
redundant and quite a mess in structure.
Queen
Latifah's (Taxi,
The Cookout)
character, Gina Norris, originally appeared in Barbershop
2, only she is now transplanted from Chicago to Atlanta, along
with her daughter, working for a high-class salon run by the
egotistical Jorge (Kevin Bacon,
Hollow Man).
Jorge is unreasonably demanding, causing Gina to quit and try to make
it on her own. After she secures a modest loan, she renovates a
rundown old beauty shop and recruits some hair designers to help her,
mostly African-American women, which happens to be their main
clientele. It's an eccentric bunch, and they barely get along,
while their revolving door of customers always keeps the day lively,
although sometimes too lively.
Beauty Shop
has its moments, but not really enough to make it ultimately
worthwhile. The cast is varied and have good chemistry, but they
also don't have very many funny things to do or clever things to say.
Barbershop may not have been a great film, but it did
have great moments, and those moments are exactly what keeps
Beauty Shop from taking things to the next level of
entertainment. Thoroughly predictable, each character is
introduced for a particular purpose in mind, and the events that
transpire all proceed along their pre-determined paths without
exception.
If you really
like Queen Latifah or just can't get enough of the
Barbershop formula, I suppose Beauty Shop will
probably keep your interest. The music is exceptionally good,
and the performers are appealing, but the mediocre script and aimless
plotting will make this a tedious experience for anyone looking for
laughs or compelling social commentary.
Just like
getting a new hairdo, the Barbershop series started
off as something refreshingly different and innovative, making you
feel good, but after doing the same thing several times, it has now
become common and boring. Either this series needs a brand new
look and style, or it's going to be out of vogue like yesterday's
fashion.
Qwipster's rating:
©1996 Vince Leo
