Having taken over his father's barbershop two years ago, Calvin Palmer (Ice Cube) is struggling to make a go of the business, due to the debts accumulated by his pa, who had the interests of the community ahead of his own. Desperate to move into other avenues and settle his bills, he decides to sell the shop to local hustler Lester (David Keith pimping it up like he's the world's daddy). Only realising what he's got when it's gone, Calvin decides to win back his shop - by whatever means at his disposal. Throw in a subplot about a couple of knuckleheads who've robbed an ATM machine and a lot of conversational asides about the black experience you've got the gist of things with Barbershop.
First, the good news: it's refreshing to see a film predominantly populated by working class African Americans where violence and gun tootin' antics are, relatively speaking, at a minimum. On the downside, for an alleged comedy, there are precious few memorable gags in the often painfully unfunny Barbershop. Perhaps due to the numbers of characters wrestling for screen time, the central roles are ill-defined and don't extend much past tics and mannerisms. In short, the idea is sound, but the execution is not. A shame.
