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MOVIE REVIEW: Shear Harmony

'Barbershop' skirts familial platitudes while delivering the comedic goods

There's no place like home.

Dorothy Gale had to travel all the way to Oz to discover the truth of that statement.

All Calvin Palmer has to do is report for work at the family "Barbershop."

A genial romp that ranges from raucous slapstick and predictable booty humor to warm home truths, "Barbershop" hearkens back to such microcosm comedies as "Car Wash."

Like that disco-era favorite, "Barbershop" focuses on a variety of contrasting characters assembled at a bustling place of business.

Except that Calvin's Barbershop isn't exactly bursting with business.

Situated in a gritty ghetto on Chicago's South Side, the barbershop (established 1958) represents the past, not the future, to its ambitious proprietor.

The enterprising Calvin (Ice Cube) would much rather start a recording studio than carry on in the shop his father handed down to him.

With a supportive but practical wife (Jazsmin Lewis) and a baby on the way, however, the barbershop provides a consistent, if meager, livelihood.

At least its liveliness is never in dispute.

Not with a crew of cutters representing a wide slice of life, from smug college student Jimmy James ("Save the Last Dance's" Sean Patrick Thomas), who just can't keep his superiority complex in check, to two-strikes ex-con Ricky Nash (newcomer Michael Ealy), trying desperately to stay straight.

Dinka (Leonard Earl Howze), a painfully earnest African immigrant, longs for a sign of affection from feisty workmate Terri Jones (played by rap star Eve, who also turns up in "XXX"). But she's preoccupied with her no-good boyfriend -- and the mystery man who keeps stealing her apple juice from the communal refrigerator.

Isaac Rosenberg ("Bandits' " Troy Garity, Jane Fonda's son with Tom Hayden), meanwhile, may have white skin, but he's got the soul of a brother -- and the barbering skills to match. If only someone would let him near a head of hair.

As for Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer), the malaprop-prone senior member of the staff, it's a good thing he's so busy spouting politically incorrect pronouncements and tending his Frederick Douglass-tribute Afro. Otherwise, he might notice no one ever sits in his barber chair -- except himself.

These character sketches -- almost like acts in a vaudeville-style variety show -- provide "Barbershop's" heart and soul.

But screenwriters Mark Brown, Don D. Scott and Marshall Todd, working from Brown's story, intersperse these character-rich riffs with a pair of plotlines that eventually dovetail.

One involves Calvin's rash decision to approach a notorious neighborhood loan shark, the devilishly dapper Lester Wallace (silver-tongued Keith David, the voice behind Ken Burns' "Jazz" and "Mark Twain" PBS documentaries) for a cash infusion to help his struggling business.

The other deals with a Laurel-and-Hardy team of thieves -- J.D. ("Me, Myself and Irene's" Anthony Anderson) and Billy (Lahmard Tate) -- and their inevitably inept attempts to break into a cash machine they lifted from a neighborhood grocery store. Their antics may be in the spirit of the great Stan and Ollie, but they're hardly in the same league, laughs-wise.

Indeed, much of "Barbershop" has a familiar feel, from the gotta-dance musical interlude (hey, when you hear Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up," don't you feel like dancing?) to the sometimes drippy dialogue extolling the title tonsorial parlor's importance as a refuge, anchor and inspiration in an embattled neighborhood that has painfully few examples of same.

Yet somehow director Tim Story (making his studio debut after two independent features and a host of music videos) breathes warmth and life into the movie's sometimes musty material, maintaining an easy but energetic pace and a functional, unfussy visual approach.

Cinematographer Tom Priestley and production designer Roger Fortune also play major roles in creating "Barbershop's" look and tone, transforming the movie's frosty Chicago setting into a compelling character in its own right, the exterior bluster concealing a brusque warmth within. (And bravo to Story and producers Robert Teitel and George Tillman Jr., the team behind "Soul Food," for actually filming in the Windy City instead of attempting to re-create its unique vibe somewhere cheaper, such as Toronto.)

And speaking of characters, it's their collective spark that keeps "Barbershop" in trim, from Thomas' shrill bravado to Ealy's wary vulnerability.

Ice Cube, meanwhile, proves a surprisingly successful focus for the quirky proceedings, countering his usually intense image with a relaxed and appealing approach. (Anyone who remembers his rapper past will appreciate the irony when Calvin, trying to maintain a modicum of decorum in his shop, reprimands someone and commands them to "stop cussin'. ")

Despite the movie's ensemble nature, however, it's Cedric the Entertainer who dominates, balancing his hilarious (and seemingly improvised) set pieces by creating a flinty yet endearing character. He may be old school, but he's still got plenty of life lessons to impart. (And he does a mean straight-razor shave to boot.)

Like the rest of "Barbershop," he's undeniably familiar.

In this case, however, familiarity breeds comfort, not contempt.

CAROL CLING
MORE COLUMNS

"Barbershop" veteran Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer), from left, uses a customer to demonstrate his straight-razor shaving technique as colleagues Ricky (Michael Ealy), Isaac (Troy Garity) and Dinka (Leonard Earl Howze) look on.

"Barbershop" owner Calvin (Ice Cube) enjoys a laugh, despite his financial troubles, as he prepares to give a customer a trim.

movie: "Barbershop"

running time: 102 minutes

rating: PG-13; profanity, sexual references, brief drug references

verdict: B-

now playing: Colonnade, Neonopolis, Orleans, Rancho, Sam's Town, Texas, Showcase, Village Square, Las Vegas Drive-in