Barbershop review

Calvin (Ice Cube) runs a barbershop on the south side of Chicago, following in the footsteps of his late father. The business provides a focus for the local community: people come to the shop to catch up on the local gossip, read magazines, play dominoes, and stay informed, and Calvin and his team spend just as much time chewing the fat as they do wielding scissors and electric razors.

The staff are a colourful bunch, including old-timer Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer), elitist college student Jimmy (Sean Patrick Thomas), ex-con Ricky (Michael Ealy), hard-edged Terri (rap star Eve), shy and sweet-natured Nigerian immigrant Dinka (Leonard Earl Howze), and token white barber Isaac (Troy Garity).

With bills to pay and a baby on the way, and dreams of his very own recording studio, Calvin reluctantly sells the shop for $20,000 to enterprising loan shark Lester (Keith David), on the understanding that Calvin promises to keep the name barbershop above the door. Lester accepts, neglecting to tell poor Calvin that he plans to transform the building into a private gentleman's club called Barbershop. But then that's just semantics.

Learning of the loan shark's deception and realising how vital the shop is to the local community, Calvin quickly regrets the decision to sell and begs Lester to sell him back his father's legacy. Unfortunately, the ever canny Lester doubles the selling price to a whopping $40,000, and Calvin has just one day to raise the money and keep himself and his loyal employees in work.

On its release in America, Barbershop debuted at the top of the box office charts and has, to date, taken more than $75 million (compared to a budget just over $10 million). Part of the film's success was no doubt thanks to the controversy stirred up by a number of black leaders, who were unhappy about contentious remarks made by Eddie about such iconic figures as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King.

The majority of the film is spent listening to conversations in the barbershop, and there is a pleasing chemistry between the different characters. Terri is forever berating her work colleagues for drinking her apple juice, Jimmy tries to dazzle everyone with his knowledge of trivia and Isaac keeps annoying the regulars by insisting he's blacker than most of the customers.

In a rather sweet subplot, Dinka tries desperately to hide his affection for Terri, who is oblivious to his many charms. Sex provides the employees with plentiful food for thought, but as with everyday banter, it's the more unusual questions which provoke the most heated exchanges, such as whether scallops are molluscs or crustaceans.

One of the undoubted highlights is Eddie's notorious rant against the world including a controversial rap which targets the likes of OJ Simpson and Rodney King. The way the arguments bounce back and forth is almost like music.

Director Tim Story introduces a subplot about two hapless crooks who steal a cashpoint machine using Ricky's van as the getaway vehicle, but it's superfluous and ultimately not particularly funny.

To quote a hit from Elvis Presley, a little more conversation, a little less action please.