I suspect the notion of whether or not to see Queen Latifah’s new movie “Beauty Shop” is either a solid “yes” or a solid “no”, with very little room for “maybe”. I admit that I would’ve ordinarily came down on the side of “no”, but I had nothing else going on the night of the screening, and hey, it was free. That said, I haven’t seen either of the “Barber Shop” movies, which this was spun off from. I hear they’re both pretty funny, succeeding in transcending the obvious racial barriers inherent in such urban-entrenched subject matter. As far as Latifah herself goes, I’ve always perceived her as more of a personality than an actress. (I mindlessly thought this even after she did so great as Mama in “Chicago”. But those ads for “Bringing Down the House” and “Taxi” did little to make me reconsider.) With that in mind I figured why not see what all the hoopla’s about (with both the “Shop” franchise and Latifah’s career as a leading lady.) So how did a suburban white geek like myself enjoy the movie? All in all, it wasn’t great, but I admit it was a lot more watchable than I though it would be.
Beneath its piled-on layers of black neighborhood culture and nutty/sassy characters there is the story of a woman bucking the odds, and trying to make a legitimate go at achieving her dream – to run her own beauty shop. Along the way she comes up against all manner of obstacles, both real and drummed up (by her former boss Jorge, played by Kevin Bacon with every gay hairdresser stereotype known to humanity), but she never gives up, and never opts to simply milk they system, which many lesser people in similar situations certainly would. Much to the film’s credit, Latifah’s character is a strong, proud African-American woman with the courage to go after the ultimate dream of independence.
But is it funny, you ask? No, not nearly funny enough. The characters run the gamut from respectable (Latifah, as well as Djimon Hounsou as the big-hearted Mr. Fixit who lives upstairs) to tolerable (Alicia Silverstone as the blissfully unaware sole white stylist) to grating (Bacon), and the story is simple and accessible no matter one’s cultural background. But the biggest fault of the film is its lack of big laughs. Tired material about breast implants, a booty-obsessed camcorder kid, and is-the-hot-male-stylist-gay-or-not feels far to sit-commish to justify going out to the movie theater. Of course, movies like this tend to find their real lives in post-theatrical venues like DVD and cable, so maybe those audiences will be less disappointed with the notion of watching TV-level comedy on a TV. Only a shrieking wacky catfish and monkey-bread vendor proved memorable, if also annoying.
The central plot question of whether Latifiah will prevail or not is never really in question, but the lack of cleverness (inclusion of a Wolfman-Jack-in-“American-Graffiti” radio personality is as ambitious as “Beauty Shop” gets in that department) and the transparent stupidity and banality of the bad guy does little to up whatever ante of suspense there ought to be. On the plus side, director Bille Woodruff does a fine job of directing the big cast and juggling the many plot elements (such as they are). To his credit, the film never slips into music video mode, and maintains an easy, relaxed watchability from beginning to end.
“Beauty Shop” may be no fine work of art, but it could also be a lot worse. All in all, it’s a suitable and logical star vehicle for Latifah – who carries the film like a pro – and little more.
- Jim Tudor