Beauty Shop

Around the beginning of “Beauty Shop,” released in 2005, Queen Latifah’s character, Gina, asks her daughter (Paige Hurd) if her pants make her butt look big (how often have we seen people ask that question?). When she answers “yes,” Gina slaps it and says, “Good!” And means it.

Queen Latifah is greatly proud with herself, and “Beauty Shop” is proud with itself. Roger Ebert said in his review, “It isn't simply trying to turn up the heat under a "Barbershop" clone, but to be more plausible (not a lot, but a little) in the story of a woman starting her own business.” It’s more of a comedy than stand-up or slapstick.

Queen Latifah reprises her role of Gina, recently moved from Chicago to Atlanta (where she made a cameo in “Barbershop 2”). Ebert noted, “She's already the top stylist in an upscale salon run by the improbable Jorge Christophe, a streaked blond self-promoter who keeps Latifah from being the only queen in the movie.” Jorge is over the top in all the category, and you have to look closely so hard before you recognize that he’s being played by Kevin Bacon.

It’s very funny work, and it sets up Gina for a huge argument where she walks out on Jorge and starts her own beauty shop. There’s nothing completely original in the way she finds an old salon, modernizes and repaints it, and employs it with a shampoo girl (the hot Alicia Silverstone) from Jorge’s and a variety of expert and verbal hairdressers, most notably Miss Josephine (Alfre Woodard) and Darnelle (Keshia Knight Pulliam, best known for playing Rudy Huxtable). However, look at the part where Gina goes for a bank loan, and gets it after she decides to work on the loan officer’s hair.

Ebert said, “It is a convention of these movies that the shop is under threat from a landlord, a developer or another ominous menace.” This time it is former boss Jorge, bribing a crooked city inspector, played by Jim Holmes, to put Gina out of business, and later taking more dangerous methods. The movie smartly doesn’t make the threats the entire plot, and it’s nice how most of the movie is primarily about the characters, their stories, their lives.

If you look at Gina, she is a widow raising her daughter Vanessa, who desires to be a pianist. The man who lives on the top floor of the beauty shop is Joe, played by Djimon Hounsou, an African who is both an electrician and a pianist. Ebert credited, “It is a convention of these movies that the shop is under threat from a landlord, a developer or another ominous menace.”

Just like “Barbershop” having one white barber (Troy Garrity), “Beauty Shop” has one white beautician (Silverstone, promoted from shampoo girl). Andie MacDowell plays a customer from Jorge’s shop who makes a critical trip across town to follow Gina, her favorite hairdresser, and Mena Suvari is another customer from the previous business, not so nice.

Some of the other employees, including the honest Miss Josephine, came with the old shop. Others walk through the door, including Bryce Williams as James, an ex-convict truck driver who knows so much about braids that Gina hires him immediately, creating series guesses that shop is about his orientation.

The liking of this franchise is that they give a platform for energetic characters. Ebert noted, “Countless plays have been set in bars for the same reason. The format almost works like a variety show, allowing each character to get a solo, as when Woodard's Miss Josephine takes the floor for a passionate recital of Maya Angelou's "Still I Rise."”

Ebert goes on to say, “Presiding like a den mother and emcee, Queen Latifah exudes a quiet confidence that sort of hugs the movie, making it feel warmer than the "Barbershop" films.” “Beauty Shop” doesn’t shove itself in our faces, not even when trouble arises. It’s more about finding your path, being confident you can get there, and have some fun along the way.

If you enjoyed the two “Barbershop” movies, then you will love this spin-off. It’s quite enjoyable. Then again, why wouldn’t you have fun when you have Queen Latifah in the starring role? She is one of the funniest comedians we have, and she gets her spotlight in this movie. Definitely check this out if you want a good laugh, it’s a must to see.

Look out next Monday for my installment on this year’s “President’s Day review” and next Friday for the finale of the “Barbershop franchise” in “Black History Month Movie Reviews.”