You thought you'd heard it all in the barbershop, but you haven't heard anything yet - the women get their own chance to shampoo, shine, and speak their minds in Beauty Shop. From the filmmakers that brought you Barbershop and Barbershop 2, Queen Latifah stars as Gina, a hairstylist who opens a shop of her own. [TRAILER]

STEVEN SNYDER'S REVIEW

“Beauty Shop” succeeds in getting us to like, and even care for its characters. For a light, flighty comedy, this is a job well done.

Admittedly, it’s all done on the surface, quite superficially and forgettable, but “Shop” deserves recognition for accomplishing precisely what it sets out to do. It even won over this cynic, who expected to hate it.

Queen Latifah stars as Gina Norris, an outspoken but good-hearted hair stylist who is berated and diminished daily by the arrogant Jorge Christophe (Kevin Bacon), who owns the salon. Everyone seems to love Gina – her co-workers and, most importantly, her clients.

Finally getting fed up with Jorge, she quits and decides she’ll open her own place. With a small loan, she buys a decrypted building, starts sprucing it up, inherits a staff of egotistical stylists, fires a few of them, and opens up for business.

And this, for more or less, is the only foundation these actors have to work with.

The story is propelled by a few distinct subplots, each revealing different aspects of Gina and her co-workers. The first is Gina’s daughter, Vanessa (Paige Hurd), whom Gina is raising alone and is the personification of the financial risk Gina is taking.

The second is the film’s recurring radio personality, Miss Josephine (Alfre Woodard). Identified solely by a close-up of two bright red lips against a microphone, she becomes a symbol of the passing time, as Gina and cohorts identify with Josephine’s sassy attitude and observations.

The third involves Jorge, and the city inspector he pays off to try and shut Gina’s place down. The fourth introduces Joe (Djimon Hounsou) into the action, a soft-spoken electrician who lives above the beauty shop. And the fifth uses two of Gina’s clients – Terri (Andie MacDowell) and Joanne (Mena Suvari) – as the forces that tear at Gina between greediness and being true to herself.

Have I forgotten to mention that, except for a small handful of characters, this is an all-black cast? Curious. Typically this would be one of the first observations, since so many similar works, such as “Barbershop,” “Barbershop 2,” and “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” seem to use their racial makeup as a crutch, creating caricatures out of the cultures they supposedly represent.

But “Beauty Shop” is not about a group of black men and women, but about a group of identifiable and endearing characters who just happen to be black.

What’s most refreshing about “Beauty Shop” is how it avoids arbitrary drama. In so many similar films, exaggerated dramas and tensions are thrown in to keep the story afloat. Random, unbelievable things happen, and characters react in unbelievable ways.

In “Shop,” every side character, conversation, and surprise is organic, exposing something important about Gina and her fears, dreams, humor, heart or grace under pressure.

The performances here match the material. Latifah is strong and defiant, but only when she has to be, and she grapples with a mountain of inner doubt that surfaces believably. The funniest, and most surprising performance is without question Kevin Bacon. As the curly-haired, melodramatic Jorge, the typically strong and reserved character actor puts on the shoes of a mushy prima donna.

These characters earn our trust, and everywhere you look there are scenes where that trust pays off. The inspector walks in and we feel bad for Gina. Vanessa plays a recital, and we feel as proud as her mother does. Things end happy, and we’re happy because they’re happy.

I can’t think of a more apt compliment than this: The world of “Beauty Shop” is not a very realistic one, and we know that. But the movie’s good enough to make us wish it was.

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