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Beauty Shop Our rating: Your rating: 1 2 3 4 Your Comments: see all MPAA rating: PG-13 (for sexual material, language and brief drug references) Theater release: March 30, 2005 by MGM Directed by: Bille Woodruff Runtime: 1 hour 45 minutes Cast: Queen Latifah (Gina), Alicia Silverstone (Lynn), Andie MacDowell (Terri), Alfre Woodard (Miss Josephine), Mena Suvari (Joanne), Kevin Bacon (Jorge), Djimon Hounsou (Joe), Golden Brooks (Chanel), Keshia Knight Pulliam (Darnelle), Sherri Shepherd (Ida), Paige Hurd (Vanessa), Bryce Wilson (James) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

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Like many African-American women, I've got an almost religious relationship with my hair appointment. Once every two weeks, I make my pilgrimage to the Crown and Glory Hair Salon, where I sit under the ministry of Cheryl, who's got "growing hands." There, Cheryl and whichever other customers or hairdressers are there serve as surrogate mothers, sisters, counselors, doctors, preachers, sociologists, whatever. And sometime during the evening—maybe while my head is in the sink, under the dryer, being clipped or curled—somebody's going to end up talking about men.

So when I realized I'd double-booked—the press screening for Beauty Shop and my regular hair appointment were on the same day—I thought to myself: This had better be worth it.

Queen Latifah plays Gina, who runs the beauty shop

Hairdresser Gina (Queen Latifah), first encountered in Barbershop 2: Back in Business, is the mother of a musically gifted daughter, Vanessa (Paige Hurd). The recently widowed Gina has left her booth at the beauty shop in Chicago and moved to Atlanta so Vanessa can attend a performing arts school. But Vanessa enjoyed sharing music with her father, so the grieving tween's rehearsals feature technical virtuosity, but lack joy.

Meanwhile, Gina is frustrated with her work. She's stuck at a chi-chi salon owned by snobbish Jorge, played with clipped English in a vaguely French/Eastern European accent by a metrosexual Kevin Bacon with highlights. When Gina and Kevin get into yet another argument over her refusal to follow his arbitrary salon hierarchy, she leaves, determined to open her own shop. The story of Gina's struggle to open and maintain her new salon (amidst the jealous Jorge's attempts to thwart her) and Vanessa's rediscovery of her joy in music make up the film.

Kevin Bacon as Jorge, Gina's business rival

This comedy's plot outline is fairly similar to that of Barbershop (2002) and Barbershop 2 (2004), and ensemble cast includes comedian Adele Givens as radio host Helen; Keshia Knight-Pulliam (remember Rudy from The Cosby Show?) as Gina's younger sister-in law; Alfre Woodard as an kente cloth-wearing middle-aged woman with a penchant for quoting Maya Angelou's poem "Phenomenal Woman"; Sherri Shepherd and Golden Brooks as stylists and Alicia Silverstone in a role similar to Troy Garrity's Isaac Rosenberg in Barbershop—the lone white person who struggles to find acceptance in a predominantly black environment. Djimon Hounsou plays Joe, a piano-playing electrician who helps Gina set up her shop and shows her how to open her heart to the possibility of new love.

There are a few big laughs here, but mostly just scattered chuckles throughout. Though Latifah's character is warm, confident and resilient, others are a bit sketchy: for example, Pulliam's Darnelle's main purpose seems to be to wear skimpy clothing, look put out and get herself in trouble by hanging out with would-be hustlers. Silverstone's Lynn is loopy and forced, and MacDowell's character is a steel magnolia without the steel. Brooks tends to play the same kind of character: the icy-toned, sneering sista who doesn't mind waggling a finger or snapping her neck to make her point.

Alicia Silverstone as Lynn, struggling to find her place in a predominantly black setting

More interesting than the film's setting (and the relatively colorful group of stock characters) are some of the issues it raises: How to find the courage to start over or pursue a new direction, and the ups and downs of entrepreneurship and self-reliance. All in all, it's a warm and fairly enjoyable film.

The film also has a thought-provoking treatment of race and class issues. For example, when Gina is denied a business loan to open the shop and suggests it might be because she's African-American, the white loan manager suggests they talk about Gina's "secured credit cards—as opposed to you throwin' around your race one." Gina decides to use her charm instead, joining the manager in the ladies' room and giving her a mini-makeover to convince her to give her the loan.

Keshia Knight Pulliam (Cosby's 'Rudy') is all grown up

One of the subplots deals with Lynn's attempts to fit in with her fellow hairdressers, and with the women's grudging (and frankly, fairly sudden) acceptance of her and her interracial relationship with James. When Lynn confides in Gina that she doesn't feel accepted, Gina reminds her that just like Lynn befriended her at Jorge's shop, she'll befriend her at hers—and that sticking it out allows people to see who you are and warm up to you. White and black women come to the shop, and race isn't a gauge of trustworthiness: Villains and heroes are white and black.

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