With Queen Latifah holding court over a cast of sassy females, Beauty Shop continues the Barbershop franchise in entertaining style. Reprising her role from Barbershop 2: Back in Business, Latifah plays Gina the big-booty stylist, now on her own (she's a widow) and moving from Chicago to Atlanta, where she gets sick of her flamboyantly bitchy boss (played by... Kevin Bacon?), inherits her two best clients (Andie MacDowell and Mena Suvari) and her popular formula for "hair crack" conditioner, and opens her own styling shop with a $30,000 loan and a rainbow coalition of hairdressers played by Golden Brooks, Sherri Shepherd, Alfre Woodard and Alicia Silverstone. While it lacks the frank, sharply observant racial humor of Barbershop, this easygoing comedy moves along at an agreeable pace, with a supporting cast of beauty-shop customers (and a love interest, played by Djimon Hounsou) who play off Queen Latifah's effortless appeal with energy to spare. Sure it's conventional, and most of the characters are thinly developed, but Beauty Shop is a fun place to visit for 105 hassle-free minutes. --Jeff Shannon
(45 votes)
2.
"Feel-Good Entertainment!" -- Variety Queen Latifah heads an "excellent ensemble" cast in this "warm, funny, empowering" (New York Post) comedy from the producers of Barbershop and the producer of Bringing Down The House! Co-starring Alicia Silverstone, Andie MacDowell, Alfre Woodard, Mena Suvari and Djimon Hounsou - and featuring Kevin Bacon in a hilarious performance - Beauty Shop "will slap a smile on your face and keep it there" (Premiere)!
When Jorge (Bacon), the egotistical boss at a posh salon, pushes his star stylist, Gina (Latifah), a hair too far, Gina leaves and opens a beauty shop of her own. Inheriting an opinionated group of stylists, a colorful clientele and a sexy upstairs neighbor, Gina proves that you can't keep a good woman down - and you can't keep a shopful of outrageous women from speaking their minds!
(42 votes)
3.
Leaving the Chicago crew behind, Gina Norris (Queen Latifah) is a long way from the Barbershop – she now lives in Atlanta and is making a name for herself and her cutting-edge hairstyles at a posh Southern salon. But when her flamboyant, egotistical boss, Jorge (Kevin Bacon), takes it one criticism too far, she storms out of his salon to open a shop of her own, taking the shampoo girl (Alicia Silverstone) and a few key clients (Andie MacDowell, Mena Suvari) with her.
Gina risks it all to buy a rundown beauty shop and gets to work making it her own, inheriting an opinionated group of headstrong stylists (including Alfre Woodard, Golden Brooks, and Sherri Shepherd), a colorful clientele, and a sexy upstairs electrician (Djimon Hounsou). It’s a rocky road to fulfilling her dreams – and Jorge does his best to ruin her plans – but you can’t keep a good woman down…and you can’t keep a shopful of outrageous women from speaking their minds! Join Gina and her stylists for a raucous good time at the Beauty Shop.
(42 votes)
4.
Queen Latifah reprises her role as Gina, who audiences first met in the 2004 sequel to BARBERSHOP. This time she's the owner of her own beauty shop. A widow and single mom, Gina has moved from Chicago to Atlanta so that her daughter Vanessa (the charming Paige Hurd), a piano prodigy, can attend a performing arts school. Mother-in law Paulette (Laura Hayes) and sister-in-law Darnelle (Keisha Knight Pulliam, who played Rudy on THE COSBY SHOW) live with them. The bills are paid by Gina's job at Jorge's (Kevin Bacon) high-end salon, but his obnoxious personality ultimately proves insufferable. Gina quits her job and decides to get a place of her own, securing a loan with some resourceful tactics. Situated squarely in the ghetto and featuring a revolving cast of eccentric characters, the shop's quirky employees provide a constant stream of witty banter. Meanwhile the electrician who lives upstairs (Djimon Hounsou, AMISTAD) slowly wins Gina's heart. Despite challenges, Gina maintains grace, humor, and a magnanimous air that sees her through everything.
The ensemble cast of this feel-good comedy at times eclipses its good-natured star, who functions as a den mother to the madness. Andi MacDowell and Mena Suvari play wealthy Atlanta socialites who defect to Gina's shop, while Gospel legend Della Reese also makes an appearance. Bryce Wilson's turn as an ex-convict stylist of questionable sexual orientation provides humor at his expense, while Alicia Silverstone's bumbling black-girl wanna-be is so charming that we forgive her fake accent. Building upon the success of the BARBERSHOP franchise, BEAUTY SHOP holds its own both in its comedic acuity, and in its inspirational story of an underdog who comes out on top through force of will and strength of spirit.
(43 votes)
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