'Beauty Shop' has pleasure potions
Sisterhood, not hair care, is at the heart of Beauty Shop - a distaff spin-off of the two Barbershop hits that deploys similarly saucy discourse about sex, race, politics and women's backsides.Queen Latifah, who strutted through Barbershop 2, stars as Gina, a single mom and stellar stylist freshly transplanted to Atlanta (from the Chicago of Barbershop) for the sake of her piano prodigy daughter, the recipient of a prestigious scholarship.
Sisterhood, not hair care, is at the heart of Beauty Shop - a distaff spin-off of the two Barbershop hits that deploys similarly saucy discourse about sex, race, politics and women's backsides.
Queen Latifah, who strutted through Barbershop 2, stars as Gina, a single mom and stellar stylist freshly transplanted to Atlanta (from the Chicago of Barbershop) for the sake of her piano prodigy daughter, the recipient of a prestigious scholarship.
Working for the flamboyant, Austrian-accented Jorge (played by - who else? - Kevin Bacon), Gina quickly gains a flock of faithful customers, thrilled with her coifs, her counsel, and a homemade conditioning product jokingly dubbed "Hair Crack." But when Jorge goes disrespecting Gina and the salon's sassy, Southern-fried shampooist (Alicia Silverstone), the girls go packing.
A quick makeover montage later and Gina's funky storefront enterprise ("It looks like somebody swallowed the '70s and threw up in there!") opens its doors. Will Jorge exact revenge? Will Gina's Hair Crack get a CoverGirl deal? Will the hunky upstairs neighbor with the continental airs (he says "ciao" a lot) tumble for the plus-size, personality-plus Gina?
Beauty Shop, with a cast that in addition to Bacon (that accent! - plus highlights and chest hair) and Silverstone, includes Mena Suvari (a snob with breast implants) and Andie MacDowell (a well-heeled housewife), strives to be more cross-cultural than its two predominantly black, predominantly male forerunners.
And while the staff of Gina's salon represent various familiar stereotypes (Alfre Woodard's Maya Angelou-quoting, Afrocentric New Ager; Golden Brooks' straight-talking Chanel, Keshia Knight Pulliam's bad girl), the loose, lively spirit of the performances breathes life into the cliches. And the male lead, the smiling Joe (Djimon Hounsou), isn't your usual hunk from the 'hood: He's a jazz-playing electrician from Africa who's traveled the globe.
Beauty Shop is light and likable - a low-budget Steel Magnolias without pretense. Queen Latifah doesn't have to do much more than beam to anchor the pic. Paige Hurd, as Gina's keyboard-playing little girl, is a charmer.
The plot's not much to speak of. The (melo-)drama's next to nothing. And the pacing - the director, Bille Woodruff, is a music-video veteran - is stop-and-start. But the film's celebration of "outrageous women" doing their thing, and doing their 'dos, is, well, celebratory.
Contact movie critic Steven Rea at 215-854-5629 or srea@phillynews.com.
Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/stevenrea.
Beauty Shop *** (out of four stars)
Produced by David Hoberman, Robert Teitel, George Tillman Jr., Queen Latifah and Shakim Compere, directed by Bille Woodruff, written by Kate Lanier and Norman Vance Jr., cinematography by Theo van de Sande, music by Christopher Young, distributed by MGM Pictures.
Running time: 1 hour, 45 mins.
Gina. . . Queen Latifah
Lynn. . . Alicia Silverstone
Miss Josephine. . . Alfre Woodard
Jorge. . . Kevin Bacon
Joe. . . Djimon Hounsou
Parent's guide: PG-13 (profanity, adult themes)
Playing at: area theaters