PREMIERE.COM'S REVIEW (posted 04/01/05)

In spite of everything, you never know when the fates will align and bless a bit of moviemaking. Take Beauty Shop, for example. Loads of people will never see this movie, suspecting it's not aimed at them or that they've seen it all before. That's as may be, but give it half a chance, no matter who you are, and the first lady-centric entry in the Barbershop canon will slap a smile on your face and keep it there.

Queen Latifah is Gina Norris, the go-getter beautician first seen in Barbershop 2. Gina has just moved to Atlanta and now works for a prissy and pretentious salon owner named Jorge (Kevin Bacon). One day Gina decides she's had enough of Jorge's disrespect and starts her own little shop. What follows is a fairly realistic but laugh-loaded portrayal of an ordinary woman building a small business and a neighborhood community against all odds.

Like its predecessors, Beauty Shop certainly breaks no new ground and may walk away empty-handed at awards season. But for the most part, what it aims to do—amuse and uplift—it does wonderfully. Combining elements of 70's fun fare like Carwash and the colorful, communal feeling that Spike Lee brought to Do the Right Thing, director Bille Woodruff and writers Kate Lanier and Norman Vance, Jr. have created a fine looking, life affirming, feel-good entertainment. With the unfortunate exception of Kevin Bacon's and Mena Suvari's characters, the ensemble comes off surprisingly genuine (even if their traits are stock stuff) and the laughs derive more from lifelike reactions than from blatant punchline pushing. Queen Latifah, a natural and reassuring presence, goes a long way toward rooting this comedy here on earth. Who'd have thought that two sequels in, the hair-cutting set-up would still be fun?

—Kevin Allison