‘Barbershop’ is a real cut-up

Dennis Piszkiewicz

Everybody, it seems, needs a place to hang out, somewhere where

they can escape from the house, talk to people and maybe do a little

business.

We have a lot of places like that in Southern California: coffee

shops with overpriced lattes, country clubs and golf clubs. On the

South Side of Chicago, in a mostly black neighborhood where most

people are struggling to stay on the bottom rung of the economic

ladder, a barbershop is where everybody meets, and “Barbershop”, the

movie, is hilarious.

“Barbershop” does tell a story, but fortunately it does not get in

the way of the fun. It begins when the shop’s owner, Calvin, played

by Ice Cube, sells his shop to a sleazy businessman who intends to

turn it into a strip joint. Calvin quickly realizes that selling his

shop was a mistake and he decides to get it back. There is also a

side-splitting sub-plot about two stupid burglars and their stolen

ATM machine.

An ensemble cast weaves in and out of the barbershop in tightly

played scenes that cover the range from low-brow humor to social

satire. Celebrities and other notables verbally skewered by the movie

include O. J. Simpson, Rodney King, Walter Payton, Jennifer Lopez and

Rosa Parks.

Actor-rapper Ice Cube has the unenviable task of playing straight

man to a crew of energetic young faces. Cedric the Entertainer, plays

an aging barber with no interest in retiring, spouts opinions --

maybe goofy, maybe wise, always funny -- about everything and

everybody. Grammy-winning rapper Eve, plays Terri, the only woman who

works in the shop, is in constant battle with the other barbers and

her cheating boyfriend. Leonard Howze as Dink, an immigrant from

Nigeria, is a big teddy bear of a man with a secret love for Terri

and an appreciation of the love poems of Pablo Neruda.

An interesting feature of this inner-city drama is that most of

its characters have had to deal with the question of whether they

will join a gang, do drugs, or take up a career of crime. They made

those decisions long before the story begins. The issue they face now

is how they can make better lives for themselves, their families, and

their friends.

“Barbershop” is intelligent, irreverent, and outrageous. It is

also a feel-good film without being saccharine.

* DENNIS PISZKIEWICZ is a Laguna Beach resident.

‘Stealing Harvard’ just plain tripe

America’s favorite imbecile, Tom Green, returns to pollute the

silver screen in “Stealing Harvard.”

The success of his first project, “Freddy Got Fingered,” can be

politely referred to as a belly flop into an empty pool. Co-starring

Jason Lee, an overly eager actor who has been tenaciously trying to

carve his niche in the film industry, this comedy is a case of too

much, too late.

“Stealing Harvard” is nothing more than a facile plot with

hackneyed slapstick that makes you wish that you had a remote control

handy or a hefty item to throw at the screen. Lee is forced to choose

between an idyllic life with his fiance or the forgotten promise of

sending his niece to college. Green serves as the comic relief that

is neither humorous nor relieving. The audience is left with a

sensation of pity and embarrassment as Green unabashedly traipses

through this picture, proving conclusively that his brand of

entertainment expired long ago. Devoid of chemistry, plot and

character development, “Stealing Harvard” unapologetically labors it

way from a painful beginning to a welcomed end.

“Stealing Harvard” serves up enough tripe for seconds and thirds,

but I strongly recommend ordering something else.

* EVAN MARMOL is a Laguna resident. He graduated from UC Irvine

with a degree in psychology and social behavior.