"Barbershop: The Next Cut" Review

The third trip to everyone's favorite South Side Chicago barbershop is set against a backdrop of the area's rampant gang violence. Where the similarly-set Chi-Raq explored the problem and potential solutions in an engaging, forward-moving way, Barbershop: The Next Cut doesn't offer a meaningful narrative to push things along. It's really just a series of harmless character moments set in and around the shop. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that; the film is, at best, consistently entertaining. But when Ice Cube is the cornerstone of your dramatic experience, something isn't quite right.

Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver offer a script directed by Malcolm D. Lee. Jokes are delivered at a modest pace with crowd-favorite Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer) easily stealing the show. The film shines when everyone is in the shop trading barbs, especially to such an impassioned point where Jerrod (New Girl's Lamorne Morris) accidentally shaves an extra patch off someone's head.

The film could stand to be even funnier because too often, the jovial mood is shattered by ill-advised dramatic moments. There's a love triangle between Rashad (Common), Terri (Eve) and Draya (Nicki Minaj), a brothers' quarrel between Rashad and Calvin (Ice Cube), as well as subplots involving Calvin's son Jalen attempting to initiate in a gang and Calvin's attempt to secure shop space in the North Side without telling his colleagues. All the while, everyone in the shop tries to unite the community by offering free services during a 48-hour ceasefire. That's the catalyst behind these subplots. It would be fine if we ever got a sense of the real change the event sparked, but as such, it boils down to keeping young Jalen from joining the Bloods rather than ending the war in the streets. By the time a certain NBA star walks in for his big cameo, the film has all but jumped the shark.

In terms of performances, it's hard not to adore Cedric the Entertainer as Eddie for the unabashed goofiness he brings to a production that would otherwise have neither a heart nor soul. Common makes some of the dramatic scenes tolerable as he's proven himself time and again in more serious roles before. Minaj has a sizable part and delivers a surprisingly consistent, confident performance. However, the jury is still out on whether she'll be booking Godard or Malick next...

On the whole, Barbershop: The Next Cut offers an entertaining, occasionally funny catch-up with faces old and new. The setting is timely, but twelve years between films should indicate how sparse the demand is for another "cut." You could do much worse, especially in theaters right now, but there are far too many entertaining, even funnier, movies out there to make Barbershop 3 essential viewing.


Grade: C+