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Barbershop

Barbershop

Comedy · Drama · 2002

A day in the life of a barbershop on the south side of Chicago. Calvin, who inherited the struggling business from his deceased father, views the shop as nothing but a burden and waste of his time. After selling the shop to a local loan shark, Calvin slowly begins to see his father's vision and legacy and struggles with the notion that he just sold it out.

Movie details

Barbershop

“Everyone's gettin' lined up.”

2002 Comedy · Drama 1h 42m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

A day in the life of a barbershop on the south side of Chicago. Calvin, who inherited the struggling business from his deceased father, views the shop as nothing but a burden and waste of his time. After selling the shop to a local loan shark, Calvin slowly begins to see his father's vision and legacy and struggles with the notion that he just sold it out.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Barbershop?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Tim Story

Written by

Don D. Scott · Marshall Todd · Mark Brown

Ice Cube

Ice Cube

Calvin Palmer

Anthony Anderson

Anthony Anderson

J.D.

Cedric the Entertainer

Cedric the Entertainer

Eddie

Sean Patrick Thomas

Sean Patrick Thomas

Jimmy James

Eve

Eve

Terri Jones

Troy Garity

Troy Garity

Isaac Rosenberg

Michael Ealy

Michael Ealy

Ricky Nash

Court is in session

Put Barbershop on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.