Comedian Cedric the Entertainer reprises his role as Eddie, long-time barber and friend of Calvin (Ice Cube) and his dad.
Studio: Warner Bros. (1hr. 52 min.)
Plot: As their surrounding community has taken a turn for the worse, the crew at Calvin’s Barbershop come together to bring some much needed change to their neighborhood.
Cast: Ice Cube, Michael Rainey Jr., Regina Hall, Jazsmin Lewis, Cedric the Entertainer, Sean Patrick Thomas, Eve, Anthony Anderson
Rating: PG-13
Bottom Line: ****
Comedian Cedric the Entertainer reprises his role as Eddie, long-time barber and friend of Calvin (Ice Cube) and his dad.
By Khaleel Herbert
Calvin’s Barbershop is open and ready for business after more than a decade, with old and new faces in “Barbershop: The Next Cut.”
Rapper/actor Ice Cube reprises his role as Calvin, the owner of his father’s barbershop and proud father to his son, Jalen (Michael Rainey Jr.). Men can get haircuts and women can get their hair done at Calvin’s since Calvin joined forces with beauty shop owner, Angie (Regina Hall). Working with Angie is Draya (Rapper Nicki Minaj) and Bree (Margot Bingham).
Calvin contemplates with his wife Jennifer (Jazsmin Lewis), about moving to Chicago’s north side because of the reoccurring gang violence on the south side. He wants Jalen to be safe and avoid gangs. He also wants to move Calvin’s to the north side.
Meanwhile, Jimmy (Sean Patrick Thomas) now the mayor of Chicago, wants to enforce an enclosure project on the south side, which will close off the barbershop from its customers. The barbershop decides to sponsor a Crips and Bloods weekend ceasefire. During the ceasefire, Calvin offers free haircuts hoping celebrities will tweet about it, so it can trend on Twitter and stop the enclosure project.
“Barbershop” brings new barbers to Calvin’s. Rapper Common plays Rashad, who is married to Terri (Rapper Eve) and Calvin’s best friend. Comedian and actor J.B. Smoove (from Real Husbands of Hollywood) plays One-Stop, a barber and businessman who helps Calvin in his pursuit to move the shop to the north side of Chicago. Jerrod (Lamorne Morris) and Raja (Utkarsh Ambudkar) are two friends that always get into debates about politics and race.
Comedian Cedric the Entertainer reprises his role as Eddie, long-time barber and friend of Calvin and his dad, telling stories about cutting Barack Obama’s hair before he was president and telling jokes about celebrities including Kanye West. Deon Cole returns as Dante, still the customer who lives in the barbershop with no place to go.
“Barbershop: The Next Cut” is as good as the previous “Barbershop” movies. It is loaded with comedy from Eddie and the new and classic characters. The film also sheds light on the problems Chicago and the United States face in regards to gang violence.
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This was printed in the May 1, 2016 – May 14, 2016 edition.
