| 88 |
New York Post
Combines big laughs, a big heart and thoroughly winning characters to become the first big surprise of the fall season.
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| 80 |
Washington Post
It's funny as hell, and I am proud to say that as a card-carrying white guy, I got three, or possibly even four, of the 239 jokes.
|
| 80 |
Los Angeles Times
As warm as it is wise, deftly setting off uproarious humor with an underlying seriousness that sneaks up on the viewer, providing an experience that is richer than anticipated.
|
| 80 |
Wall Street Journal
Why, in our drum-thumping, ritually trumpeting time, did so little fanfare precede the opening of a movie with so much to recommend it? This is grand entertainment.
|
| 80 |
Variety
Ronnie Schieb
A rousing celebration of the family-run small business, this Ice Cube-topped ensemble comedy, without offering anything especially new or exciting, provides a springboard for high-voltage comic exchanges that double as wisecrack-coated lessons in community relations.
|
| 75 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
A cogent, optimistic and mostly entertaining slice of ghetto life.
|
| 75 |
Chicago Sun-Times
There is a kind of music to their conversations, now a lullaby, now a march, now a requiem, now hip-hop, and they play with one another like members of an orchestra. The movie's so good to listen to, it would even work as an audio book.
|
| 75 |
New York Daily News
Best of all, and worth the price of admission, is Cedric the Entertainer.
|
| 75 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Here, as in the "Friday" movies, the jokes are big and rude and vulgar and very funny.
|
| 75 |
Boston Globe
A broad, very funny, unexpectedly graceful comedy of character and community.
|
| 75 |
Chicago Tribune
Entertaining, surprisingly well-written and often rowdily amusing picture. It is predictable in many ways but also full of heart, humor and personality.
|
| 75 |
Baltimore Sun
Not everyone is going to appreciate the politics of Barbershop, but you've got to admire it for having a political view at all.
|
| 75 |
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Comes as a pleasure. It's a comic drama set in a Chicago hair salon where the characters are engaging and the story has a bustling richness.
|
| 70 |
LA Weekly
Despite the fact that you can see every plot twist a mile off, director Tim Story keeps the script by Mark Brown, Don D. Scott and Marshall Todd rollicking with a jazzy spontaneity.
|
| 70 |
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Ice Cube serves as the film's solid moral center, with a dizzying variety of supporting characters in his orbit. A refreshingly class-conscious comedy-drama that refuses to talk down to its audience, Barbershop tackles serious issues.
|
| 70 |
Chicago Reader
Some of the verbal jousts are hot, and a Laurel and Hardy routine involving a stolen ATM is fitfully hilarious, but this reminds me of a pilot for a cable sitcom.
|
| 70 |
The New York Times
I've seen better movies recently, but it's been a long time since I've left one feeling the easy, full-bellied happiness this one evoked.
|
| 70 |
Film Threat
Much like how its employees and patrons don't want to see the barbershop close, once one has become acquainted with these people and this place, one may not want Barbershop to end.
|
| 67 |
Entertainment Weekly
The mixed-up rhythms of the story rescue Barbershop from bland goodness.
|
| 67 |
Austin Chronicle
Towers head and hairpiece above much of what passes for urban comedy these days.
|
| 63 |
Miami Herald
The film's heart lies in what goes on at Calvin's shop, that haven from the cold, cruel world. Where else can you get philosophy, humor, friendship and a little off the top?
|
| 63 |
Philadelphia Inquirer
A stage-y but likable ensemble piece.
|
| 63 |
USA Today
Genial but largely predictable ensemble comedy.
|
| 60 |
TV Guide
Inlike many directors with music video backgrounds, Tim Story keeps the flashy cutting to a minimum and lets the story unfold at its own unhurried pace.
|
| 60 |
New Times (L.A.)
Isn't as funny as it should be. Cedric's speech impediment only goes so far -- he's actually funnier in Serving Sara, without having to rely on a big wig to do his acting for him.
|
| 60 |
Salon.com
So often loose and funny that you'd have to be pretty stingy not to get some pleasure from it.
|
| 60 |
Washington Post
Richard Harrington
Doesn't always cut it -- and, somewhat embarrassingly, boom mikes hover on screen so frequently they deserve co-billing -- but it's a likable venture that just misses being a lovable one.
|
| 40 |
Village Voice
As hackneyed as they come, but the overall mood is less cynical than affectionate.
|
| 30 |
Rolling Stone
Good-natured fun when it isn't stale, which is most of the time, this talky comedy set in a Chicago barber shop is a sitcom pilot disguised as a movie.
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