6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A day in the life of a South Side Chicago barbershop.
Starring: Ice Cube, Michael Ealy, Cedric the Entertainer, Eve, Sean Patrick ThomasComedy | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: LPCM 2.0
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Barbershop is in essence a film about community, and in that regard it’s kind of interesting to think about how unique barbershops are in some African American neighborhoods. It’s actually hard to think of a similar sort of commercial establishment that serves as such a regular meeting place for other ethnicities, unless one agrees that often multi-ethnic watering holes like the ubiquitous (unavoidable?) coffee shops that have sprung up over the last several decades qualify. Barbershop is unabashedly cartoonish a lot of the time, but it also has a surplus of heart, and a lot of that heart stems from the sweet if occasionally barbed interactions that take place at the hair cutting emporium run by Calvin Palmer, Jr. (Ice Cube). Calvin inherited his urban Chicago establishment from his Dad, but the film suggests that in the early years of the 21st century (the film debuted in 2002), times may have been changing enough that barbershops were no longer a viable commodity, either as a business or in fact maybe even as a place to gather and commune in one way or the other. Calvin is in desperate straits, as is quickly detailed, with a very pregnant wife named Jennifer (Jazsmin Lewis) and mounting debts that finally make him willing to sell the place to the obviously villainous Lester Wallace (Keith David). Meanwhile, the film introduces two other characters named J.D. (Anthony Anderson) and Billy (Lahmard Tate), two lunk headed would be “masterminds” who manage to steal an ATM from a store across the street from Calvin’s barbershop, but not without leaving behind an important clue that will end up fingering the wrong suspect.
Barbershop is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Marquee Collection, an imprint of MVD Visual, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. MVD Marquee has relatively decent luck with some of its MGM releases thus far, something that's notable since the once mighty studio does not have the best track record for preserving and curating its catalog in high definition. This may not a brand spanking new transfer (I haven't been able to track down any authoritative data), but for the most part it looks surprisingly spry a lot of the time, even if colors are a bit faded and somewhat dowdy looking. Detail levels are routinely quite commendable (check out the ribbing on Ice Cube's shirt in screenshot 1), and the transfer maintains a generally organic appearance, with just a couple of very slight hurdles encountered in grain resolution. There are a few murky looking moments in some of the darker scenes (which also provide a couple of the more challenging moments for the grain field), but the transfer is devoid of any really egregious compression issues, and doesn't show any signs of over aggressive digital tweaking. My score is 3.75.
Barbershop is suffused with both scenes involving a lot of participants as well as a ubiquitous use of source cues, two things which help to elevate the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. While surround activity is very good in the more crowded moments, it tends to kind of ebb and flow, and as such it may not provide the constant "wow" factor that some may be expecting. Fidelity is fine across the board, supporting everything from some of the thumping bass of various cues, to the raucous environment in the barbershop when emotions become heated. Dialogue is also rendered cleanly and clearly on this problem free track.
- The Final Cut (480i;19:27) is a generalist EPK with cast and crew discussing the importance of the barbershop in black culture.
- Set, Press, and Style (480i; 6:04) gets into aspects like production design.
- Finishing Touches (480i; 5:59) focuses on actual hair designs for various characters.
- Hairdos and Don'ts (480i; 7:01) interviews some real barbers and customers.
- "You Want Boom Boom?" (480i; 1:27)
- Ricky's Routine (480i; 00:41)
- "You Know We In the Ghetto" (480i; 00:32)
- "You Ain't Right With Jesus" (480i; 00:58)
- "All I Need is $18,900" (480i; 1:14)
- "Just Give Me a Sign" (480i; 00:58)
- "You Smell Chicken?" (480i; 00:52)
Barbershop may frankly not reach the "meaningful" bullseye it seems to be aiming for, but it's consistently entertaining and often both wryly amusing and at least occasionally laugh out loud funny. Performances are fine if often on the cartoonish side (seemingly intentionally), and the film moves briskly toward an arguably too easily achieved happy ending. Technical merits are generally strong, and MVD has provided most of the supplements from some previous DVD releases. Recommended.
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The Next Cut
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Director's Cut
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