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'Beauty Shop': Film shows a good heart

By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

There's more fun and food for thought in two minutes of "Beauty Shop" than there is in the entirety of "Guess Who."

Royally presided over by the inimitable Queen Latifah, this Atlanta-set comedy examines race, gender, sexual orientation, sisterhood and why white girls can't dance, with a homegrown wit and an inviting warmth. And the ATL looks even better than it did in "Diary of a Mad Black Woman."

MGM Pictures

'Beauty Shop'

The verdict: Queen Latifah rules.

Director: Bille Woodruff
Starring: Queen Latifah, Alicia Silverstone, Andie MacDowell, Kevin Bacon
Run time: 105 minutes
Release date: March 30, 2005
Rating: PG-13 for sexual material, language and brief drug references.
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On the web
Official movie site
View the trailer
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Gina (Latifah), who was briefly glimpsed in "Barbershop 2" (with which this movie shares a producer), has moved down south from Chicago with her young daughter, Vanessa (Paige Hurd), a piano prodigy. As the movie opens, Gina is working at an upscale salon owned by Jorge (the ever-surprising, ever-wonderful Kevin Bacon), a mincing bit of self-absorbed Eurotrash who refers to himself in the third person. When a fed-up Gina argues with him, he sneers, "You wish to altercate with Jorge?"

That or leave. Which she does. Taking Jorge's shampoo girl, Lynn (Alicia Silverstone) and two of Jorge's best clients (Mena Suvari and Andie MacDowell) with her, she opens up her own place in a funky neighborhood. However, the shop has its challenges. As one character says, "It looks like somebody swallowed the '70s and threw them up in here."

More challenging still is Gina's array of hairstylists (headed by Alfre Woodard, Golden Brooks, Sherri Shepherd and Keshia Knight Pulliam), who have minds — and styles — of their own. Silverstone's unpretentious, friendly country girl — the only white stylist in the shop — sits better with some than others. And everyone wonders what's up with the hugely hunky James (Bryce Wilson) who does hair beautifully and lifts his pinky finger when he sips coffee.

The plot per se isn't much. Will Gina succeed despite Jorge's underhanded efforts to drive her out of business? Will Gina hook up with the hunkier-than-hunky Joe (Djimon Hounsou), the dreamy electrician-musician who lives upstairs? Will Lynn ever learn to dance?

"Beauty Shop" has plenty of hilarious girl talk and the occasional trash talk (junior smoothie Lil' JJ, as a candy-bar hawker/aspiring filmmaker, says to an unimpressed Vanessa, "Is your body named Visa? Because it's everywhere I want to be.").

But the movie has a solid moral core that uses stereotypes to impart important lessons about respect, tolerance and hair conditioner. And Queen Latifah is irresistible, whether she's praising her big butt or showing her big heart.