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Beauty Shop
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by:
Tamika Johnson
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Beauty
Shop tells the story of Gina (Queen Latifah) as she moves to Atlanta so
her daughter can go to an exclusive music school. She finds a job as a
stylist at a high end salon but after a confrontation with her boss
leaves and opens her own beauty shop.
Beauty Shop doesn’t quite rise to the occasion as it
repackages and regurgitates characters, themes and plots that we have
seen before. It is one thing to tell a story that has previously been
done yet bring something new to what may be an overdone but
entertaining storyline and it is another to retell a story and not
bring anything new to the table at all. Beauty Shop falls into the
latter category and suffers greatly for it.
The main problem with Beauty Shop is that it is Barber Shop with women.
From the plot twists to the characters inside the shop, it is the exact
same movie as Barbershop except with Queen Latifah at the helm instead
of Ice Cube. There is the funny, familial and penny pinching boss, Gina
(Queen Latifah). There is the misguided, yet full of potential stylist
in training, Darnelle (Keshia Knight-Pulliman). There’s the
arrogant, know it all stylist who is a pain in everyone’s
side, Chanel (Golden Brooks). There’s the novice stylist of a
different race that can’t get any business, Lynn (Alicia
Silverstone) and finally there’s the opposite sex stylist who
is the only one of his kind in the salon, James (Bryce Wilson). Add to
that the money problems, someone trying to take over the business and
the possibility that the shop may have to close for good and you have
the same movie, same story without any added flare. You even have the
character that hawks their goods at the shop: in Barbershop it was a
man selling bootleg CDs and DVDs and in Beauty Shop it is a woman
selling catfish and monkey bread. The concept of being original must
have never crossed the writer’s minds.
And once again I say, can we dispense with the gay stylists. That is a
stereotype that can go to the stereotype graveyard never to be seen or
heard of again…ever. Kevin Bacon, an actor I love does an
absolutely horrible and I repeat horrible job playing
Latifah’s gay and fascist boss. We can also dispense with
"metrosexuals" the new overused and unfunny effeminate male stereotype
that is going to appear in every movie where men are employed in what
are typically considered to be women’s jobs. If so, I say
please stop now before you make audiences suffer anymore then we
already have at this new, unnecessary caricature. There was one of
these characters in "Guess Who", and one of Beauty Shop’s
many subplots is trying to figure out if the only male stylist is gay,
straight or a metrosexual which would be a cross between the two.
For positives, there were some laughs and the opportunity to see a
shirtless Djimon Hounsou was almost worth my money, but overall Beauty
Shop was unoriginal and a bore. Ultimately the question is -- do you
really want to spend your money on something you’ve already
seen before. For me the answer is simple: No, I don’t.
About the Author
Tamika Johnson is a freelance writer and owner of
PrologueReviews.com. To read more reviews by Tamika or to have your
book, music or film reviewed visit http://www.prologuereviews.com
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