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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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