Beauty Shop (2005)

"And now E! presents the Movie We Love...Beauty Shop!"

Nine times out of ten, my TV will be tuned into E! And they must've shown the movie Beauty Shop nine or ten times in the past two weeks. I first saw the flick a couple of years ago on a bus returning home from a day in New York City; I was half paying attention and half listening to my iPod. But what I saw I really, really liked. So I bought the DVD a couple of days later, and then it proceeded to sit on my shelf, unwatched, for some time. So with E! constantly showing an edited version (the film was originally rated R, but won a PG-13 on appeal), I decided to watch my still-unwatched DVD copy.

Serving as somewhat of a spin-off from the Barbershop series of movies, Beauty Shop stars Queen Latifah as hairstylist Gina, who works in a high end salon in Atlanta called Jorge's, owned and operated by the asinine and rude Jorge (Kevin Bacon goes effeminate in an unexpected and hysterical turn). Still, Gina is a favorite of Jorge's clients, including a Southern belle having marital problems (Andie MacDowell) and a stuck-up but good hearted young businesswoman (Mena Suvari). She's also good friends with country bumpkin and shampoo girl Lynn (Alicia Silverstone).

Gina is also a widow and mother of a young pianist prodigy named Vanessa, and she dreams of one day owning her own beauty salon. One day, Gina decides she had had enough of Jorge and up and quits the salon, taking the devoted Lynn with her. She gets a small bank loan (after impressing the loan officer with her hairstyling skills) and opens up Gina's Beauty Salon, which slowly becomes a success and steals away Gina's dedicated clients from Jorge. And Jorge will do everything in his power (from building inspectors to vandalism) to shut Gina's down. But Gina perseveres with her friends, her dedicated clientele, her reliable homemade "Hair Crack" conditioner and a little unexpected help from radio DJ Holla' at Helen.

Beauty Shop is a sassy flick that's very, very funny, and you don't want it to end. Latifah's hilarious turn as Gina serves as the center from the amazing ensemble of actors that portray her clients and employees. Alfrie Woodard (who constantly quotes Maya Angelou poems), Keisha Knight-Pulliam (Rudy Huxtable all grown up) and The View's Sherri Shepard (whose hair color changes to match the mood she's in) also give very funny performances. The film also stars Bryce Wilson as metrosexual, "is-he-or-isn't-he-gay" stylist James, Djimon Hounsou as Gina's electrician/pianist potential love interest and, coincidentally, Hounsou's real-life main squeeze Kimora Lee Simmons (E!'s Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane) as one of Gina's clients (I wonder if the two first met on the set of this movie?).

In short, E!'s not the only one who loves it!