Review of Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016) by Sandy L — 10 Apr 2016

Funny, real life community issues and great heart.

The Next Cut continues their story where the barbers and stylist are still doing what barbers do in their Chicago neighborhood. The city is filled with a lot of gang violence and because of it the city officials want to build a divider so that people traveling would pass over or around the area where the shop is to avoid further blood shed to innocents. Calvin (Ice Cube) is faced with what he is going to do about his son getting into possible gang trouble and the sanctity of his shop. He considers moving his shop and his family to the peaceful side of town when the idea of a weekend cease fire comes up and they decide to take a stand by reaching out to the gang leaders who are loyal customers to the shop. Their idea is to spread the word about the cease fire and give out free cuts and styles to all for the next three days in order to give the officials a sign that the community does not need to be sectioned off and will come together if they have a good cuse. .

Man this movie was funny. The writing was definitely on point with the jokes, dialogue and plot. The flow of the movie was a nice change compared to previous movies, especially the second one. It dealt with real community issues and had real heart for the youth and the local black owned Barbershop. Ice Cube did a great job as the concerned father trying to make the best but hard decision for his family's well being and his livelihood. J. B. Smoove (One-Stop), Lamorne Morris (Jerrod), Utkarsh Ambudkar (Raja) and Deon Cole (Dante) were the absolute funniest in this and played an intricate part in this story. I laughed a good portion of the movie. Nicki Minaj (Draya) on the other hand didn't do a bad job with her acting and character but was definitely an eyesore in the movie with all her fakeness. They definitely used her assets, every purchased one of them in the movie with her loud tacky and ratchet wardrobe. It was good to see Regina Hall (Angie) in this as a the partner to Calvin's shop. She is not only a talented, attractive actor but does well when she is not playing the vulgar, typical "black chick". It was also good to see them include most of the old Barbershop crew in it as well. .

Everyone should enjoy this movie. The comedy mixed in with the real issues of life that are faced in not only Chicago but in various areas made this an absolute enjoyable watch.

4 out of 5 STARS.