‘Barbershop: The Next Cut’ Packs in Humour While Delivering a Message on Chicago Street Crime

Dyan James

Friendships old and new are strengthened in the comedy “Barbershop: The Next Cut” as hair stylists come together to save their violent Chicago neighborhood.

In this installment of the “Barbershop” series, antics and laughs abound as viewers are reintroduced over 10 years later to barbers Calvin (Ice Cube) and Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer) at Calvin’s Barbershop, the inner-city shop Calvin inherited from his old man. Now, women stylists populate the shop since Calvin, in an attempt to survive tough economic times, has combined his business with that of fellow hair stylist Angie (Regina Hall) to form a bigger better barbershop for both men and women. The ladies who accompany Angie change the dynamics of the place as they bring with them their own brand of humor, gossip and drama. Adding extra spice to the mix is sassy Draya, played by rapper Nicki Minaj.

Meanwhile, as these men and women learn how to co-exist inside the shop, a turf war is raging outside the shop with the ever-increasing problem of gangs and crime. Calvin, worried about the fate of his neighborhood and how it will affect his young son, works with his co-workers to create a plan to get their cherished neighborhood back on track.

When asked about the possibility of creating a third “Barbershop” installment, the producer/actor/rapper Ice Cube said he needed “to have a real reason” to make it. “Everyone knows what’s going on in the streets. We felt like we have a great universal story of a father trying to keep his son off the streets and out of trouble,”he said in an interview.

The film’s director, Malcolm D. Lee (“The Best Man,” “The Best Man Holiday” and “Undercover Brother”), was tasked with striking a balance between the franchise’s usual comedy and the serious dilemma of Chicago’s street crime. “Tone was big,” he said in an interview. “I wanted to make sure the emotional spine was right. But I also wanted to make sure we never let the audience forget that they’re in a comedy.”

“Barbershop: The Next Cut” opens nationwide on April 15.