This came out a little uneven. The Barbershop spinoff features a wild cast of characters (from Kevin Bacon as an over-the-top ex-boss to Alicia Silverstone dropping it like it's hot), frank discussions on everything from sex to race relations and a lot of attitude. But it fails to gel, feeling more like a very special sitcom than a solid comedy you'd actually pay to see.
The thin plot is about widowed Queen Latifah moving from Chicago to Hotlanta, opening her shop and sending her piano-protégé daughter to a fancy-pants music school. There's a love interest--sexy electrician-musician Djimon Hounsou, just because. And that's how this movie operates, pushing itself along into the next quick quip or sight gag. Latifah's sassiness helps the situation, but you might want to wait for the video before you visit her chop shop.