Barbershop 2: Back in Business

Just as in the original Barbershop, the pleasures of the sequel are in the delightful conversations, especially when compared with the fake-hipness of most portrayals of African-Americans. Barbershop 2: Back in Business lets us listen in on conversations that are not just very funny; they feel much more authentic in the frank treatment of race, as the characters debate who they can "take credit for" and which white people they would be willing to have sex with.

The group discusses their disappointment in finding out that the D.C. sniper was black and the way the media portrays biracial celebrities. They debate what race Jesus was, and a woman explains that he is "Cablanasian, like Tiger Woods." Calvin explains to his baby that poor black people will always be asking him for money and that he won't know they're poor at first because they will dress very nicely. The movie also provides some historical context. We see how Eddie first came to the barbershop, and how he and Calvin's father stayed on through meetings of the Black Panther and the riots after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination.