Parents' Guide to

Barbershop 2: Back in Business

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Great message delivered in an edgy hip-hop movie.

Movie PG-13 2004 110 minutes
Barbershop 2: Back in Business Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 13+

Based on 2 parent reviews

joshua martinez
joshua martinez Adult
September 30, 2011
age 13+

13 and up.

Barbershop 2: Back in Business is an average movie and parents this second installment Barbershop 2: Back in Business has some violence but nothing intense there's also some Sexual references, mostly humorous, kissing, non-explicit sexual situation there's some strong language used and some drinking used the movie does have a positive message about the importance of family and community.

This title has:

Great messages
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
bucsfanerik
bucsfanerik Adult
April 9, 2008
age 13+
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In BARBERSHOP 2: BACK IN BUSINESS, the Chicago barbershop owned by Calvin (Ice Cube) still plays a central role in the community. Money is always tight, but he finds a way to help out anyone who needs it. Calvin is glad to see more jobs, money, and tax revenues coming into the Southside neighborhood, but worries that the community's history and flavor will be lost in a sea of chain stores. Things look bad when a chain barbershop called Nappy Cutz puts up an "opening soon" sign across the street. Once again, Calvin must decide whether to sell out. There's plenty of give and take between the denizens of the barbershop: Terri (Eve), Jimmy (Sean Patrick Thomas) now working for an alderman, secretive ex-con Ricky (Michael Ealy), Nigerian immigrant Dinka (Leonard Howze), white barber Isaac (Troy Garrity), and of course, extremely talkative Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer). The old gang is joined by Calvin's cousin-in-law, Kenard (Kenan Thompson), just out of barber school, and gets some visits from Beautyshop hairdresser Gina (Queen Latifah).

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (2):
Kids say: Not yet rated

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.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how Barbershop 2: Back in Business shows how people make choices about the places they do business. Do you go to the big national chains or do you seek out small local companies?

  • Families can also talks about some of the history shown in the movie and their own experiences during the 1960s.

  • How does Barbershop 2 compare with Barbershop? Which do you like better?

  • How do the characters in Barbershop 2: Back in Business demonstrate integrity? Why is this an important character strength?

Movie Details

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