Calvin Palmer (Ice Cube, who has the conflicted-everyman role down cold) owns a barbershop on Chicago's South Side. He inherited the much-beloved social hub from his father, but he's become frustrated with the deadening life it's forced upon him. So, with some regrets, Calvin sells the place for a song to a small-time racketeer. Only afterward does he see his mistake.

Director Tim Story's subtle nods to Spike Lee's Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop notwithstanding, this one has about as much novelty as a $15 fade. But if it's something of a shaggy dog, it doesn't need a trim, since it has some boisterous personalities -- tough-as-nails stylist (Eve), preachy buppie (Sean Patrick Thomas), hood-with-a-heart-of-gold (Michael Ealy), FUBU-clad whitey (Jane Fonda scion Troy Garity) -- filling its chairs. Best of these by far is Cedric the Entertainer as a bloviating relic from the civil-rights days who delights in skewering African-American sacred cows: "Rodney King deserved to get his ass beat, O.J. did it, and Rosa Parks didn't do nothin' but sit her black ass down!" And for what it's worth, I don't expect to hear a more evocative if un-PC description of an outsize posterior this year: "She got a ass so big, it's like two midgets in a sleeping bag." (102 minutes) At the Flagship, Providence Place 16, and Showcase cinemas.