The Village Barbershop

2008 old-fart-being-rejuvenated-by-young-person movie

Rating: 13/20

Plot: Poor Art. He's still recovering from the death of his wife when his partner and the barbershop passes away. The business is struggling, especially with the landlord looking for any reason to throw him out and make a lot more money with another venture. Enter Gloria, a young hell cat with problems of her own who wants to be his new assistant. He reluctantly agrees.

My lukewarm feelings about this movie doesn't change my opinion that The Ratz needs to be in more movies. I mean, he practically carried Cheers on his beastly shoulders, and he's arguably the reason why The Empire Strikes Back is the movie that it is. And, of course, Pixar just wouldn't be Pixar without The Ratz. Anyway, he's good, master mustachioed badass thespian who could probably take on thirty Clint Eastwoods in a fight. Matrix style! And yeah, I know that Clint Eastwood is around ninety years old, but he's Clint Eastwood and there are thirty of them. Still an impressive feat in my book. This Shelly Cole actress is pretty good, too, but I went through the bulk of this movie thinking she was somebody else. You know, that actress who always plays this sort of role. But it's not her at all. Cole's done very little unless you count Punk Girl God in an episode of the short-lived Joan of Arcadia or Filthy-Haired Girl in Art School Confidential as more than very little. No, the acting isn't really the problem here at all. The problem is that the characters aren't nearly interesting enough to keep this thing going. The Ratz's character is also sent, predictably, through some miserable moments that kind of suck the momentum and sweetness from the movie, too. There are also just too many of these movies where a lonely curmudgeon learns to embrace life again with the help of a youngster. Shut up, all you Up haters.