by MARK SLUTSKY

With the success of the first two Barbershop movies, perhaps it was only a matter of time before we got a female equivalent to the Ice Cube-fronted comedies. And who better to front them than Queen Latifah, presumably trying to forget Taxi, one of last year's worst movies. Beauty Shop makes a lot more sense for Latifah, taking her character from Barbershop 2 to a salon of her own.

Having said that, Beauty Shop is not a very good movie. Okay, now I'm not saying that it really aspires to the level of great film art. It's an unambitious, friendly comedy, but still it doesn't do anything particularly well - the jokes aren't great, the characterizations are a little one-noted and it's far too long. Yet, despite its shortcomings, it's a likeable film with a certain easy-going charm. You could say the same about director Bille Woodruff's last movie, Honey, which against all the odds, I totally loved.

Queen Latifah and daughter Vanessa (the endearing Paige Hurd) move to Atlanta from Chicago after the death of Latifah's husband. Hurd's studying at a high school for artistic kids (she plays the piano), while mom pays the bills working at a salon owned by the tyrannical, vaguely European Jorge (Kevin Bacon, sporting bleach-blond locks and a Germanic accent). Of course Latifah decides to strike out on her own, bringing along bubbly Alicia Silverstone (nice to see her again), who is working a very intense Southern accent.

Our heroine struggles to make her little salon a big success, going through the usual travails you might expect in a movie like this. Thankfully, those struggles aren't really a big part of Beauty Shop. This is a comedy that wisely knows to keep the story stuff to a minimum and focus on the in-salon banter and various antics. Other celebs (Alfre Woodard, Andie MacDowell, Mena Suvari and Djimon Hounsou) show up and do their thing without taking themselves too seriously. Which is definitely a point in Beauty Shop's favour.

Beauty Shop is now playing

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