The Salon (2005)
13 %
Reviews Counted: 31 Fresh: 4 Rotten:27 Average Rating: 3.5/10
Consensus:
Having been delayed several years, The Salon's pop culture references are stale and its story and characters were better done in the Barbershop series.
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Theatrical Release: May 11, 2007 Limited
Box Office: $92,362
Synopsis: At the epicenter of the neighborhood is Jenny's beauty salon, where women flock to get made over and to feel at home. For owner Jenny (Vivica A. Fox) and her loyal patrons, it's more than just a business; it's a community fixture. But all this quickly comes under threat when a good-looking... [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Vivica A. Fox, Darrin Dewitt Henson, Kym Whitley, Terrence Howard, Monica Calhoun
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
Vivica A. Fox proves to be a warm and appealing anchor for sometimes sitcom-level silliness.
Comment
08/19/07
I've seen porn with better dialogue and SNL sketches with less amateur production values.
08/06/07
Not funny enough, romantic enough, or serious enough to succeed as a comedy, romance or urban issues drama.
07/26/07
The movie includes a few good one-liners, but that's really all it is -- a forum for putdowns and sassy dialogues.
07/10/07
The movie was shot more than three years before its release, and it shows, as when the salon's resident golddigger says: "Anna Nicole Smith -- I aspire to be just like her."
05/18/07
At least Norbit tried to come up with fresh new awfulness instead of idling in these familiar old ruts.
05/15/07
Talks its way to a tedious, predictable conclusion that offers more yawns than laughs.
05/14/07
The film's feisty cast and generally sunny outlook make for warm and reassuring comfort viewing, the equivalent of a straight-from-the-box dish of mac and cheese.
05/11/07
After scripting both Barbershops, writer-director Mark Brown appears to have exhausted his ability to create new and interesting characters to inhabit The Salon.
05/11/07
Top Critic
Despite all the stock characters and scenarios, Fox and company manage to bring things to life. And cut some hair.
05/11/07
Top Critic
The best scenes in Barbershop featured incisive discussions of current events. Here, the closest brush with topicality is a reference to Eddie Griffin.
05/11/07
Top Critic
A feeble dramedy about a Baltimore beauty shop where someone should come in to sweep up the clichés.
05/11/07
Top Critic
Given that Brown wrote the significantly superior Barbershop, he should know that when you make a socially conscious comedy, you've got to weave in plenty of wit alongside the wisdom.
05/11/07
Top Critic
This movie abruptly becomes a too-convenient black history lesson, complete with a truly egregious deus ex machina. The Salon is a cut below.
05/11/07
Top Critic
Like a perm that won't grow away, it's stuck in the race-comedy mold of Barbershop, Barbershop 2 and Beauty Shop. Been there, done that hair.
05/11/07
Top Critic
Bottoms-out with this bit of dialogue: 'If you're going to be a ho, be an ambitious ho. Work uptown.' What unfortunate timing, given the whole Don Imus controversy. Life's simply too short for slur-ploitation with such lamentably low standards.
05/11/07
This is one of those films where everything simply feels wrong, from the clunky dialogue to the obvious staging.
05/11/07
Top Critic
The movie is a little windy and over-the-top, and the gossipy references to J-Lo and Anna Nicole Smith are woefully outdated.
05/11/07
Top Critic
Everything about it is whompingly (whoopingly?) obvious, from the hit-you-over-the-head narration to the tidy ending.
05/11/07
Top Critic
The Salon had any genuine sass clipped out of it to fit a PG-13 rating.
05/11/07
Top CriticPictures
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