Gina Norris (Queen Latifah) has relocated from the beauty shop in Chicago to Atlanta, where her daughter attends a well-regarded music school. She’s a stylist in an upscale hair salon owned by Jorge Christophe (Kevin Bacon). Gina works wonders with clients’ hair and Jorge is more than a little miffed by this. His main concern seems to be to keep Gina in her place and to make sure her friend (and shampoo girl) Lynn (Alicia Silverstone, "Clueless") never gets to work her own stylist chair.

Bacon takes a wild turn here, away from his usual serious roles, as in "The Woodsman" and "Mystic River," with a whacked-out comedic characterization. It takes a few moments to recognize him with his long, blonde highlights (about as authentic as his name) and flamboyant homosexual body movements, and when you do, you start laughing before the first word comes out of his mouth.

Terri (Andie MacDowell) and Joanne (Mena Suvari of "American Beauty") are two well-heeled clients who prefer Gina’s magic fingers and specially mixed hair elixir. Jorge is not an easy guy to work for, and when Gina has had her fill of him she quits and applies for a bank loan to open her own shop. Lynn is out the door with her.

With not much money and lots of labor, Gina opens a shop that is nice but not targeted at the nip and tuck crowd¾ although carb-conscious Terri and the newly busty Joanne do follow her. Before long Jorge is out for revenge, as he is losing some well paying regular clients.

Listened to from the women’s perspective, the hair stylists, the clientele and the assorted neighborhood "vendors" provide quick paced conversation that is believable and funny. Although this is a direct derivative of the two "Barbershop" movies, surprisingly, it has a fresh feel to it. The characters’ dialogue seems more evenly balanced with what they have to say.

In "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," Shemar Moore provided sex appeal for the women in the audience, and here it’s Djimon Hounsou (of "Constantine," "In America," and "Gladiator") as Joe. The intimacy is only alluded to in this comedy, but when Joe opens the door, chest bare, you can hear the women breathe a little heavier.

"Beauty Shop" does not try to be too cute, and it touches on a few social and cultural issues – race, perceptions of homosexuality, and women’s self-reliance – ever so lightly. Yet it hits the target by being funny without taking itself too serious.