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Movie Review: Good Hair (2009)
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Good Hair: It's Time to Get It Straight.
Review summary
By now everyone knows that little Miss Lola Rock, Chris Rock's daughter came inside from playing one day and asked, "Daddy, why don't I have good hair?" And Rock being Chris, since he didn't have an answer off hand, had to find a suitable response. Now, Rock will take you on an funny, ironic maybe educational tour looking at the role hair plays in the African American community.
He'll take you from "the shop" around the corner to the salons uptown from New York to Los Angeles to answer the question of what exactly is good hair. He doesn't explore what good hair is in any depth, but it's a good jumping off point for talking about how to get it if you don't. Rock will lead field trips to the laboratories where the "relaxers" are made at the Dudley Products in North Carolina. He introduces some of America's top stylists at the annual Bronner Bros. International Hair Show in Atlanta as he show how big an industry black hair care is. He'll travel around the globe, to talk to Indian hair exporters. According to Rock, India exports the majority of human hair. He even interviews some of the most well know African American actresses Meagan Good, Nia Long, Raven-Symone, Kerry Washington among others; singers such as Eve, Ice-T, Sandra 'Pepa' Denton and Cheryl 'Salt' James (Salt-N-Pepa) and entertainment insiders like Andre Harrell, Maya Angelou and Al Sharpton who talk candidly about their hair and hair in general.
Rock doesn't make a discernible judgement about the subject. But he does subjectively opened up the conversation. The premise of the movie is good, but it is a Hollywood film, so it deals in the extremes. You'll hear the Hollywood and entertainment industry starlet's perspective. You'll hear the story of an older woman who was getting a "$1,000 unit" because she has successfully raised her family and was rewarding herself. You'll meet entrepreneurs who are in the business. You'll see women getting their hair relaxed, but you won't meet very many "regular" women getting $1,000 weaves. Rock even takes the audience to meet black men to get the black man's perspective. These interviews are not exactly scientific, but they do make for good comedy.
This movie won't be the catalyst for social change or offer more than a superficial look at the role of hair in the African American community, but Rock does offer a few good laughs. So chuckle a bit, laugh out loud a few times, maybe learn a few things and enjoy the movie.
Synopsis
An exposé of comic proportions that only Chris Rock could pull off, GOOD HAIR visits beauty salons and hairstyling battles, scientific laboratories and Indian temples to explore the way hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of the black community... (www.goodhairmovie.com)
Cast
Chris Rock, Maya Angelou, Eve, Meagan Good, Ice-T, Nia Long, Raven-Symone, Al Sharpton, Kerry Washington.
Release Date: 09 October 2009 (USA). Directed by Jeff Stilson; written by (in alphabetical order) Lance Crouther, Paul Marchand, Chris Rock, Chuck Sklar, Jeff Stilson; full cast and credits; released by Roadside Attractions. Running time: 96 minutes; MPAA Rating: PG-13; genre: Documentary.
"Good Hair" Official Trailer (2009)
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