The main reason why I was curious about THE BARBER for years it's because it's one of the last movies where Scott Glenn played the lead and as I saw it I found it better than the tiepid 5,8 score. But it still has some problems, and we'll look them.
This is a movie split in two stories that eventually interwine. In the first, Chief Gary Hardaway (Stephen Tobolowsky) is looking for murderer Eugene Van Wingerdt (Glenn) known as the barber because he uses a straight razor for murdering his victims. In the second, a young wannabe killer named John McCormack follows Van Wingerdt as his mentor up until the truth comes out that Eugene was using him all the time. When the two stories interwine it's a bit too easy see where it's going but it's best if you see it for yourselves.
As I said, the acting by Glenn and Tobolowsky was good as usual with them. But I can see why some don't like it. First, you have to have high tolerance for gruesome atmospheres (if you saw and liked SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, RESURRECTION and the recently released LONGLEGS it will help) and second, the direction is at times unfocused. But taking it as it is, it's still a good thriller worth a view for fans of the genre.
