The Barber

Smart protagonist and smart antagonist- thats what makes this movie so great. An unceasing game of cat & mouse keeps the tension going through the story, with some nice plot twists and really good timing on the reveals. 5.9? REEEE diculous. This movies is far and away better than that score. I think ppl were looking for car crashes or nudity. Not w/ this one. Good dialogue, superb acting. Just a taut, smart little thriller. Worth every minute of your time.

A very interesting twist to the hold serial killer story, with great acting from Scott Glenn and Chris Coy. Yes, some plot twists can easily be spotted beforehand, but I guess this is Cinema, not sleight-of-hand. And yes... the choices made by the female police character are plain dumb, but overall a good watch. On hindsight, 90% of the credit for the quality of this movie should go straight to Scott Glenn.

This movie is excellent. And the people who say it's not all have the same complaint. It's not a noir neo noir film with endless 'twists'. A twists within twists and yet more twists. It's not told backwards it does have weird cuts and camera work. And Lord knows no shakeycam. How can there even exist a movie that goes from A to B to C without the obligatory 'slow burn' that starts nowhere goes nowhere and trails off to nothing like so many other highly rated movies do? That's the beauty of this film. It's tight, compact, direct, well acted, well constructed no nonsense no making the audience jump through hoops to appreciate what a genius the director sees himself as. Scott Glenn is great as a homespun malevolence playing it easy. Chris Coy does an excellent job of playing a guy who 'might' be a bad guy. All I can take one point off is the Audrey character and her involvement. Her character is unneeded entirely.

An alleged veteran is forced to come out of hiding by unforeseeable circumstances, he must employ his skill once more to overcome the problem. No, this is not John Wick or Taken. The Barber is more of a noir detective movie that matches two different characters with hidden identities. The two are embroiled in a quite interesting mind game, however the plot relies too heavily on far-fetched plot devices and coincidences which feels underwhelming and contrived at latter half.

The Barber Eugene (Scott Glenn) meets with the young ambitious John (Chris Coy). Right at the introduction, John is very aggressive in his approach, claiming that Eugene is in fact a serial killer. The two try to outsmart each other and the movie is pretty good on creating layers for both of them. Scott Glenn delivers the character with precision, often looking feeble but still charismatically bizarre when needs be.

For his counterpart, Chris Coy performs admirable as well. He exhibits the contradicting youth to Glenn's more experienced nature. The chemistry is there as each finds more about each other's secrets. Visually, the movie has fitting noir look, it sets in a small town and some of the scenes are beautifully shot.

Unfortunately, it often resorts to cheap plot devices. Characters would need to find or do things just in the right time and right place. The chances of these occurring are astronomically low, especially since they speak in vague manner, yet the movie pushes the scenes as if they are destined to be. Either because the alleged killer is near psychic or the victim is dumb. It is not a clever scheme or even a planned one, at some points the movie even utilizes more subplots and flashbacks, creating inconsistent pacing flow that never feels resolved.

This is a shame because it could've been more engaging if the plot was simplified, instead it becomes forced as it tries to set overly elaborate twists. If one can get pass the irregularities, there is a good acting presence that might just entertain more on human drama aspect than its murky mystery thrill.

With a fairly engaging back story, good overall acting, and plot twists that make sense / don't feel overtly contrived, The Barber has plenty going for it as a thriller. However, there's just something overall missing, something that could have probably made it a much better film.

The pacing is so-so; it doesn't drag and in fact there are a few points where I felt things were skimmed over leaving me guessing. The dialog, perhaps, is where things got lackluster. I just had a tough time empathizing with the main characters. I was definitely interested in what they were going though but I felt no emotional involvement.

Still, you could do a lot worse if you're looking for a bit of entertainment, and its darker themes may even leave you with some philosophical musings after the credits have rolled.