The Barber

First I'd just like to say that the plot-summary on this page is inaccurate, albeit not far from what it is about it's still inaccurate.

What is true is that it is a serial killer themed thriller which starts with a wannabe serial killer meeting the real deal.

I can't go into any details without starting to spoil stuff but there are many twists and turns throughout the movie.

Luckily these twists aren't the typical random twists that sometimes Hollywood scriptwriters tend to throw in in last minute to shock the viewer and think that they are clever but doesn't make sense with what we've just witnessed.

They all make a fair amount of sense actually in the end so that's a definite plus.

And Scott Glenn is as I said really nice to see in a lead again, a underrated actor, Chris Coy in the other lead-role is also good.

It's not a perfect movie, it does feel like they didn't have much budget or time to deal with and some characters aren't fleshed out as they could have been but it does entertains and yeah I'd watch it again.

A barber comes into contact with two men fixated on what triggers evil. A father, whose life is destroyed in pursuit of a killer, and a son who is trying to prevent his father's obsession.

So, they had me hooked early on with the mention of the Kenosha PD, an organization I happen to be rather familiar with. Did this have anything to do with the story? No. But it was still a great mention.

Then we also have Scott Glenn. Although he has been acting for decades, he seems to have finally come into his own as of 2014-2015. He made a big impression on "Daredevil" that he may never had done before. I can see fans of that show wanting to see more of him ,and they will love his performance here.

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.

Seems like I like movies with the title the barber thoroughly enjoyed this film and the barber with malcolm McDowell. This film wasnt your knock down drag out action thriller or a gore fest serial killer film. It's a mystery thriller with a couple of decent twists and also features excellent performances by the cast especially mr Scott Glenn. I'm very happy we purchased the bluray as we'll watch it annually!! Very well written and directed with a average at best budget they did fantastic. Watch it or better yet purchase the bluray on Ebay cheap like we did.

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.