'Hair' grows on you, but lingers too long
Chris Rock untangles the mysteries of African-American hair.
(Roadside Attractions)
Good Hair
Running time: 95 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13 (profanity, sex and drug references, brief partial nudity)
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Comedian Chris Rock picked the right guy to narrate and make cutting remarks throughout the documentary "Good Hair."
That would be Chris Rock.
It'll come as no surprise that "Good Hair" is a comic-documentary. What else could it be with rapid-fire comedian Rock out front?
Frankly, I was startled, however, at just how much I learned about the culture of maintaining, straightening and enhancing African-American hair and the sacrifices some women (and girls as young as 3) go for "good hair."
Rock, accenting that lilting speech pattern he's famous for, says he was inspired to do this film by one of his young daughters. When she was only 5, she asked him, "Daddy, how come I don't have good hair?"
"Hair is a woman's glory," near-legendary poet/autobiographer Maya Angelou tells beaming interviewer Rock, "unless, of course, it starts growing out from between her toes."
"Good Hair" features spotty rich moments like that. Unfortunately, there's also too much filler. Even when Rock shocks us (or at least me) with the dangers and burning pain of enduring applications of sodium hydroxide "relaxers" (called "creamy crack"), he doesn't just make the point and move on.
Rock and his film-making team (director Jeff Stilson and two writers from his Emmy Award-winning HBO concert specials) have no problem securing notable celebs to speak candidly about the technique, logic, price and torture of attaining straight African-American hair.
In addition to the aforementioned Dr. Angelou, Rev. Al Sharpton waxes on about the time the late James Brown treated him to his first "relaxing" session before a visit to the White House. Ice-T (TV's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit") is especially open and candid in his remarks.
To his credit, Rock spends time with common folks; hanging out in a Harlem barber shop to get the male side of the story and joking around with a woman who's putting her $1,000 hair weave on layaway. Everywhere he goes, however, Rock lingers too long.
That and a running time of around two hours suggests that "Good Hair" could use a trim of its own. Rock travels to a Hindu temple in India to investigate tonsuring, a ceremony where hair is sacrificed for God but often winds up in trendy Beverly Hills hair salons. He also untangles the fascinating modern, big business state of hair weaves.
"Good Hair," winner of a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in January, cuts loose with a big finish in Atlanta.
Hair stylist "rock stars" (including Freddie J from Dallas) snip and clip for a $20,000 prize. It's anti-climatic, though, because by the time the documentary makes it to the bombastic stretch run, you might feel -- as I did -- that you've been there long enough to need a haircut yourself.
That would be Chris Rock.
It'll come as no surprise that "Good Hair" is a comic-documentary. What else could it be with rapid-fire comedian Rock out front?
Frankly, I was startled, however, at just how much I learned about the culture of maintaining, straightening and enhancing African-American hair and the sacrifices some women (and girls as young as 3) go for "good hair."
Rock, accenting that lilting speech pattern he's famous for, says he was inspired to do this film by one of his young daughters. When she was only 5, she asked him, "Daddy, how come I don't have good hair?"
"Hair is a woman's glory," near-legendary poet/autobiographer Maya Angelou tells beaming interviewer Rock, "unless, of course, it starts growing out from between her toes."
"Good Hair" features spotty rich moments like that. Unfortunately, there's also too much filler. Even when Rock shocks us (or at least me) with the dangers and burning pain of enduring applications of sodium hydroxide "relaxers" (called "creamy crack"), he doesn't just make the point and move on.
Rock and his film-making team (director Jeff Stilson and two writers from his Emmy Award-winning HBO concert specials) have no problem securing notable celebs to speak candidly about the technique, logic, price and torture of attaining straight African-American hair.
In addition to the aforementioned Dr. Angelou, Rev. Al Sharpton waxes on about the time the late James Brown treated him to his first "relaxing" session before a visit to the White House. Ice-T (TV's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit") is especially open and candid in his remarks.
To his credit, Rock spends time with common folks; hanging out in a Harlem barber shop to get the male side of the story and joking around with a woman who's putting her $1,000 hair weave on layaway. Everywhere he goes, however, Rock lingers too long.
That and a running time of around two hours suggests that "Good Hair" could use a trim of its own. Rock travels to a Hindu temple in India to investigate tonsuring, a ceremony where hair is sacrificed for God but often winds up in trendy Beverly Hills hair salons. He also untangles the fascinating modern, big business state of hair weaves.
"Good Hair," winner of a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in January, cuts loose with a big finish in Atlanta.
Hair stylist "rock stars" (including Freddie J from Dallas) snip and clip for a $20,000 prize. It's anti-climatic, though, because by the time the documentary makes it to the bombastic stretch run, you might feel -- as I did -- that you've been there long enough to need a haircut yourself.
