If you're expecting complimentary drinks and head massages with your hair cut, you've come to the wrong place. Calvin's Barbershop is one of those no frills, we'll-pick-the-knots-out-of-your-afro-with-a-pitchfork kind of place. But if you're looking for gossip, laughs and political debates about how Rosa Parks is overrated, search no further. This September, the uproarious can't miss comedy, Barbershop, will open its doors to movie goers everywhere. Don't be surprised if you find a roomful of people bopping their heads to loud rap music because anything goes when you walk through the door. Heck, it's where everyone knows your name, but won't hesitate to call you names.

In one scene, the local loan shark slithers into the barbershop with his zoot suit and gold chains. He passes the elderly Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer) and stops to pay his respects.

"Nigger!" Eddie shoots back.

Calvin's (Ice Cube) barbershop is an old slice of Americana in the middle of the urban decay of Southside Chicago. The walls are covered with photos of customers and "hall of famers" that have dropped in over the years, people are lined up to get their cuts or just to soak up some entertainment from the clashing employees. Barbershop follows the lives of these characters gathered in one place in one day and feeding off each other's energy.

Jimmy (Sean Patrick Thomas) is working at the shop to pay his way through college. His smooth features, perfect grammar and holier than thou attitude serve as a catalyst for very tense arguments with Ricky (up and coming Michael Ealy), a twice-convicted parolee and Isaac (Troy Garity) a white guy with a black girlfriend and an attitude to match. Dropped into the fray is Dinka (Leonard Earl Howze) a recent immigrant from Nigerian who gives Terri (Eve) roses and quotes Pablo Neruda poems. Their arguments are punctuated with the arrivals of different characters trying to sell bootleg items and scoring free haircuts. Just when you think the small place is about to implode, Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give it Up" comes on the radio and all of Chicago seems to be grooving.

Outside of the shop, JD (Anthony Anderson) and Billy (Lahmard Tate) provide some real laugh-your-ass-off comedic moments while trying to steal an ATM machine.

This rowdy sanctity or "black man's country club" is threatened from the very beginning when we learn that Calvin not only lacks the money to meet property payments, but also the heart to run the business. Like art imitating life, Calvin dreams of starting a little recording studio in his basement, but that goes up into flames, literally. He walks into his barbershop, lamenting another dream deferred, looking at the mural painting of his late father on the wall before picking up the phone to call the loan shark. Let's see, a down-and- out hero who doesn't appreciate what he has and makes some bad decisions … can anyone say, It's a Wonderful Life?

Barbershop does follow in revelatory tradition of the Christmas classic, but thank goodness the plot does not involve friends and patrons of Calvin pitching money into a pot to save the day. The sharp writing, which includes controversial topics about OJ's guilt and reparations for African Americans, and solid performances by each member of the ensemble cast make the movie an absolute must-see. In many ways, the shop itself creates a space for a carnivalesque moment of uncontrol, where all taboo topics are open for debate.

"We weren't afraid to talk about some big issues and give a few viewpoints of controversy," says screenplay writer Don D. Scott. "There's a pro, a con, and a viewpoint right down the middle. That's how it is in the shop; not everybody agrees with everybody else. Not every black person has the same political viewpoint … and it's all good to talk about that and have some fun with it." The film also breaks some virgin ground for many of the people involved. First time director, Tim Story, makes the leap from music videos to the big screen with stylistic promise. Most notably, however, is Eve's solid performance (sans bear paw tattoos) as feisty Terri.

Even before its September 13th release, there is already talk of a sequel to Barbershop if it is as well-received by viewers as predicted. Producers Robert Teitel, George Tillman, Jr. and Mark Brown, who also produced Soul Food and Men of Honor, were successfully able spin off Soul Food into a television series, they hope to do the same with Barbershop.

"I think this [film] lends into to be a half hour [show] like 'Cheers'," said Teitel at Barbershop press interviews. "I think this falls into more the 'Cheers' type venue. In fact, that's what we said, it's a lot like 'Cheers' with the one shot, one place you go to, all the characters the same every week…"

If you love the barbershop scene in Coming to America then this film is a must-see.