The Barber (2015)

Perfect cast and a good story

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

They say that serial killers are driven to kill and are unable to stop, but Eugene Van Wingerdt (Scott Glenn) did stop. He stopped nearly thirty years ago and moved away to a small town, where he became the local barber and beloved member of the local community. One day, out of the blue, the son of the cop who originally investigated his crimes, tracks him down. The cop, posing as a budding serial killer, wants advice from Eugene, who continuing to claim he's not who the boy thinks he is. Eugene feels sorry for him and forms a bond with the young man, trying to lead him away from a life of crime, but as he does, will those old feelings come back to the surface, or is Eugene really just a misunderstood old man? The premise of the new independent film, The Barber, is certainly unique and to me it seemed as though there were many different directions this film could have gone in, but the path chosen, was the road less traveled, and the result was just a really boring and predictable story. This is one of those film where nothing really happens until the end, and by that point, the viewer is just so bored and sick of the whole thing that they just want it to be over. Scott Glenn stars and is far too old to be believable. I can understand wanting to be active and not simply take on the role of grandpa, but a mentor for a serial killer, it just doesn't fit. Glenn is paired with newcomer Chris Coy, who honestly couldn't act his way into a high school play, much less play a character with duel personalities. By the end of this film, I literally cringed every time the guy opened his mouth. The story here is solid, but the way producers go about telling it and the people they cast to star in it leave a lot to be desired.

My review will differ quite much from the others. I don't why this movie is so low rated..!! Yes, I think the ratings should be higher.The movie slowly advances while revealing the characters true motivations with twisting at every corner. I have to say that, I haven't see some of the things coming. As the movie moves slowly, audience can get a little bored but the climax makes up for it fully."The watch trick" is something I truly liked. It was inevitable that a women will respond to it. 'The barber' has a charming and respectable appearance attracting "yummy" women.The movie in total gives a view that it's the quite and innocent guys you won't see coming... ;)

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.

How and why IMDb rates this so called movie at or around a 5.7 is beyond me. This movie is a classic B- movie from the first scene to the final credits. Forget the storyline as the writer of this movie doesn't have a clue what a good storyline is, what it may look like, or how to fashion an even interesting tale.I could get into what this stupid movie is about, but if that is what your looking for then read the IMDb summary, what I want to share is my opinion of "The barber". First and foremost this movie has people acting and doing things nobody would ever do, the plot is so stupid your only reasonable response is to fast forward the entire movie to the end so you can be done with it. Scott Glenn was once a decent actor who took reasonably good roles, he has obviously fallen on hard times to take on crap like this.Here's the bottom-line on this movie, if you like stories that are so unrealistic and unbelievable then maybe this movie is for you after-all, However, if you enjoy a good drama, a good plot, decent acting, a storyline that makes sense, a movie that draws you in and keeps you invested in the story, then this trite called "The barber" is not worth your time, effort, or attention....avoid it like the plague, you can thank me later.