Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads Rated: Not rated. There is very little violence or profanity and no sex. This would probably manage a PG or PG-13 in a rational universe. Genre: Drama Time: About an hour long Released: 1983 Directed by: Spike Lee The call: Excellent, even for a student film. Availability: You will have a hard time finding this, I suspect. If you can find it, though, snatch it up.

People don't go to Joe's Bed-Stuy barbershop to get haircuts. No, the barbershop in question is a front for running the numbers. When Joe crosses the boss (played by Tommy Redmond Hicks, who would join Lee in his first major film, She's Gotta Have It, as Jamie Overstreet), it is up to his previously silent partner to fill his position.

That would be fine except that this guy cuts heads and that's all he wants to do: cut heads. But the people want numbers, not fades. So, he has to make a choice between money (and possibly his life) and integrity. Throw in a wife who is a tired social worker and a streetwise kid who needs a job and you've got enough plot for a movie.

This is Spike Lee's student film. I finally got a chance to see it during the summer of 1995 at an African American Film Festival in Harlem. I've seen student films before and my experience is that even when the directors, writers, actors and whatnot are pretty good, the films seem to be far from a finished product. By contrast, Joe's is not only more-or-less evenly well-acted, well-directed and well-paced, it is neatly packaged (in large part, I suspect, due to the music of Bill Lee). This is a very good short film. Anyone who saw this when it was first finished must have known that Spike Lee would be a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.

In other words, I recommend it whole-heartedly. I've found it next to impossible to find but it is supposed to be available on videotape. If you can find it, get it.

(c) Copyright 1997, Charles L Isbell, Jr.

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