Good Hair

Chris Rock digs deep into the various elements at play in the big-money world of black hairstyling. In between interviews with the small local businesses who are unashamedly making a killing on weaves, (one blue-haired stylist with a packed waiting room proudly proclaims that her work "starts at a thousand") Rock finds some unsettling truths about the origins of this product, the toxicity of the ever-popular "relaxers" women are gladly globbing onto their scalps, and the showy world of celebrity hairdressers in Atlanta. Rock's no Michael Moore, and the investigative bits are revealing but not particularly thorough; he's at his best when he's in his element, joking with patrons and poking fun at the hapless boyfriends mournfully waiting for their wallets to run out of steam in the lobby. A bit long at ninety-six minutes. It's only got enough gas for seventy or eighty, but it's decent fun while it lasts.