In the movie SCHOOL DAZE, Spike Lee staged a dance number in which two bands of African-American college students debated the merits of "Straight and Nappy" hair in song, and now comedian Chris Rock and filmmaker Jeff Stilson have extended the conversation to a full-length film in this witty documentary with serious undertones. Rock says he was inspired to make the film when his young daughter asked him, "Daddy, how come I don't have good hair?" and he and Stilson examine black America's obsession with their hair. They visit the Bronner Brothers International Hair Show, an annual trade show for the African-American haircare industry which includes fierce competitions among stylists from around the country and demonstrations of new hair products and techniques. Along the way, Rock also talks to a number of African-American luminaries about their hair issues (including Maya Angelou, Reverend Al Sharpton, Nia Long, Raven Symone, Ice-T, and Paul Mooney), researches the dangers of many common hair-straightening treatments, reveals the surprising expense of regular hair "relaxing" and weaves, and ponders what the pursuit of straight hair says about African-American cultural identity. GOOD HAIR received its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Part of the fun here is the way our narrator gets at complicated questions in his characteristically glib way. ... [But] real answers will have to be teased out elsewhere. Good Hair isn't selling anything but a good time. -- Bob Mondello, NPR

I've never been much of a Chris Rock fan, but I was riveted by the on-screen interviews he conducts with celebrities like Nia Long and Al Sharpton, as well as regular folk, to explore African-American women's very complicated relationship with their hair. -- Lou Lumenick, New York Post

Spirited, probing and frequently hilarious, it coasts on the fearless charm of its front man and the eye-opening candor of its interviewees. -- Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times

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