The annual British Hairdressing Championship comes to Keighley, a town where Phil and son Brian run a barbershop and Phil's ex-wife Shelly and her lover Sandra run a beauty salon.
What Blow Dry needs, though, is less connect-the-dots and a little more of the waywardness that Warren Clarke's mayor-turned-emcee manages to wring from his limited assignment.
– Jay Carr,
Boston Globe,
9 Mar 2001
rotten:
A tedious comedy.
– Paul Tatara,
CNN.com,
9 Mar 2001
rotten:
Blow Dry is enjoyable in a low-key way, but it's far from an unqualified hit, and lacks the infectious energy of Beaufoy's earlier effort.
– James Berardinelli,
ReelViews,
9 Mar 2001
rotten:
Blow Dry seems both overplotted and underimagined.
– A.O. Scott,
New York Times,
9 Mar 2001
rotten:
The script by Simon Beaufoy of The Full Monty fame is far more soapy than bubbly as it concentrates on extended family entanglements and allows its comic potential to be bleached out by a ponderous mawkish streak.