The Banger Sisters (2002)

A Guilty Pleasure or Just a Weak Film? You Decide.

At best, "The Banger Sisters" is a guilty pleasure. A really guilty one. At worst, it's a weak film with a truly questionable message about family and acceptance. The actors and actresses all deliver passable performances, but the script, in this instance, is what is lacking. The beginning of the movie had promise, and I felt that we were truly supposed to sympathize with Suzette (Goldie Hawn) who has spent her entire adulthood pining for her rockstar-groupie past, which is truly sad. She was a sympathetic character with, what I thought at first, had a few layers... and she was interesting to watch. But then, when I discovered that writer/director Bob Dolman wanted the message to be that Suzette is RIGHT to live in the past and that when her former-group, current stuck-up mother Vinnie (Suzan Sarandon) should dress up in ill fitting pants and join her, I began to feel a bit queasy.

I think Dolman messed up a bit in scripting this movie. He could have written a cute little film that showed Suzette teaching Vinnie how to cut loose, and at the same time, Vinnie could teach Suzette some responsibility. But instead, Vinnie became a Suzette clone fifteen minutes into hanging out with her, and began to act like a... well, a groupie. And when her husband and daughters react to this instant and drastic change, Dolman seemingly wants us to sympathize with VINNIE, not the family. So this somewhat promising concept deteriorated into a script with weak, weak writing with absolutely no understanding of how people interact with each other and what makes a relationship healthy.

This movie could have been entertaining. Perhaps if it were told through Harry Plummer's (Geoffrey Rush) point of view, it could have been an inspiring flick with a somewhat stable message. Because Harry had a nice little subplot that was truly engaging, and basically saved this movie from becoming a total dud by the end. Because truly, in the end, the only sympathetic characters in the whole film are Harry and Vinnie's poor husband.

I'm not the kind of guy who really looks for a message in a film. Moral ambiguity is fine with me, and makes for some superbly written movies. However, if you're going to shove a message in your audience's face like this movie did, make sure it isn't a terrible one.

4/10 August 10, 2008

Absolutely Delightful!

I caught this one by pure chance with the DVD - a sanitized version with commercials, no less! I still found this film absolutely delightful, and laughed out loud on several occasions! Not deep, by any means, but Susan and Goldie are perfectly cast in this roles. I absolutely loved watching Vinnie's (Susan) transformation to be true to herself and pass this on to her daughters. While the drugs and sex references - even in the 'clean' version - aren't acceptable for the younger audiences, I'd highly recommend this film for a 'Girl's Night Out' DVD with your best friends and a pitcher of marguaritas! April 15, 2008

BOB DOLMAN, OPUS 1

** 2002. Written and directed by Bob Dolman. Golden Globe nomination for Goldie Hawn. Twenty years after, two friends remember their debauched youth as groupies. If Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon's performances may please you if you're a fan, like me, of these actresses, you'll be alas horrified by the vacuity of the screenplay of this film. February 22, 2008

Groovy Movie

I love this film. I tend to rate movies by how well they accomplish what they set out to do. Schindler's List is trying to do something much different than Fried Green Tomatoes, and they need to be rated on their own merits. In this case, The Banger Sisters deftly accomplishes what it's meant to do, and that's to provide a heart-warming, funny movie about friendship, with a bit of nostalgia thrown in for flavor.

I hadn't even heard of The Banger Sisters until I saw it for sale on the used rack at the local video store and picked it up because it had Susan Sarandon in it, a long time favorite of mine. Because I didn't know anything about it, I had zero expectations as to plot or movie quality, which sometimes helps. I ended up being totally charmed and have watched it several times and will surely watch it several more.

The movie has a lot to say about how people change, or don't change, how a person can lose her sense of self, how raising children has some inherent hypocrisy involved, and about how important friends are to our identities. But these are all said subtly and just add a bit of background depth to what is namely a light comedy about old friends.

The performances by Hawn and Sarandon are outstanding. As is the performance by Geoffry Rush. The three characters are all uniquely different, and yet somehow the three of them manage to make a wonderful and crazily believable whole. The fourth best performance in the movie is turned in by the fantastic soundtrack.

So maybe while not a movie for deep thinkers or for elite cinema buffs, it's a wonderful way to spend an hour and a half for those who love movies about the bonds of friendship, who like a bit of nostalgia for the great days of rock and roll, and who appreciate a suprise, side-splittingly funny scene or turn of phrase now and then. October 10, 2006

Switch your brain off

I picked this film up purely cos it was there, and I thought "yeah, it might be alright". I think Susan Sarandon is an amazing actress, but haven't seen Goldie Hawn in anything, but I love her daughter.

It's amazing how you lose contact with friends over the years. You go through primary school thinking you'll always be friends; you go to high school, they become "cool", and you're no longer "cool"; you leave school totally bitter, and find some new friends, hopefully who'll remain with you throughout thick & thin. I'm an early 20 something, compared to the 40/50 somethings that Susan & Goldie were playing in this, but I know it hurts, especially when you find them online, and they look all happy. But to go through 20 years or so, and rediscover a friendship. Wow. Which is exactly what Goldie & Susan's character do in this.

What changes when you grow up? A lot, as Susan's character "Lavinia" goes from rock chick groupie "Vinnie" to uptight mother of 2. Suzette goes from rock chick groupie to ... rock chick groupie. Many women will find a lot of experiences that happen in this movie that they will find in common with the characters, and despite being young, I did too. I loved how rediscovering her friendship with Suzette, Lavinia became Vinnie again, shocking her husband and two teenage girls. I hated her haircut though! Yikes!

This is the fourth film that Susan & real life daughter Eva Amurri have starred in as mother and daughter, and they are such a joy to watch on screen, although Eva is wasted in this. The other daughter, played by Erika Christensen, gets a bigger role, mainly because she's going off the rails very, very slightly, and her mum catches her getting up to "no good" in the FAMILY swimming pool with her boyfriend. Shows you exactly uptight Lavinia is, although her day she took pictures of rock c***s, and still has them!

This is a perfect movie for a girlie afternoon of pampering and just looking after yourself, without having to think too much about a twist or turn in the film. Most enjoyable, and definitely worth getting & keeping. September 8, 2006

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