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The Banger Sisters All of the other critics are going to dedicate a part of their reviews to the Hudson-Hawn comparison. Some will try to say that Goldie Hawn is playing an older version of her daughter's, Kate Hudson's, role in Almost Famous. I'm not going to do that because I hate being like all of the other critics. Anyway, The Banger Sisters is about being yourself, dancing to your own tune, not letting others define you and I feel like doing my own thing tonight. Goldie Hawn stars as Suzette - a hippie, 60's rock groupie who never grew out of it. She's still working at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go as a bartender, until she gets fired for failing to comply with company policy. With no money, no hopes, and nothing holding her down, Suzette decides to seek out the one person who might help her out of her predicament, her buddy Vinnie (Susan Sarandon). Years ago, Vinnie and Suzette were known as The Banger Sisters (for reasons you can assume some groupies would get that name), but they haven't seen each other for almost 20 years. While Suzette never grew up, Vinnie went off, married a lawyer, had a couple kids, and settled down in a huge mansion in Phoenix. She doesn't want to be reminded of those wild days, and Suzette's arrival causes major turmoil in Vinnie's household. Will Vinnie and Suzette still be able to get along? Will Vinnie help Suzette? The Banger Sisters is two movies squished into one, and that's its biggest problem. Along the way to Phoenix, Suzette picks up germophobe Harry (Geoffrey Rush) and they form an odd, but seemingly caring couple as the movie progresses. This plot takes up most of the first half of the film, then writer/director Bob Dolman decides to get back to the galpal buddy pic with Hawn and Sarandon. Even though the Harry-Suzette plotline is more interesting, Hawn and Sarandon are supposed to get women into the theater, so we don't get to see enough of the budding love story. Also, the whole Suzette-Vinnie plotline ends up feeling rushed and more like a grouping of scenes instead of a coherent, flowing, building movie. Instead of building to a climax, The Banger Sisters just gets there at the pre-appointed time. Neither plot gets fully developed, even though the three characters are fairly interesting and our stars perform to expectation. Maybe they should have made two distinct movies so we could better investigate both situations instead of getting half a story teamed with half of another story. What's left is a poorly constructed movie that shortchanges both stories, but yields enough laughs to entertain. Hawn is fabulous as the flighty, flower child, but I didn't feel the chemistry was there with Sarandon. Maybe it's because it takes a long time for the story to get revved up, but Sarandon and Hawn never click for me. Sarandon's character goes from one extreme to another instead of taking baby steps and being allowed to slowly come out of her shell in a way that we could see more meaningful interaction between Suzette and Vinnie. Schoolmarm one minute and wild child the next doesn't work and Sarandon can only do so much to save the role. Rush does a wonderful job with his Harry, because he gets a chance to slowly develop the character in the way Saradon doesn't get a chance. Harry's emergence is well measured by Rush to be more believable and moderate. The Banger Sisters will make you laugh, and the makings for a good movie (or two) are there. If you just want a good time, go for it. If your expectations are higher, rent it on video. Grade: C Copyright 2002 - WaffleMovies.com
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