Ouch!!! “The Banger Sisters” Gets Reviewed in “Picture This!”
The best acting in “The Banger Sisters” is the performances given by the trio of stars as they hit the talk show trail to promote this fluff.
By Rebecca Redshaw
Reprinted from NotesFromHollywood.com
If you imagine a prime movie experience as swimming in pristine, deep waters, then welcome to the murky shallow pool.
In spite of the above-the-line talent of Goldie Hawn (looking good), Susan Sarandon (also, looking good), and Geoffrey Rush, all three Oscar winners, “The Banger Sisters” drowns without the benefit of a script.
Before moving into the world of film more than twenty years ago, I worked in the premiere rock ‘n roll studio in LA. Although not directly involved in the physical activities of the groupies, I watched them come and go, and Hawn, as Suzette, is remarkably familiar. The only thing more pathetic than an aging male rock star with a facelift and liposuction is an aging woman desperate to hold on to the past.
Suzette is portrayed as the ultimate “hip” to Vinnie, Susan Sarandon’s tight-assed Phoenix housewife.
Barely able to manage her own life, Suzette miraculously has the power to change the lives of those around her.
In less than two days, Suzette saves the teenage daughter of her old banging buddy from a bad acid trip. She turns Vinnie from anal wife and mother, who doesn’t even recognize her “best friend” after twenty years, to an enlightened woman, reliving memories of the good old days with Jim Morrison.
Throwing in Geoffrey Rush as a neurotic writer gives Suzette yet another opportunity to enchant. Not only does he begin pounding away at his typewriter again; she benevolently ends his ten-year stint of chastity. All this just for the price of a tank of gas.
Even Vinnie’s uptight suburban husband, who now has a clue about the volumes of men his wife has pleasured in the name of good old rock ‘n roll, is touched by Suzette’s humanity.
Sound unbelievable? Sewing a pair of angel wings on Hawn a la John Travolta in “Michael” might have made this plot palatable, but that’s doubtful.
At one point girlfriend Vinnie says, “Something’s missing here.” Da. Like a script? What is annoying about The Banger Sisters” is that this could have been a movie worth seeing if the writer had taken the time to develop characters.
The best acting in “The Banger Sisters” is the performances given by the trio of stars as they hit the talk show trail to promote this fluff.