Release Date: September 20, 2002
Starring: Goldie Hawn, Susan Sarandon, Geoffrey Rush, Erika Christensen, Eva Amurri, Robin Thomas
Directed by: Bob Dolman
Written by: Bob Dolman
Distributed by: Fox Searchlight Pictures
MPAA Rating: R (language, sexual content, some drug use)
Studio films come in all shapes and sizes, of which some are painfully ubiquitous and others are frightfully inconsequential. Bob Dolman's The Banger Sisters easily belongs to the second group, not only because it lacks an advertising campaign that stretches back to the Super Bowl, but because it manages to tread familiar thematic ground without anything exploding (unless you count the silicone in Goldie Hawn's chest). That's not to say it doesn't have its more admirable moments, though, and in fact, within the context of being a wholly inconsequential movie, this one is perfectly agreeable.
One of the most admirable things about the movie is the sense of symmetry and closure a viewer will have in watching Hawn play Suzette, a former rock groupie now in the throes of middle-aged depression. After all, it was but two years before this film hit theaters that Hawn's daughter, Kate Hudson, played Penny Lane, a rock groupie full of verve and color, in Almost Famous. When the audience imagines Hawn's character in her heyday (scenes which are often alluded to but never seen), they will invariably recall Hudson's performance in Famous.
But in The Banger Sisters, gone is the naïveté of 1973, replaced with a cross between weary cynicism and a reminder that we were all young once, and never to take ourselves too seriously. Suzette seems to be the only one who realizes this, as she spontaneously reunites with Lavinia (Susan Sarandon), her best friend of thirty years ago -- but Lavinia has changed, and not for the better. She now lives with a husband and two daughters in a sickeningly white suburb of Phoenix and dresses impeccably in beige.
Fortunately Suzette has Harry Plummer to fall back on. Harry is a world-weary soul himself, who once had dreams of making it big as a screenwriter in Hollywood but is on his way to Phoenix for a date with destiny. He hitches a ride with Suzette, and her happy-go-luckiness contrasts his uptight neurosis in one of the film's many endearing examples of onscreen chemistry.
In fact, Harry and Lavinia are essentially the same character, both concocted for the same purpose: to magnify the ease with which Suzette slides through life. It's not the world's most wonderful example of characterization, but such things are often beyond the grasp of run-of-the-mill romantic comedies like this.
But then, true characters are never a high priority in these trivial endeavors. Consider the supporting cast in The Banger Sisters, and especially Lavinia's two daughters, Ginger (Eva Amurri) and Hannah (Erika Christensen): Ginger is reduced to a shrieking, warbling 16-year-old with a minor speech impediment, while Hannah is a precocious valedictorian who does acid on prom night. Christensen, in particular, has become very well adjusted to playing this sort of closet-rebel teenager, doing some variation of the role in both Swimfan and Traffic.
Nevertheless, like all smart filmmakers, writer-director Bob Dolman plays his movie away from its weaknesses and toward its strengths. He relies heavily on the charm of Goldie Hawn, which, for most of the picture's 95 minutes, works to great effect. She pushes all the right buttons, drawing sympathy and laughs from the audience exactly on cue -- never mind that these are very shallow emotions.
It's worth mentioning that The Banger Sisters is not just for the estrogen crowd, and the substantial presence of Geoffrey Rush is enough to reinforce this message. His portrayal of a neurotic writer with serious father issues has just as much charm and comedy to it as do all of the women's scenes.
Nevertheless, like most no-brainer romantic comedies, The Banger Sisters is confined to certain conventions (and truth be told, these movies aren't the kind of ground on which a director should test his hand at avant-garde), not the least of which is the happy ending. But by the time the movie gets to its third-act sellout, the audience should be enjoying themselves enough to forgive a bit of narrative laziness.
all contents © 2002 Craig Roush