When I first saw the preview for The Banger Sisters I was delighted. I hadn’t known Susan Sarandon not to do a good a film (take Thelma & Louise and Stepmom for instance) or Goldie Hawn (the list is endless) so I gathered the two together would make a perfect comedy match, and there’d ... Read review
A refreshing take on a well-tried formula,The Banger Sistersproves that there is always ... more
room for a polished new "women's picture", particularly one with a high astringent content. The eponymous sisters are a couple of girlfriends with a groupie past wh...
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Screen superstars Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon head up a stellar cast in this ... more
coming-of-middle-age comedy about a pair of former groupies who together rocked the worlds of every late great 60's music legend with a guitar and a Y chromosome!Now, over ...
A refreshing take on a well-tried formula,The Banger Sistersproves that there is always ... more
room for a polished new "women's picture", particularly one with a high astringent content. The eponymous sisters are a couple of girlfriends with a groupie past wh...
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Some friendships last forever... like it or not. They were a pair of groupies who rocked ... more
the worlds of every late '60s music legend with a guitar and a Y chromosome! Now over two decades later Suzette is still her brassy self and Lavinia is a prim ...
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A refreshing take on a well-tried formula,The Banger Sistersproves that there is always ... more
room for a polished new "women's picture", particularly one with a high astringent content. The eponymous sisters are a couple of girlfriends with a groupie past who haven't seen each other for years. Suzette (an ebullient Goldie Hawn) has remained a confirmed rock chick. When she's sacked from her bar job, she goes in search of Vinnie (Susan Sarandon) who has excised her past from her life as a staid wife and mother.The performances are good and there are some cracking moments, not least as the initially resistant Sarandon seizes the memory of her youth and sheds her skin of respectability to the bewilderment of her husband and two daughters. Suzette's visit is the catharsis her old friend has long needed. (In many ways, of course, the most interesting aspect of the picture is the one we don't get to see: the long-term consequences of some pretty sleazy old revelations on a middle class family). But there's a pleasing poignancy in Hawn's decision to go home, her work done. And Geoffrey Rush, as usual, is outstanding as Harry, the neurotic writer she has picked up on the way and who could, just possibly, provide some stability in her itinerant life.On the DVD:The Banger Sistersis presented in widescreen with a throbbing Dolby soundtrack. There are no extras. --Piers Ford
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The Banger Sisters: Screen superstars Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon head up a stellar ... more
cast in this coming-of-middle-age comedy about a pair of former groupies who together rocked the worlds of every late great 60's music legend with a guitar and a Y chromosome!Working Girl: Beauty, brains, charm. Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith) has them all. In fact, she's got everything going for her except the right haircut, the right clothes, and most importantly, the right job. Ambushed one too many times in her struggle to get out of the Wall Street secretarial pool and onto the management ladder, Tess decides to take matters into her own hands.Le Divorce: In this captivating sexy comedy with stellar ensemble cast, Isabel (Kate Hudson) heads to Paris to help out her sister (Naomi Watts), and arrives to find her jilted by her French husband.
Production Year: 2003 - Drama - Director: Michael Winterbottom - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Tim Robbins, Samantha Morton, Om Puri, Jeanne Balibar
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
When I first saw the preview for The Banger Sisters I was delighted. I hadn’t known Susan Sarandon not to do a good a film (take Thelma & Louise and Stepmom for instance) or Goldie Hawn (the list is endless) so I gathered the two together would make a perfect comedy match, and there’d be sparks flying on-screen. Both Hawn and Sarandon and wonderful actresses, and The Banger Sisters, at first, sounds like a film that non-successful actresses ... ...have been a massive flop. The Banger Sisters without the actresses is like a film without a screenplay.
The Banger Sisters is about two women, who have both had different lives since separating 20 years previously. Suzette (Hawn) is still a wild chick working in a sleazy bar in Hollywood. She’s still got the figure, she’s still got the looks, the hair, the tattoo’s; the only thing she’s missing out on is her ... more
When I first saw the preview for The Banger Sisters I was delighted. I hadn’t known Susan Sarandon not to do a good a film (take Thelma & Louise and Stepmom for instance) or Goldie Hawn (the list is endless) so I gathered the two together would make a perfect comedy match, and there’d be sparks flying on-screen. Both Hawn and Sarandon and wonderful actresses, and The Banger Sisters, at first, sounds like a film that non-successful actresses would make. The Banger Sisters, even though a good story isn’t a film for an Oscar nominated actress. But, it’s a damn good thing that they did agree to do it, because if neither of them were in it, it would have been a massive flop. The Banger Sisters without the actresses is like a film without a screenplay.
The Banger Sisters is about two women, who have both had different lives since separating 20 years previously. Suzette (Hawn) is still a wild chick working in a sleazy bar in Hollywood. She’s still got the figure, she’s still got the looks, the hair, the tattoo’s; the only thing she’s missing out on is her ex-groupie Vinnie (Sarandon). Vinnie, on the other hand, has changed since her groupie days. Now a respectable Mother/Wife she wears nothing but beige and barely shows any skin. So, When Suzette looses her job, and she’s desperate for money, she reckons her best friend will help her out, so off she goes to Phoenix – Vinnie’s hometown. But will Vinnie be glad to see her as much as Suzette thinks she will?
The Banger Sisters is odd right from the start. You barely are introduced to characters until halfway into the film and it can be boring and tiring to guess what they’re really like. A good character – the best by far – is Suzette’s driving buddy Harry (Geoffrey Rush). Wanting a lift to Phoenix, Suzette jumps at the chance of having a driving buddy, but after a couple of miles it seems a bad idea, as the two are like chalk and cheese and annoy each other like hell. But, Harry’s character was a pleasure to watch and you never did bore of him. He was certainly the funniest and most entertaining character, whether it be him being funny, or a joke involving him, I laughed out loud a few times at his characters. It was a pleasure to watch the parts of the film that he was in.
The relationship between Vinnie and Suzette was a really good aspect of the film as well. It comes through how close they once were, and how close they still could be. What lacked was the amount of information given away about Suzette’s character. We barely knew what she’d done in the last 20 years, and I really would have liked to know. Seeing as we saw exactly what Vinnie had been up to for the previous years, I thought it would be only right and proper to talk about Suzette’s past. There was barely any information given away about her, and that disappointed me in a way, because she was an interesting character that I’d liked to learn more about.
The relationship between Vinne, her 2 daughters and her husband was a brilliant one. It was apparent she’d changed in her ways not for herself but for others. Whilst Suzette had been trailing the last 20 years looking after number 1 and completely living for herself Vinnie had spent it living for her family. Changing for her family. The way they treat her in one scene is appalling, and to think that not only does she tolerate it, but that they put her down in such a way, and in front of Suzette. It’s apparent why she’s the way she is, and it’s touching to see that Suzette can bring her old self out. Not because Suzette wants her groupie back, but because Vinnie wants the groupie inside herself back. The transformation of Vinne – not in appearance – but in herself is touching in the film. You clearly see how much she wanted to be who she was, and how much she missed her best friend Suzette.
Harry and Suzette’s relationship in the film is intriguing as well. Suzette wanting to be his “lover” as he hadn’t slept with anyone for years wasn't just funny, but emotional. It was amusing and rather touching. You could see in the scene that they both had no one. No girl/boyfriend. No family was mentioned. And no friends it looked like, either. They were both a comfort for each other, and it acting wasn’t only top-notch, but for the first time in the film the writing was too. It was one of the best scenes in the film were you saw that fate played a part in their lives, if she hadn’t have been driving to Phoenix, if he hadn’t have wanted to go there, etc, they wouldn’t have met. Although there was no mention of a relationship – although it was certainly made out that way – I like to think they both ended up together in the end, and that after all the years of loneliness they found someone.
The writing in the film wasn’t brilliant. It was funny at times, and was touching, but it had no za-za-zu, no brilliance to it. Luckily, though most of the stars managed to make sure it wasn’t a failure. But, there was one thing they couldn’t help – the ending. It could be thought of as “the only possible way to end it”, but to me it was too abrupt. One minute they were in a bar laughing, next minute the credits were up. They never really concluded any of the relationships that had been made in the film; it was more “make your own mind up”. Even though I enjoyed the film, the ending completely spoilt it for me. I felt that with such an abrupt ending that I couldn’t conclude anything from anything!
Although the writing wasn’t top-notch, the ending was a bit disappointing, the acting was wonderful – and that’s the reason to see it. Hawn and Sarandon are wonderful, and you can tell they’re having so much fun doing it. The spark between the two is wonderful, and without them this wouldn’t get a look in from me. Watch it, but don’t expect too much from the story; concentrate on the wonderful relationships formed, and the splendid acting.
Advantages: Hawn and Sarandon, cute, fun Disadvantages: I didn't care for Rush's character
In the late '60s and early '70s, Suzette (Goldie Hawn) and Vinny (Susan Sarandon) were notorious groupies on LA's Sunset Strip. As they made their way into the trousers of some of rock 'n' roll's greats including Jim Morrison, they acquired the nickname 'The Banger Sisters' from Frank Zappa. With all this talk of legendary musicians, you'd think this movie would have a fantastic soundtrack à la 'Goodfellas', but, alas, the best it can do is Steppenwolf, ... ...works at the Whisky-a-go-go, while Vinny has hidden her old life away in the basement of her Phoenix, Arizona mansion. Fired from her job, a broke Suzette sets off for Phoenix to rekindle her friendship with Vinny, but when she gets there, she discovers that Vinny insists on being called Lavinia and wouldn't know a fun night out if it fell from the sky onto her perfectly manicured lawn. Suzette is in need of money and shelter, but Lavinia, whose ...
OKkaraoke 23.07.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Banger Sisters (DVD)
Advantages: Funny in places Disadvantages: Predictable ending
...Thelma and Louise following all the hype.
The movie opens rather well, with Suzette (Goldie Hawn) tending a bar within a Heavy Rock Club, working at the same bar since the 60's when Vinnie (Susan Sarandon) and herself where groupies who slept with all the big Rock Stars (Jim Morrison, Frank Zappa etc), she's openly drinking and giving the impression of not giving a damn what anyone thinks as she has worked there forever, so she believes that her ... ...that the boss will fire her, she ignores it. So the end of her shift comes and surprise surpise she is fired. No money, no job, she takes a trip down memory lane at home whilst getting sozzled. She comes accross some old photos of herself and Vinnie when they were Groupies. She and Vinnie have not seen each other for almost 20 years, but she is aware that Vinnie has done well for herself. So she decides it's time to visit her old pal, with the hope ...
herby30 18.08.2003 (21.08.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Banger Sisters (DVD)
Advantages: good casting Disadvantages: not enought caracter development
The Banger Sisters tells the tale of ex-rock groupies Suzette (Goldie Hawn) and Lavinia (Susan Sarandon). Having grown apart and lost contact with each other Lavinia is shocked when 20 years after their last meeting suzette turns up on her door step unannounced hoping to revive their friendship.
Lavinia is now a respectable housewife and mother married to a prominent lawyer and is completely horrified at the prospect of her old friend dredging up ... ...her friend back like in the good old days when the two girls were closer than sisters. When Suzette arrives Lavinia realises that she has gone too far in her attempts to create a respectable image for herself her family now think of her as a joke. Suzette helps Lavinia realise that she has taken her new life to such an extreme that she has imprisoned herself in a cage of conformity and killed everything of the girl she once was. Predictably Lavinia ...
EarthGirl 18.06.2004
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Advantages: A good girls night in movie Disadvantages: Not the best I've seen Goldie in
...paid to see it at the cinema I'd of been disappointed.
Goldie's been is some fab films and this doen't quite live up to it. Yet still its entertaining and has some good giggles to it. I would probably recommend purchasing it on DVD if you can get a good price.
So what's it about? This is a story of how after 20 years two past groupies meet up and are shocked by the differences in their lives. Suzette (Goldie) is still the fun loving, hanging on ... ...daughter spoilt and stroppy and the other trying to rebel and taking drugs at parties. Once she starts spending time with Suzette she realises that she has let go of her fun personality and the movie has some entertaining scenes as she decides to cut her hair, funk up her style and go out and party. What a shock it is for her family!
The tale is that of your never too old to be young.
If purchasing on DVD this includes special features, directors ...
starcreature99 18.09.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Banger Sisters (DVD)
Advantages: occassional funny moments Disadvantages: predictable, corny, goldie hawn
...an infamous groupie duo in the 60s and 70s. Whilst Sarandon's character has since settled down to raise a family and buy a pool, Hawn is still a washed-up old actress who is uncomfortable being seen under bright lights...sorry - Hawn's character still does everything she can to keep up her groupie spirit. She comes back to haunt Sarandon and brings her back to her old ways. Hilarity ensues.
The set-up itself might be corny, but at least it had some ... ...and isn't really integrated with the main chaos in a way that makes you laugh, or care. The end of the movie also commits a sin by falling into the same trap as a lot of disposable cinema - trying to make a point. The two do not fit together at all, and left me completely cold as the credits rolled, especially as all of the characters have absolutely no depth, so having a cardboard character announcing a call to action is anything but inspiring. ...
barneyboo 06.04.2006 (13.04.2006)
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Advantages: Excellent acting performances, coherant and interesting story. Disadvantages: Danger of presenting a view of teenage life that isn't always accurate.
is a remarkable feat, the dialogue never feeling clunky or forced. That fact that the film is based on her own life does throw in some context: as much as I suspect the film of generalising the problems of teenage culture, the fact this is a semi-true story is hard to ignore.
The DVD features a commentary by first time director Catherine Hardwicke & Nikki Reed, a further commentary by stars Rachel Evan Wood and Brady Corbet, A Making Of featurette, English/Spanish subtitles and a whole plethora of deleted scenes with commentaries. You can buy Thirteen as a region 1 DVD paired with either The BangerSisters or The Good Girl.
Overall, it?s a good film and certainly worth a watch on a penny-saving Friday night. Just don't take the actions of the girls in the picture to be indicative of youth today. Many kids do seam to be on a path ...
everyplatewebreak 16.03.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Thirteen DVD
Back in the late 70s and early 80s, Suzette and Vinnie were best friends, they were a couple of groupies that would hang out with any rock star they could their hands on... They lost touch and hadn't seen each other for twenty years until Suzette decided to look Vinnie up. Much to her horror she finds Vinnie has changed in more ways than just looks...
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20th Century Fox Home Entertainment; Deluxe Video Service - Fox
"...Sarandon shines: Her transition from a straight-laced mother to a down-and-dirty party girl is both funny and affecting..." (Box Office, p.150, 01/11/2002)
"...Goldie Hawn gives a heartbreakingly brave, endearing performance..." (Entertainment Weekly, p.58, 27/09/2002)
"...An inviting, frequently hilarious movie. Hawn has one of the best roles of her career....Sarandon is also vibrant, and Geoffrey Rush offers a remarkably subtle portrayal....THE BANGER SISTERS turns out to be a hoot..." (Movieline, p.40-1, 01/10/2002)
"...Enlivened by sharp dialogue and characterizations, and Hawn and Sarandon's interactions are impeccable, timing- and deliver-wise..." (Premiere, p.26, 01/10/2002)
"...Feisty fun from start to finish....Neatly scripted and efficiently helmed....[The] narrative situations play into both actresses' strengths and physical attributes....Rush is quite simply a hoot..." (Variety, p.39, 16/09/2002)
DVD Description
Suzette (Goldie Hawn) and Vinnie (Susan Sarandon) were groupies in their heyday, partying with the likes of Frank Zappa (who dubs them the Banger Sisters), Jim Morrison, and virtually every other rock star and roadie that passed through Los Angeles. Twenty years later, Suzette is a bartender who finds herself too old to stay in the Los Angeles rock scene. Distraught, she heads to Phoenix in search of her former best friend, picking up neurotic and quirky Harry (Geoffrey Rush) at a gas station along the way. But when Suzette arrives in Phoenix, she is surprised to find that her once wild friend may as well be a different person. Married to a lawyer with political aspirations and the mother of two teenage daughters, Vinnie is now LaVinia, a refined, cultured pillar of the community. With Suzette back in town, LaVinia is confronted with her past and finds that she must make peace with it to fully embrace her true self. Hawn and Sarandon are well cast, and Rush is a scene-stealer as a wounded man who finds new inspiration in Suzette. Writer Bob Dolman makes his directorial debut with THE BANGER SISTERS.
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