Rating: 
Summary: Living True Is Not the Opposite of Growing Up
Review: I am giving this film three stars because it's a treat to see Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon on the screen no matter what they're doing, but three stars is incredibly generous. This story is ostensibly about "living true" in other words not selling out and remaining true to yourself throughout your life. Not a bad moto to live by, but the way it is presented in this movie is pretty absurd. It starts out with Goldie Hawn as Suzette, basically a hard-drinking, sleep-around former groupie who has aged and never grown up. We find Suzette still tending bar at the Whisky Ago-go in Hollywood where she's been since Jim Morrison of the Doors passed out in the bathroom there in the '60s and she was under him. New management has decided that Suzette is obsolete and fire her, so with no money and no place to go, no family or any real friends she heads out for Arizona to look up her old pal, Vin, from the good ol' drugs, alcohol, and casual sex days, when Frank Zappa had dubbed the two of them the Banger Sisters because of their notoriety as groupie party animals. They haven't been in contact for the past 20 years. Enroute, Suzette meets up with pathetic sad-sack Harry played by Geoffrey Rush who is heading home to Phoenix after a life-time of defeat in following his dreams as a writer. He has some dire plans to carry out and is utterly neurotic. A totally improbable relationship insues. Vin or Vinnie who now goes by her real name of Lavinia has become a totally straight, rich society woman with two spoiled teenaged daughters and a distant lawyer husband with political aspirations. She lives in total luxury but is living a very flat and uninteresting existance that does not fulfill her in any way, let alone make her happy.
Long story short, Suzette's appearance upsets the apple-carts in both Harry and Lavinia's lives. The daughters are blown away to find out their mom was once "cool" and that she is a real person with real feelings.
Goldie's character is really defined by her outrageous wardrobe and her large fake breasts which are mentioned every few minutes or so and the role doesn't give her much opportunity to act. We see nothing new from Goldie in this picture and there is no real depth to the character. Susan Sarandon's character has more depth and more for Susan to work with and she does the best that she can with the role but it is a very stereotypical woman that she is depicted as being, whether it's as a society lady or an over-aged groupie. Both Hawn and Sarandon look so good in their tight-fitting bar-fly costumes that it must have been alot of fun to play these characters. These women are in such terrific shape and are such beauties in real life that it must have been a trip to camp it up like this and be able to pull it off. Unfortunately, their looks are the only hot thing about this movie...period. The moral of the story, "Live True", is put forth in such a cheesy way that even for this fluff of a movie it comes off as a disappointingly contrived message. The characters of the daughters, played adequately by Eva Anurri who seems like she could have done something with a fuller character and Erika Christensen who is lack-luster are so one-dimentional they did not elicite any emotional response from me. Geoffrey Rush's Harry was probably the best played character in the movie, but once again, even great actors can only do so much with unbelievable characters. I was left with the feeling that the writers' had really confused the idea of being true to oneself with the idea of having no self-control or responsibility. Some of the ridiculous excursions down Memory Lane that Suzette and Vin indulge in are proof positive of this, but I won't spoil the movie by pointing any of them out. I would only recommed this movie to VERY die-hard fans of Hawn, Sarandon, and/or Rush. The story is pure drivel and as someone who was around back in the day when Jim Morrison was doing his thing and the Whisky was rockin' full tilt and nobody knew about AIDS, I can assure you that anyone from that era who is still living like that is NOT "living true" but probably has one foot in the grave and a life-time of memories full of despair and pain. You can only paint a rosey glow of nostalgia around so much and this movie doesn't pull it off.
Rating: 
Summary: It's really 3 1/2 stars
Review: I'm sorry, but I really liked this movie. Sure it is based on a fluffy script, but it's fun and energetic. Not to mention, it has some very good names as stars. Geoffrey Rush, Susan Sarandon, and the indomitable Goldie Hawn. Plus, there are a lot of lesser names who deliver some great performances.The story begins with Suzette (Hawn) as a fun living, carefree former groupie still caught in the fast living of her younger days. She decides to visit her best friend, Livinia, (Sarandon) who is now a matronly, slighty hysterical mother trying to raise two spoiled children in the suburbs of Arizona with her rich lawyer husband. During Suzette's trip from Los Angeles, she meets Harold (Rush) who is on his way home to kill his father. Suzette takes this information in stride and it is hilarious how Harold takes to Suzette and her philosphy of life. What follows from there is a funny and introspective trip down memory lane and life's interesting paths. Personally, I like the movie. It's funny and you can watch it with family and friends alike. There is a great message being bandied about, and doesn't take long before you are caught up in the lives of everyone on screen. In an age of deep, riveting movies this is one you can watch with a smile and a laugh--not worrying if you missed the meaning. Plus, the added benefits of seeing a role designed for older actresses is a highlight in itself. I would highly recommend buying this movie. You will enjoy it!!
Rating: 
Summary: GOLDIE HAWN AND SUSAN SARANDON ROCK!
Review: I love this movie! The gorgeous Goldie Hawn and the gorgeous Susan Sarnadon are hillarious as Suzette, and Vinny("LA LA LA VINIA", As Hawn's character hillariously taunts when Sarandon's character tells her not to call her Vinny anymore) former group groupies who reunite after 20 years. Goldie is a free spirited hippie chick still, and Susan plays an uptight wife and mother who's secret past and best friendship with Suzette is not known to her husband and two daughters. But Suzzette(Hawn) rebonds with Vinny, and hysterical situations abound! GREAT MOVIE!
Rating:
Summary: Predictable Chick Flick
Review: "The Banger Sisters" is everything I expected it to be: formulaic, undemanding, and fun. Vinnie (Susan Sarandon) lives a beige existence in a tony Phoenix suburb where she and her staid attorney husband are raising two teenage girls; she is the suburban matron to beat all matrons. When her long-ago fellow groupie friend Suzette (Goldie Hawn) arrives on the scene, all Vinnie's careful layers of respect are peeled back to reveal a rock 'n roller at heart, and she begins to see what she has sacrificed to arrive at her middle-aged life. Of course there's a sisterhood message - live true to yourself - but it becomes pathetic in the hands of these fifty-something year old actresses. The real fun comes in the chemistry between the actresses. Sarandon's transformation from repressed housewife to a straight-shooting woman is surprisingly nuanced. Hawn's Suzette is more ridiculous, both visually and in character, as her hippy attitude and floozy dress seem more worn than wise. Eva Amurri, who plays Vinnie's goofy daughter Ginger is charming in her small part while Erika Christiansen as her older sister Hannah is more lackluster. Geoffrey Rush as a man Suzette rescues from his own blandness is adorably enthusiastic, although his character's function in this thin screenplay is questionable. This predictable chick flick is saved from complete obscurity by its stars who lend just the right element of fun to self-discovery. This is a good mindless flick that I'd recommend renting instead of buying. It simply does not have enough substance to warrant a second or third viewing.
Rating:
Summary: Goldie is aging well
Review: In THE BANGER SISTERS, Goldie Hawn doesn't giggle as much as she did thirty-two years ago on "Laugh-In", but, under that unruly mop of blond hair, she can still give that crooked little grin that's just so darned appealing. Goldie plays Suzette, an aging ex-groupie of the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll generation who's a legend in her own mind and, undoubtedly, in the libidos of all the musicians she slept with. Just fired from her bartending gig at a Hollywood club by a young boss who doesn't have the proper respect for historical figures, Suzette sets out by car for Phoenix to look up Lavinia (Susan Sarandon), her pal and fellow groupie from the good old days. Along the way, she picks up Harry (Geoffrey Rush), a tightly wound wannabe writer that hasn't had sex in ten years and travels with a pistol loaded with one bullet. She arrives at her destination only to discover that Lavinia has "gone straight", i.e., is married to a lawyer and living a constipated middle-class existence in the affluent suburbs with two spoiled daughters, a banana hammock, and an all-beige wardrobe. The plot of this film is about nothing more than the effect of Suzette's uninhibited ebullience on Harry, Lavinia, and the latter's family. And, it should have been limited to just Lavinia's small circle if the editing department had perhaps done the smart thing and relegated the subplot involving Harry to the cutting room floor. Sarandon does well enough as a responsible Mom divesting herself of the inhibitions that have layered themselves over a formerly free spirit. To that end, her husband and daughters are nothing more than animated props serving as foils to this process catalyzed by the intrusion of Suzette into their overly-ordered lives. There's one sequence in the family basement involving some revealing old Polaroids that's worth the price of admission. The best reason to see THE BANGER SISTERS is Goldie Hawn, who, at 57, has aged well. She must work out. And when did she get so, um, stacked? Suzette makes a point of telling Lavinia that not everything one sees under her tank top is real. Perhaps that's it - but the effect is remarkable, especially if one remembers the Goldie of an earlier age. In any case, this film doesn't approach being memorable, but the effervescent Ms. Hawn has earned the right to be remembered simply for the delight she's provided fans over the decades.
Rating:
Summary: Predictable Chick Flick
Review: "The Banger Sisters" is everything I expected it to be: formulaic, undemanding, and fun. Vinnie (Susan Sarandon) lives a beige existence in a tony Phoenix suburb where she and her staid attorney husband are raising two teenage girls; she is the suburban matron to beat all matrons. When her long-ago fellow groupie friend Suzette (Goldie Hawn) arrives on the scene, all Vinnie's careful layers of respect are peeled back to reveal a rock 'n roller at heart, and she begins to see what she has sacrificed to arrive at her middle-aged life. Of course there's a sisterhood message - live true to yourself - but it becomes pathetic in the hands of these fifty-something year old actresses. The real fun comes in the chemistry between the actresses. Sarandon's transformation from repressed housewife to a straight-shooting woman is surprisingly nuanced. Hawn's Suzette is more ridiculous, both visually and in character, as her hippy attitude and floozy dress seem more worn than wise. Eva Amurri, who plays Vinnie's goofy daughter Ginger is charming in her small part while Erika Christiansen as her older sister Hannah is more lackluster. Geoffrey Rush as a man Suzette rescues from his own blandness is adorably enthusiastic, although his character's function in this thin screenplay is questionable. This predictable chick flick is saved from complete obscurity by its stars who lend just the right element of fun to self-discovery. This is a good mindless flick that I'd recommend renting instead of buying. It simply does not have enough substance to warrant a second or third viewing.
Rating:
Summary: GOLDIE HAWN AND SUSAN SARANDON ROCK!
Review: I love this movie! The gorgeous Goldie Hawn and the gorgeous Susan Sarnadon are hillarious as Suzette, and Vinny("LA LA LA VINIA", As Hawn's character hillariously taunts when Sarandon's character tells her not to call her Vinny anymore) former group groupies who reunite after 20 years. Goldie is a free spirited hippie chick still, and Susan plays an uptight wife and mother who's secret past and best friendship with Suzette is not known to her husband and two daughters. But Suzzette(Hawn) rebonds with Vinny, and hysterical situations abound! GREAT MOVIE!
Rating: 
Summary: A clanker from beginning to end
Review: This movie is a skunk for the eyes and ears. Just about everything about it stinks. The script, the directing, most of the performances, the set designs... all stink. THE BANGER SISTERS was filmed in STINK-A-RAMA. This is a THELMA AND LOUISE for the stupid. I'm not even going to go on about it. It's not worth it.
Rating:
Summary: A must see comedy!
Review: This movie has become an absolute faveorite of mine! And all of the people that gave it negetive reviews just didnt enjoy the simple comedy of it. Goldie and Susan have great chemestry through the entire movie. The script couldnt be any more funny. I went and bought the movie as soon as I saw it. I still like to watch it and I don't think I will ever get tired of it. This movie is a must see for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Janet All Grown Up
Review: Let me, if I may, take you on a strange journey . . . . . . Imagine if Janet Veiss (Weiss!) settled down to a normal middle-class life in Denton with someone other than Brad Majors after the servants in The Rocky Horror Picture Show had all "gone to a distant planet." (I know, I know, there was a sequel, Shock Treatment, but let's just forget that, shall we? I think the writer Richard O'Brien would like to.) . . . And imagine that Janet's new husband, who's made a lot of money working for Professor Scott's (or should I say VON Scott's?) military-industrial firm as a lawyer, now wants a political career which requires the voters think his wife is a perfect homemaker and mother, with no sexual shenanigans in her past. . . . Suddenly, twenty years later, Betty Monroe shows up, after dumping Ralph (he always was a lucky guy!), to tell Janet's spoiled family just what Janet got up to when she and Brad were two kids on a night out who came upon a light over at the Frankenstein place. I've gone way too far with this, but it's the set-up for The Banger Sisters, starring Goldie Hawn as Betty Monroe (Suzette) and (do you believe it?!) Susan Sarandon as Janet Weiss (Lavinia). Society wife Lavinia and bartender Suzette were dubbed "the Banger Sisters" by Frank Zappa for all the rock stars they - - knew - - back in the seventies. Lavinia still has her "rock [rhymes with rock] collection" of photographs of famous musicians' instruments (or should I say musicians' famous instruments?).
Lavinia has "lost herself" in the needs of her husband and daughters. Suzette helps Lavinia learn to dance again (this is the symbolism, folks) and convinces Lavinia's family to accept her for herself, not just for how she can fulfill their needs. The Banger Sisters is an okay comedy, but everyone's acceptance of everyone else at the end is a little too pat (typical for a Hollywood movie). Apparently there are no serious psychological consequences for all that waking up under dudes like Keith and Jim. The story of the guy Suzette picks up (played by Geoffrey Rush) to pay for gas to get to Lavinia's home in Phoenix is more interesting. He's fifty, loaded with nervous tics, and has spent twenty years in Los Angeles trying to be a screenwriter and is coming home to make peace with his father. You'll see that plot twist coming. If Rush's character represents the middle road between excess (Suzette) and repression (Lavinia) all I can say is Yikes! I wanted to like this movie because the actors are so good, but director Lisa Cholodenko's Laurel Canyon starring Frances McDormand is a more adult story on a similar theme with characters that seem like real people.
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