Product Details

• Actors: Goldie Hawn, Susan Sarandon, Geoffrey Rush, Erika Christensen, Robin Thomas
• Directors: Bob Dolman
• Format: Color, Original recording reissued, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: May 20, 2003
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00008QSCR
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #627,002 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

For thinly scripted fluff, The Banger Sisters sure is a lot of fun. With Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon as former groupies now settling into their fifties, this predictable comedy gets a zesty boost of vitality and unsentimental nostalgia. Trouble is, Lavinia (or Vinnie, played by Sarandon) is an uptight Phoenix housewife with a lawyer husband, two spoiled daughters, and a calendar full of charity benefits. Free-spirited Suzette (Hawn) remained true to their past as the notorious rocker-lovin' Banger Sisters, and when she visits Vinnie after decades apart, it's not long before Vinnie rediscovers the lively self she'd buried under her drably expensive wardrobe. It's conspicuously formulaic, with Geoffrey Rush as another buttoned-up character liberated by Suzette's fun-loving wisdom. And yet, as Goldie channels the "Penny Lane" vibe that her daughter, Kate Hudson, brought to Almost Famous, this light and laugh-worthy movie reminds us that it's never too late to indulge a bit of rock & roll abandon. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker

Goldie Hawn, wearing her pants very tight, does some real acting as a funny, lewd good-time girl, an ex-groupie who has always been too careless to put anything together for herself. Dismissed from her job as a bartender on Sunset Strip, she goes looking for her old friend and fellow-groupie, Vinnie (Susan Sarandon), who long ago shipped out to Phoenix, married well, and became a part of the community. The two actresses set off a few sparks in their scenes with each other, but the idea that middle-aged women need to liberate themselves by discovering their inner groupie is, well, bananas. The screenwriter Bob Dolman wrote and directed this pedestrian, desperate-to-shock movie, which feels less like a story about women's lives than some corkscrewed male fantasy. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A little gem of a film...., September 23, 2002

By 

L. Quido "quidrock" (Tampa, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Many critics have already not been kind to "The Banger Sisters". Perhaps they didn't like "First Wives' Club" either, but that film has become a Goldie Hawn classic. And "Banger Sisters" has all the same elements that will make this a screen and DVD favorite, as well.

The key to Hawn's success has always been successful partnering with other actors and actresses that act as a catlyst for her charm. In this film, she's fortunate to work with Susan Sarandon, perhaps even better with Goldie than the combination of Diane Keaton-Bette Midler. Sarandon's character is a little bit of both. The comedy is gentle and the message has both women, in their late forties, go in search of what has been missing from their adult lives. They have a crazy camaraderie that was born of shared experiences as rock groupies in the late 60's and early 70's, when sex and drugs were plentiful. Hawn's character, Suzette, has continued to live the experience, and the film opens with a scene of her being fired from her job as a bartender.

Sarandon's character (Vinnie, now Lavinia), took a different road when she split from Suzette, and she's now the successful wife of a wealthy man with political aspirations in Phoenix. Lavinia's devoted herself to the care and raising of her two daughters, and is dismayed, at first, when Suzette shows up. She's never confided her wild teenage experiences to husband or daughters, and they're frankly shocked at her choice of friends, and the influence Suzette seems to have over her. The contrast is best expressed when Vinnie realizes her whole life, like her perfectly kept and coordinated wardrobe, has been "beige".

A plot contrivance involves character actor Geoffrey Rush as a hapless writer who arrives with Suzette in Phoenix, and evolves from an obsessive schmuck to a man whose been woken up to life again by the unpredictability of life with Suzette . Rush is peerless in his role, and his character helps to add to the humanity that makes Suzette's life worthwhile.

"Banger Sisters" is not laugh out loud funny, but there are priceless funny moments, as Suzette and Vinnie are caught with a toke in Lavinia's basement, while browsing through the Polaroids they took of memorable "parts" of their affairs with rock icons. Sarandon is laughable in her uptight moments, using floral arrangements to make amends with Suzette, and cleaning up the kitchen when under stress. There are also some miscues that aren't believable, like the "throwing chicken" scene, and scenes in which young actress Eva Amurri (Sarandon's daughter in real life) goes over the top as a spoiled brat.

The soundtrack of the Banger Sisters does its own star turn in the movie, featuring old hits (Steppenwolf's " Rock Me", "Burning Down the House" by Talking Heads) new covers by unusual artists (Tommy Lee doing Bowie's "Fame", Trevor Rabin's cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood") and great new songs by Richie Sambora and Dishwalla. The soundtrack is most evident in the movie's poignant scenes....Vinnie and Suzette dancing in a club, being "poster children" for a "got milk?" ad, and consoling each other outside the hospital where Vinnie's daughter is being treated.

Hawn and Sarandon are memorable and priceless in a little gem of a film. They light up the screen, make you believe in forever friendships, and hopefully set the stage to return to film as a duo.

I disagree with reviews that label this a mediocre movie, and urge you to see it, and enjoy!

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cute and Funny, September 21, 2002

By 

Daniel V. Reilly (Upstate New York, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Suzette (Goldie Hawn) used to be one half of the infamous "Banger Sisters", a pair of man-hungry groupies who slept with the likes of Jim Morrison and Kieth Richards. Now she's just lost her job as Bartender at The Whiskey-A-Go-Go, and being broke, decides to go hit up Vinnie, the other half of the Bangers (Susan Sarandon), whom she hasn't seen or heard from in 20 years, for a loan. Suzette knows Vinnie is married to a Lawyer and living in Arizone, but she doesn't know that Vinnie is now Lavinia, the straight-arrow wife, and mother of two.....and although Suzette was Vinnie's best pal, Lavinia isn't going to be too thrilled to see her wild past come strolling into her perfect present.

The movie is cute and funny, but the real reason too see it is the performances of Hawn and Sarandon. The chemistry between them is great. Goldie is as cute and sexy as ever, and it's pretty ironic that she's basically playing the grown-up version of her daughter Kate Hudson's character in Almost Famous. Geoffrey Rush is great fun as a neurotic who gets swept up into Suzette's crazy life. The Banger Sisters ain't exactly Citizen Kane, but it was a fun way to spend a few hours.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Goldie and Susane are the Movie!, September 22, 2002

By 

Lorenzo M. in the Hollywood CA Area "Movie Wa... (North Hollywood, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

THE BANGER SISTERS is a movie that has a lot of mixed emotions about it. Goldie Hawn (Town & Country, Out-Of Towners) plays a character that is so far from her normal persona that it almost didn't work. But by the end you realize that Goldie is the cornerstone for many of the characters in the film. Primarily that of the talented Susan Sarandon (Cradle Will Rock, Cat's and Dogs) who transformation and power shift really is believable.

The film is directed by Bob Dolman (writer of Far and Away, Willow ) who takes a while to get the story moving but once the two ladies get their characters in gear - it picks up,. Some wonderful performances by Susan's oldest daughter played by Erika Christianson (Swim Fan, Traffic) and her husband played by Robin Thomas (Clockstoppers, Bullworth) and the their contrast in understanding what their lives are really about.

Basically it's the story of a two women who were wild and crazy with sex and rock'n'roll in their youth having been separated as time does to everyone and then meeting again twenty years later. Goldie is Suzette a broken down woman who lives the life of a Bar tender in Hollywood and Susan plays Lavine a house wife with a great home, children, family and money. They meet again and realize what they meant to each other and who they really are. There is a standout surprise performance by Geoffrey Rush (Quills, Shakespeare In Love) as a writer with an issue. Again Goldie guides her way in and out of his life for an almost believable storybook ending.

I enjoyed this movie. Nothing really special, but its heart is in the right place! (9-22-02)