bnorthup
09-23-2002, 11:07 AM
Banger Sisters (R)
At the Circus
3 stars
Hey, Mom, were you really a groupie?
By Brent Northup
Those of us born shortly after the close of World War II form the Baby Boomer generation. I was born roughly nine months after Hitler surrendered, so I was an intimate part of the celebration that followed the close of the war.
We Boomers were in our 20s during the ’60s. Although that period has been stereotyped as flower children and hippies, the fact is that it was a time of courage – courage to stand up for Civil Rights; courage to protest an un-winnable war; and courage to die, as evidenced by the number of my classmates whose names are on the Vietnam Memorial.
And, it’s also true that the sixties and seventies were a time when bored Boomers did plenty of embarrassing things. I would rather not have photos surface of the long-haired me on my 1200 Harley – and I’m sure many parents live in fear that their kids and grandkids will uncover the answer to Father Jerry Lowney’s question: “What were your parents doing back then?” (The title of Lowney’s book about that period.)
Both Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon are vintage boomers, born in 1945 and 1946. They are perfect choices to star in a flawed but touching film about the autumn years of Boomers, “The Banger Sisters.”
Sarandon and Hawn play Lavinia and Suzette, two fifty-something women who were doing things with rock stars back then. They laughed, partied, and then parted to live their adult lives in separate worlds. Suzette (Hawn) kept the flower in her hair and worked in bars and “played the field,” taking the sixties into extra innings.
Lavinia, on the other hand, married money and has a fancy house in the suburbs. Her children and husband have no idea just how well she knew Jim Morrison.
The story begins as Suzette is fired as a bartender and decides to look up her old buddy Lavinia in hopes of getting some money. When Suzette shows up in the ’burbs in a low-cut blouse barely covering her surgically enhanced chest and driving a beater or a car, the fun begins.
The film’s weakness lies in the amount of silliness that is included in a story that has such profound dramatic potential. Many of the supporting characters, such as Lavinia’s lawyer husband, are disposable silhouettes without substance.
But the Lavinia/Suzette relationship eventually reaches some depth. Lavinia realizes she’s submerged a part of her soul and Suzette realizes that she may have may have short-changed herself by not seeking a partner for her life.
Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush has an amusing and eventually believable supporting role as an uptight over-the-hill bachelor who hitches a ride with Goldie – and falls in love with his astrological opposite.
Every one of us who lived through the sixties and seventies has special memories churning beneath our bald spots. “The Banger Sisters” allows us to relive those times in the safety of a movie theater, without worry of revelation or embarrassment. I enjoyed the journey, and was sincerely touched by the final 30 minutes of this tale or reunion and reflection.
But I still don’t want those photos to reappear.
END
At the Circus
3 stars
Hey, Mom, were you really a groupie?
By Brent Northup
Those of us born shortly after the close of World War II form the Baby Boomer generation. I was born roughly nine months after Hitler surrendered, so I was an intimate part of the celebration that followed the close of the war.
We Boomers were in our 20s during the ’60s. Although that period has been stereotyped as flower children and hippies, the fact is that it was a time of courage – courage to stand up for Civil Rights; courage to protest an un-winnable war; and courage to die, as evidenced by the number of my classmates whose names are on the Vietnam Memorial.
And, it’s also true that the sixties and seventies were a time when bored Boomers did plenty of embarrassing things. I would rather not have photos surface of the long-haired me on my 1200 Harley – and I’m sure many parents live in fear that their kids and grandkids will uncover the answer to Father Jerry Lowney’s question: “What were your parents doing back then?” (The title of Lowney’s book about that period.)
Both Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon are vintage boomers, born in 1945 and 1946. They are perfect choices to star in a flawed but touching film about the autumn years of Boomers, “The Banger Sisters.”
Sarandon and Hawn play Lavinia and Suzette, two fifty-something women who were doing things with rock stars back then. They laughed, partied, and then parted to live their adult lives in separate worlds. Suzette (Hawn) kept the flower in her hair and worked in bars and “played the field,” taking the sixties into extra innings.
Lavinia, on the other hand, married money and has a fancy house in the suburbs. Her children and husband have no idea just how well she knew Jim Morrison.
The story begins as Suzette is fired as a bartender and decides to look up her old buddy Lavinia in hopes of getting some money. When Suzette shows up in the ’burbs in a low-cut blouse barely covering her surgically enhanced chest and driving a beater or a car, the fun begins.
The film’s weakness lies in the amount of silliness that is included in a story that has such profound dramatic potential. Many of the supporting characters, such as Lavinia’s lawyer husband, are disposable silhouettes without substance.
But the Lavinia/Suzette relationship eventually reaches some depth. Lavinia realizes she’s submerged a part of her soul and Suzette realizes that she may have may have short-changed herself by not seeking a partner for her life.
Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush has an amusing and eventually believable supporting role as an uptight over-the-hill bachelor who hitches a ride with Goldie – and falls in love with his astrological opposite.
Every one of us who lived through the sixties and seventies has special memories churning beneath our bald spots. “The Banger Sisters” allows us to relive those times in the safety of a movie theater, without worry of revelation or embarrassment. I enjoyed the journey, and was sincerely touched by the final 30 minutes of this tale or reunion and reflection.
But I still don’t want those photos to reappear.
END