The Banger Sisters

The Banger Sisters is a 2002 American comedy film written and directed by Bob Dolman, and produced by Fox Searchlight Pictures. The film stars Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon as two middle-aged women who used to be friends and groupies when they were young.

Banger Sisters
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBob Dolman
Produced by
Written byBob Dolman
Starring
Music byTrevor Rabin
CinematographyKarl Walter Lindenlaub
Edited byAram Nigoghossian
Distributed byFox Searchlight Pictures
Release date
  • September 8, 2002 (2002-09-08) (Deauville)
  • September 20, 2002 (2002-09-20) (United States)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10 million[1]
Box office$38.1 million[1]

It was released on September 20, 2002. The film was Hawn's last acting role until the release of Snatched in 2017, fourteen and a half years after the release of The Banger Sisters.

Plot

When Suzette (Goldie Hawn) is fired from her job as bartender at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles, she decides, on the spur of the moment, to travel all the way to Phoenix, Arizona to see her old friend Vinnie (Susan Sarandon). Stranded at a service station without any money to buy some gasoline, she picks up Harry Plummer (Geoffrey Rush), a neurotic, middle-aged author who is on his way to Phoenix to once and for all deal with his father and the negative influence he has had over his life.

On arriving in Phoenix, Suzette has a chance encounter with Vinnie's 17-year-old daughter Hannah (Erika Christensen) who, after some recreational drug use, starts throwing up in Harry's hotel room. When she drives her back to her parents' elegant suburban home Suzette at first cannot believe what she sees: Vinnie, who now calls herself Lavinia Kingsley, leads the more conservative life of the perfect wife and mother—a life which at one point prompts one of her daughters to ask Suzette, "Did she ever do anything wrong?" Raymond (Robin Thomas), Vinnie's lawyer husband and an aspiring politician, has no idea about his wife's past either.

However, Suzette's sudden appearance brings back all those memories for Lavinia. She cuts her hair and throws off her expensive but boring clothes and, just for one night, relives the old days by going dancing with Suzette. They return to Vinnie's home and down in the basement she retrieves some of the memorabilia of their previous life as groupies, which includes a collection of Polaroids of the penises of numerous "musicians and a few roadies". After smoking a marijuana joint they set off the smoke detector, waking up the household.

Ginger has a minor fender bender which has everyone off to the hospital. Vinnie has an identity crisis during a family argument where Hannah blames Suzette for disrupting their lives. Suzette leaves and calls Harry telling him she's going back to L.A. Vinnie follows Suzette and they have a heart to heart that ends up with them sitting atop a "got milk?" billboard sign to watch the sunrise.

Suzette and Vinnie go to the hotel room to find Harry has left. Suzette fears the worst as Harry has taken a gun with him. They find Harry going to see his father, in a cemetery. While Suzette tries to talk sense into Harry, Vinnie loses her patience and bumps into him with the car. Suzette takes the gun and shoots the single bullet into the air. Harry finally comes to grips with his deceased, absentee father.

In the end, both her husband and her two daughters have understood that Lavinia is only human after all. In her graduation speech, Hannah speaks out against anything that is "fake" and urges her schoolmates, teachers and the parents present to "do it true".

The following day, Suzette returns to Los Angeles together with Harry, who has come to consider her his muse.

Cast

Reception

The film was released on September 20, 2002. It opened at #2, in 2,738 theaters, grossing $10,037,846 during its opening weekend. It went on to gross $30,307,416 domestically and $7,760,937 from overseas markets, for a worldwide total of $38,068,353.[1]

Reviews of the movie were mixed. The film holds a 48% rating at Rotten Tomatoes from 143 critics, with the consensus stating: "Hawn and Sarandon are terrific together, but the hoary plot is predictable and contrived."[2]

Awards and nominations
Award Category Recipient Result
Golden Globe Awards Best Actress - Motion Picture Comedy or Musical Goldie Hawn Nominated
Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actress Eva Amurri Won

References
  1. "The Banger Sisters (2002) - Box Office Mojo". www.boxofficemojo.com.
  2. "The Banger Sisters".
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