"THE BANGER SISTERS"
(2002) (Goldie Hawn, Susan Sarandon) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Heavy	Mild	Moderate	None	Mild
Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	None	None	None	Extreme
Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Extreme	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Minor

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QUICK TAKE:

Drama/Comedy: A free-spirited, middle-aged woman discovers that her former groupie friend is now a straight-laced mother who's tried to put her wild past behind her.

PLOT:

Suzette (GOLDIE HAWN) is a middle-aged bartender at an L.A. club where she's seen all sorts of rock n' roll history over the decades. When her much younger boss fires her, the former groupie sets out to find her former friend and fellow groupie, Vinnie (SUSAN SARANDON), who now lives in Phoenix.

Unfortunately, she doesn't have enough money for gas and thus agrees to give a ride to Harry (GEOFFREY RUSH), a neurotic and obsessive-compulsive writer, in exchange for him paying their way. He's also headed to Phoenix to fulfill a promise he made long ago.

Upon arriving there, Suzette sets off to find Vinnie, but instead meets her teenage daughter, Hannah (ERIKA CHRISTENSEN), a seemingly straight-laced high school senior who's having a bad reaction to some acid she's taken at the prom. Suzette drives Hannah home where she then meets Vinnie who now goes by the name Lavinia.

Now married to Raymond (ROBIN THOMAS), a successful lawyer, with another teenage daughter, Ginger (EVA AMURRI), at home, Lavinia is the complete opposite of the still free-spirited Suzette who hasn't changed much since their earlier groupie days. She doesn't want anything to do with Suzette, especially when she figures out she needs money.

Yet, Suzette's presence eventually begins to bring out Vinnie's long-since repressed youthful exuberance, and her family isn't sure what to make of her sudden change. As the two become reacquainted and Harry sets out to set things straight with his father, it's uncertain what will happen with the former "Banger Sisters."

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?

Fans of someone in the cast might want to, but the mostly older cast probably won't be enticing to young teens or pre-teens.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R

For language, sexual content and some drug use.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:

GOLDIE HAWN plays a former groupie from the '60s who's still a free spirit and can't believe what a prude Vinnie has turned out to be. She use strong profanity, has sex with Harry (and is noted as having sex with many people in the past), smokes cigarettes and pot, and drinks.

SUSAN SARANDON plays her former friend and fellow groupie who's tried to hide and put her wild past behind her, resulting in her coming off as an uptight prude who's obsessed with her family. Due to Suzette's presence and influence, however, she eventually loosens up, smokes a joint and uses some profanity.

GEOFFREY RUSH plays an obsessive-compulsive writer who accepts a ride from Suzette. He uses some profanity, says he plans to shoot his father, and has sex with Suzette.

ERIKA CHRISTENSEN plays Lavinia's oldest daughter, the valedictorian of her class who does acid on prom night, has sex with her boyfriend in the family pool, and generally isn't quite the straight-laced young woman everyone thinks.

ROBIN THOMAS plays Lavinia's lawyer husband who can't believe how his wife is suddenly acting.

EVA AMURRI plays Vinnie's high-strung and high maintenance, 16-year-old daughter.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

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Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

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OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

Here's a quick look at the content found in this R-rated comedy/drama. Profanity consists of at least 13 uses of the "f" word, while various other expletives and colorful phrases are also used. Explicit sexually related dialogue is present in various scenes, while several couples are seen fooling around (oral sex visually blocked by a car door) or having sex (with movement, partial nudity and related dialogue).

Women are seen in revealing and/or tight-fitting clothing, while 2 middle-aged women reminisce about past lovers while looking at Polaroid photos of their genitals (we only see one such image). Various characters drink and/or smoke, while two middle-aged women share a joint and a teenager does acid (off camera and resulting in some graphic, on-camera vomiting).

Various characters also have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while some tense family material is also present, as are varying forms of behavior that might be imitated. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

For those concerned with flashes of light on the screen, some of that occurs in a club (almost strobe-like).

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ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE

We see an ad for Smirnoff, but don't see any liquor in it, and then see that Suzette works in a club called "Whiskey A Go Go."

Suzette mixes drinks for people behind a bar and then has a rum and coke for herself (saying she's been drinking them since before her boss was born).

There's a big sign that says "liquor" for a truck stop.

Suzette pours herself a rum and coke.

Suzette sees Hannah stumbling in a hotel hallway and wonders what she's on. Others with her state she was drinking champagne, but Suzette knows better and they then say that she's on acid.

Lavinia confronts Hannah about having used any drugs the night before and she tells her mom that she mixed red and white wine and thus got sick.

We see that Hannah and her boyfriend have had several beers.

Vinnie, Raymond and Suzette have wine with dinner. After Vinnie has had enough of talk about her past, she walks up with a bottle of wine and drinks straight from it. We later see her in her closet, drinking more from the bottle.

Hannah wonders if her mom every smoked weed or got drunk.

Suzette and Vinnie have drinks in a club where others also drink.

Harry drinks liquor from a tiny bottle.

Vinnie and Suzette find an old marijuana joint in a box of mementos and then smoke and share it. We then see them giggly from doing so.

BLOOD/GORE

Harry explains that if he doesn't do things in his regimented way, he gets constipated. Suzette then says something about his bowel movements and then after seeing Hannah vomit on his bed (see below), she says that Harry "might not ever sh*t again."

We see Hannah vomit several times (rather graphically) while sick from being on acid.

Hannah says that for her valedictorian speech she'd like to get up there and fart (but she doesn't).

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE

Lavinia isn't nice to Suzette when she unexpectedly shows up, and even offers her $5,000 to get out of her life.

Hannah lies to her mom about taking acid.

Ginger has a bad attitude toward her mom by acting like a spoiled child and yelling at her, and Hannah also has spoiled tendencies.

Vinnie suddenly throws a forkful of food onto her husband's shirt.

We hear that Hannah allowed Ginger to drive without a license and that the 16-year-old then drove around the city and eventually smashed into another car.

FRIGHTENING SCENES

None.

GUNS/WEAPONS

Pistol: Kept by Harry in his old typewriter and later fired by Suzette into the air.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR

Phrases: "He can go f*ck himself," "That is so f*cked up," "F*cked with," "That's f*cking great," "That's totally f*cked up," "I f*ck things up," "Don't bullsh*t me," "Turn to sh*t," "She just treated you like sh*t," "Sh*tty," "I'm freaking out here man," "It's been a hell of a long night," "Shut up," "You're crawling right up your own asshole and I don't feel like following," "Hellhole," "Nuts" (crazy), "Why are you so pissed off," "You stupid moron," "What the hell was that?" "Screwed up," "Chick" (woman), "Jeez," "Wiping your ass," "Kick ass" and "You lunatic."

Various characters have tattoos, including Suzette who has one of the Lizard King (a lizard with a crown) on her arm.

Various women wear midriff revealing tops.

Vinnie throws a forkful of food onto Raymond's shirt.

We see Vinnie and Suzette sitting up on the ledge of a large billboard sign.

Suzette and Vinnie share a joint, while Hannah does acid (off-screen).

JUMP SCENES

None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)

None.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)

None.

PROFANITY

At least 13 "f" words (2 used sexually as are the terms "rattled," "rattle," "banger," "get laid" and "freaking"), 13 "s" words, 4 slang terms using male genitals ("c*ck" and "c*cks*cker"), 5 slang terms for breasts ("t*ts" and "knockers"), 5 asses (1 used with "hole"), 5 hells, 15 uses of "Oh my God," 3 each of "God" and "My God," 2 each of "For God's sakes" and "Jesus" and 1 use each of "Jesus Christ" and "Oh God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY

Suzette tells her boss that Jim Morrison passed out in the bathroom there with her underneath him.

Suzette shows cleavage throughout most of the film, as she wears various tight-fitting tops that accentuate her bosom (including one that's somewhat transparent and shows her bra beneath it).

Suzette leaves the bar, sees a band's singer sitting in a truck and asks what he's doing. We then see a woman's head come up from his crotch, implying oral sex (but nothing explicit is seen).

Harry gets off a bus complaining that two flies copulated on the back of his hand. Moments later, he keeps on about that, saying that they started "freaking," that they had sex on his skin, and that humans basically do the same thing and adds that the male fly gets on top of the female fly and activity happens.

Suzette tells Harry that she and Vinnie were groupies and that if you played L.A. back in their day, it's a good chance they "rattled" (had sex with) you. He asks, "Rattled?" and she explains that it's the same thing those flies did on his hand. She then states that they were therefore called the "Banger Sisters."

Harry mentions to Suzette that she's the one who had random sex with people (she then replies that she doesn't wear underpants either). As she leans over to let him out of her car, she suggestively rubs her body up against him.

When Suzette returns to Harry's hotel room and catches him off guard, she tells him, "I'm going to f*ck you, Harry." She then tells him that he needs to "get laid" and then says that again and that she does as well (while wiggling her clothed butt while bent over looking in a fridge). She says that she's going to take a shower and that they're then going to do you know what. He says that he doesn't want to have sex and she doesn't believe that and wonders how he can't do it. She then wonders how long it's been for him and he says ten years. She then tells him to let her give him a "hand job" and adds that she's such a good "hand job giver."

Suzette comments on her "t*ts" being fake.

When Lavinia wonders what Suzette told Hannah about her, Suzette jokingly states that she named every guy that Lavinia ever "rattled" (had sex with).

We see Suzette curled up in a bubble bath (we don't see any nudity due to bubbles covering her body).

We see Harry and Suzette in the same hotel bed, but with some sort of divider between them. They talk and he mentions that back in the old days everybody was jumping into bed with everyone else. She then snuggles up to him, tells him not to move and that he can't think about anything. She then runs her hand under his covers and then gets on top of him, straddling him (wearing some sort of teddy or similar lingerie that's high cut on the bottom and thus shows the side of her bare butt as she's on her hands and knees above him). She unbuttons his shirt and kisses his neck and he says that he's terrified. We then hear that they had sex.

After wondering if Suzette has a pierced tongue (she doesn't ), Ginger states that she knows someone who had their labia pierced.

Suzette tells Vinnie that she and Harry had sex and that it was his first time in 10 years. She then adds that when he "came" it was like someone in the electric chair and that it wasn't a bad "rattle."

Suzette and Vinnie discuss Suzette's "t*ts" and how she had then enhanced and how Vinnie had "big knockers" back in their day and that she used to flash them.

Suzette and Vinnie return home to discover Hannah having sex in the family pool with her boyfriend. We hear some related sounds and see their heads at the edge of the pool. Vinnie then sprays water on them and they separate and swim through the pool (we see the shape of their nude bodies beneath the water but don't see anything explicit). Moments later, we see the boyfriend collecting his clothes out of the water (he holds something in front of his crotch) and we see the side of his bare butt.

Suzette and Vinnie then discuss what they saw and Vinnie wonders if they were just skinny-dipping. Suzette says that they were going at it. Vinnie then wonders if maybe they were just rubbing against each other and Suzette says that no, "They were f*cking."

Hannah tells Ginger that their mother caught her and her boyfriend in the pool and that they weren't swimming, prompting Ginger to say, "Ewww."

When Harry tells Suzette that he feels ebullient, she says that's because he just "got off" (had sex with her).

Hannah wonders if her mom every had sex in her younger days.

We see what looks like the top of Suzette's bare butt as she pulls up some leather pants.

Vinnie shows some cleavage.

The two women talk about checking out the bartender's "ass" and the camera then tilts down to show us it (it's clothed).

The camera focuses on the women's clothed butts as they dance.

Vinnie pulls out the "rock c*ck" collection which is a bunch of Polaroid photos of various musicians and singers' penises. The women look and laugh at them, but we only briefly see one (that shows a penis) when it's flipped over to check who it belongs to. They also make some references (such as look at this little guy peeking out and stating that part of one looks like a nose) while looking at them.

Raymond then discovers them looking at those photos and Vinnie asks if he knows how some people collect baseball cards. They then say that they were groupies and he wants to know what they mean. Hannah then comes down the basement steps and sees the photos that the adults try to hide and cover up.

Hannah mentions her mom freaking out upon discovering her having sex in the pool.

Some comments are made about putting penises all over the floor (the above photos).

Suzette states that her only claim to fame is letting millions of zonked out musicians into her pants.

Harry tells Suzette about a story he's written about a woman and he then says that the character is a "hand job giver" and that she's great at it.

SMOKING

Suzette smokes more than 5 times, while a miscellaneous person also smokes.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES

Harry explains that he had a bad relationship with his father, stating that the man cursed him and said he'd fail. He then adds that he's traveling to Phoenix to take care of his father (with a gun) once and for all, but we later learn that the father is dead.

Ginger has a bad attitude toward her mom by acting like a spoiled child and yelling at her, and the two argue.

Vinnie eventually has enough of her family and accuses them of not listening to what she's had to say about losing herself in order to serve them.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT

Groupies.

How people change over time (and how some don't).

Hannah saying she's not allowed to fail and that she doesn't know what it feels like.

Harry still being hung up about his father ruining his life and even thinking about killing himself due to that.

Hannah stating that what others want of you is not necessarily the right thing for you.

VIOLENCE

Vinnie purposefully bumps Harry with a slow-moving car and knocks him to the ground (to make him stop rambling on about how bad his life is).

Reviewed August 23, 2002 / Posted September 20, 2002

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