The Banger Sisters
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Cast: Goldie Hawn, Susan Sarandon, Geoffrey Rush
Extras: Commentary Track, Bloopers, Trailer, Featurette
Rating:
In ’The Banger Sisters’, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment serves up a funny scenario, beautifully played out by two hilariously funny actresses. Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon star as Suzette and Vinnie, two former groupies, who made their mark on the LA music scene in the late 60s. Having had sex with just about every musician to ever grace the Sunset Strip, life has taken the two in very different directions however. Suzette is still hanging out in the scene as a bartender at the infamous Whiskey-A-Go-Go, but when she loses her job she decides to find Vinnie to bring back the good old times. On her way to Phoenix where Vinnie now lives, she picks up Harry (Geoffrey Rush), a strange writer with a few weird obsessions, and the two begin having a strange but very honest friendship.
When Suzette finally finds Vinnie, it turns out that her friend of then has married a lawyer, frequents the highest social circles, and lives in a mansion with pool and all the extras you could ask for. She has two teenage daughters and a lifestyle that is ruled by discipline and order. When Suzette drops back into her life, she is shocked and afraid of the damage Suzette could do to her perfect life, but eventually the spark of friendship re-ignites between the two and Vinnie begins to re-examine her past.
While ’The Banger Sisters’ is certainly not a very imaginative movie and is utterly predictable, it is nonetheless highly entertaining and fun to watch. There can be no doubt that the superb cast is most responsible for this as Hawn, Sarandon and Rush have a fascinating interplay that is beautiful to observe.
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is presenting ’The Banger Sisters’ on this DVD in both an anamorphic widescreen transfer as well as a fullscreen version. It seems to mark a new trend for the studio to accommodate both versions on one disc and is laudable as such. The transfer is absolutely clean and not a single mar is evident in the presentation of the movie. Colors are also nicely reproduced without oversaturation, rendering an image that is vivid and lush-looking. Blacks are very deep and solid with shadows that never lose definition or detail. There is no edge-enhancement evident and no compression artifacts are noticeable either, making ’The Banger Sisters’ a quality transfer.
The DVD contains a 5.1 channel Dolby Digital audio track as well as Dolby Surround language tracks in French and Spanish. All tracks are very well produced and have an impressive spatial integration. The audio makes good use of the surround channels to liven up the ambience and create bustling atmospheres and settings. The dynamic range is very good and natural while the wide frequency response creates powerful basses and clear high ends.
The DVD comes with a commentary track by director Bob Dolman, which is engaging and manages to reveal a good deal of information about the production, the cast and the story itself. A ’First Look’ HBO promo featurette and a blooper reel round ou the release together with the movie’s trailers.
’The Banger Sisters’ is a fun movie that I thoroughly enjoyed. Seeing Goldie Hawn back in her comedic glory is wonderful and having her complemented by a Susan Sarandon – who looks younger than ever – makes this a truly rowdy duo. Check out the disc when you want some simply fun.
