‘Banger Sisters’ boosted by great chemistry

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In theaters

THE BANGER SISTERS, written and directed by Bob Dolman, 94 minutes, rated R.

In “The Banger Sisters,” Bob Dolman’s dirty little comedy about two former rock groupies reconnecting after decades apart, Goldie Hawn offers at least one answer as to what might have become of Penny Lane – the character her real-life daughter Kate Hudson played in “Almost Famous” – had she remained true to her band-aid roots.

Apparently, she could have become an affable wreck.

In the film, Hawn is Suzette, a free spirit, to say the least, with a tumble of blond curls and fake breasts out to here who wears her tattoos like a badge and who you sense has always relied on the kindness of strangers.

Unfortunately, the kindness has ended. As the film opens, Suzette is let loose into an unsuspecting world after being fired from her longtime bartending job at Whisky-a-Go-Go, a popular West Hollywood nightclub that has allowed her to remain mired in the past through the rock groups of the present.

Out of work and out of money, she drives to Phoenix, where her old pal, Vinnie (Susan Sarandon) – who now goes by Lavinia – is living in a suburban utopia brimming with new money, green lawns and conservative ideals.

For Suzette, the idea that Vinnie is now trying to pass herself off as a respectable soccer mom with two teenage daughters and an attorney for a husband, is absurd. Vinnie once slept with as many musicians and roadies as Suzette, a fact that earned both women the nickname “the Banger sisters,” which Vinnie would rather forget since nobody in her present life knows about her salacious past.

What ensues is a story without surprise – Suzette predictably shakes up Vinnie’s life and forces her to question who she’s become and all that she’s lost along the way.

What makes the film worth seeing has less to do with its story than it does with the terrific chemistry between Hawn and Sarandon, who tear up the set and make an otherwise ordinary script seem almost extraordinary.

With Geoffrey Rush as Suzette’s other uptight friend, a failed screenwriter with murder in his heart whom she picks up en route to Phoenix, “The Banger Sisters” belongs to Hawn just as surely as “Almost Famous” belonged to Hudson. She steals the movie from Sarandon, who doesn’t seem to mind. This is, after all, clearly Goldie’s show and, at 57, she proves she still has what it takes to light a fire under the box office.

Grade: B

On video and DVD

MONSTERS, INC., directed by Peter Docter, written by Andrew Stanton and Daniel Gerson, 92 minutes, rated G.

Last March, when the Academy Awards presented its first-ever award for Best Animated Feature, the people at Disney and Pixar Animation Studios were likely hoping beyond hope that their movie, “Monsters, Inc.,” would have what it took to kick the living Shrek out of Dreamworks’ “Shrek.”

It didn’t happen; “Shrek” took the award. But “Monsters, Inc.” nevertheless found Disney and Pixar scoring again.

The film, released last week on video and DVD with new footage and outtakes, is a smart, funny wonder that tells the story of James P. “Sulley” Sullivan (voice of John Goodman) and his goofy sidekick, Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), two happy-go-lucky monsters at Monsters, Inc., who turn the shrieks of small children into energy for the city of Monstropolis.

Scaring kids is all in a day’s work for these two, but when Sulley accidentally allows a precocious 2-year-old girl named Boo (Mary Gibbs) through one of the factory’s many automated doors – all of which are connected to a child’s bedroom closet – the event ignites a monster-sized panic.

Indeed, humans are something monsters fear; if touched, a child can allegedly cause contamination. But as the film’s rich, clever story unfolds and it becomes clear that Mike’s and Sulley’s fears about children are unfounded, they eventually come to terms with what many children face every day: Most fears are based on unreasonable assumptions steeped in misinformation, not fact.

Unlike “Shrek,” “Monsters, Inc.” sees the world with childlike naivete; the two movies couldn’t be more different in tone. It mirrors “Shrek” in that its midpoint dawdles, but its animation is slightly better, proving that in the computer-animated world, waiting only a few months for a new chip or a new piece of software can make all the difference in scaring up a better-looking film.

Grade: A-

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style.

The Video-DVD corner

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores, starting alphabetically with the most current releases.

Enigma ? C

Monsoon Wedding ? A-

Murder by Numbers ? C

Death to Smoochy ? B+

40 Days and 40 Nights ? C-

Monsters, Inc. ? A-

Panic Room ? B

Changing Lanes ? B

Count of Monte Cristo ? B+

Frailty ? C-

Blade II: B+

High Crimes ? C

Queen of the Damned ? C-

Iris ? B

Joe Somebody ? D

The Rookie ? A-

The Sweetest Thing ? D+

We Were Soldiers ? B+

Birthday Girl ? B

The Business of Strangers ? B

Clockstoppers ? C

In the Bedroom ? A

The New Guy ? D

Showtime ? C+

Deuces Wild ? D-

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring ? B+

Collateral Damage ? D

Dragonfly ? D

Resident Evil ? C-

Crossroads ? C-

Kung Pow: Enter the Fist: B-

The Time Machine ? D-

Amelie ? A

John Q. ? C-

Pinero ? B

Charlotte Gray ? B+

Hart’s War ? B

The Royal Tenenbaums ? B+

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius ? B+

Shallow Hal ? C

A Beautiful Mind ? B

Gosford Park ? B+

I Am Sam ? C

The Majestic ? D-

Max Keeble’s Big Move ? B

Orange County ? C-

The Shipping News ? C

Rollerball ? F

Black Hawk Down ? B

Kate & Leopold ? C+

Monster’s Ball ? A

The Mothman Prophecies ? C

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ? B 3/4

Sidewalks of New York ? B-

Lantana ? A

Vanilla Sky ? B+

Corky Romano ? D-

From Hell ? C

The Others ? B+

Snow Dogs ? B-

Ocean’s Eleven ? B

Waking Life ? A

Ali ? B+

Not Another Teen Movie ? C-

Behind Enemy Lines ? C-

No Man’s Land ? A

Black Knight ? F

The Deep End ? A

Domestic Disturbance ? C

The Man Who Wasn’t There ? B+